Summer is about to arrive in Portugal, literally speaking. And three new updates to Google Maps are also coming to help users make the most of their summer adventures.
1. Immersive viewing
Immersive View launched earlier this year to transform the way you explore, using AI to fuse billions of images together to create a multi-dimensional view of the world with layered information overlays.
This June it comes to four new cities: Amsterdam, Dublin, Florence and Venice. But it will also be expanded to 500 emblematic places around the world, including our Belém Tower, the Jerónimos Monastery, the Porto Cathedral, among others.
The objective is that the user begins to become familiar with the area before visiting it. By looking it up on Google Maps and tapping on the first video to virtually fly over the building and find nearby locations.
2. Track the progress of the trip through Visible Directions
Visible directions on maps help the user to easily follow the progress of their trip directly on their smartphone’s lock screen or in the route overview.
It should be noted that visible directions will begin to be available during the month of June, globally on Android and iOS for walking, cycling and driving modes.
3. Plan trips with updates in the Recent tab on the desktop
In the new Recent tab, the places the user searches for are automatically organized in a handy highlight in the sidebar of the screen. There, the places in your Recent Highlights will be saved even after you close the Google Maps window.
The goal is that you can take a break from planning and come back later without ever getting lost in the course of your search. You can delete places you’ve viewed, plan multiple trips at once, and share a selection of places, such as attractions or hotels.
Once your decision is made, you can select three or more destinations, click “ask for directions” and Maps will create a custom route with all the places you defined and save that same route in the Recent tab.