15 years of Google Maps: New look, more features
Google Maps is turning 15. On Thursday morning, the company unveiled various updates and a new look to mark its 15th anniversary.
A lot has happened in the last 15 years. Applications such as Google Maps have increasingly made conventional paper street maps obsolete, and features such as navigation and information on (public) transport have made travel much more relaxed. To mark the 15th anniversary of Google Maps, the company has now announced various innovations.
Since Thursday, Google Maps for Android and iOS has a new look - and a new icon. The five tabs "Discover, Commute, Remembered, Contribute and News" are intended to help users find out more about their surroundings, reach their destination even faster, and retrieve repeated trips and visited places more easily. In addition, every user can contribute their experiences and pictures to the Google Maps community and thus help other users.
In addition, users are now provided with real-time information on public transport, which is made available through the "ÖV Schweiz" open data platform by the SBB on behalf of the BAV. "With the display of real-time SBB traffic information, Google Maps can now make it even easier for everyone in Switzerland to use public transport," comments Britta Duerscheid, Global Product Partnerships Manager Geo at Google Switzerland.
The five new features in the latest Google Maps update: "Discover, Commute, Noticed, Contribute, and Up to Date."
The new icon is supposed to stand for the development of Google Maps. The pin stands for something that has been important since the beginning.
Barrier-free travel and more orientation
Google is continuously working on optimizing navigation with Google Maps. In the future, transit features should help users get from A to B as smoothly and efficiently as possible. For example, the feature should help predict how crowded a train, streetcar or bus will be. It also draws on information from other users who share their experiences.
The AR feature Live View, which was already introduced in 2019, combines Street View images with machine learning and smartphone sensors. This is intended to enable the user's real surroundings to be displayed within Google Maps with route information directly superimposed. The feature is to be continuously expanded with new functions in the coming months to make orientation even easier.
Petra Ehmann, Global Product Partnerships and Augmented Reality at Google, explains the Live View feature.
