The team working on Google Maps in India has done a fantastic job or carrying over international features to Indian shores with the recent addition of offline availability. More and more cities are being added to the list of live traffic view and street views in India and public transport is becoming a key part of the service.
Google has released a fresh update on Google Play Store for its Maps application, which allows users to add stops to your existing route without the need to exit navigation.
You can search for and add pit stops like restaurants, petrol pumps, grocery shops and prominent landmarks on your way to destination, so as to accommodate for the extra time for your journey and provide you an accurate estimate time.
Such a feature comes to rescue in case you’re looking for a grocery store on your way to destination to buy something very important, or refuel your vehicle before a long drive the next day. Once you have selected the choice of pit stop, Google Maps will automatically adjust the time of arrival to your destination and mark the stop on the map.
On Google India’s Blog, Sanket Gupta, Google Maps Product Manager, wrote, “Now when you’re driving in navigation mode and you get that call from your spouse to pick up some groceries on your drive home, or if you’re on a road trip and want to find a great restaurant option along your route, simply tap the magnifying glass at the top right corner of the screen. You’ll see a drop-down menu with helpful options, like petrol pumps, grocery stores, or restaurants. If the drop-down options aren’t what you need, you can always add a detour to your favorite coffee shop by tapping the search icon or by using voice commands.”
Google has advanced its maps business into smaller pockets of the country where navigation used to be difficult earlier.
With indoor maps for 75 popular Indian ventures to 360-degree view at heritage sites, India has become a very important destination for Google.
Maps is getting even more interactive as new features get added this year, possibly allowing complete hands-free navigation to save us from our traffic.
[…] pit stops functionality to iOS devices now. Google Maps was recently updated to add support for making pit stops on your way to your destination, for Indian Android users. This feature has been rolling out since October last […]