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Google Maps is a pretty complete experience at this point. The app has been around for two decades, giving Google plenty of time to refine every small detail. However, we aren’t really ever surprised when the brand unveils new changes.
We’ve seen plenty of new features arrive with the introduction of Gemini, which, as it turns out, can make life much easier at times. With that said, it appears that Google is making some small tweaks to Maps for Android Auto, which will now display more prominent labels.
The new changes will do a better job of showcasing the road that you’re traveling on, while also showing more of the ones that are coming up on your route. Although this new change isn’t something major, it will allow users to get a better idea of what’s happening on their route with just a quick glance.
According to 9to5Google, this change is now rolling out to users running Google Maps version v26.17.03 and Android Auto version 16.7.661604. The news outlet highlights that this change can only be found when navigating to a destination. It will not appear if you have Google Maps up without a destination locked in.
It’s a bit of a shame that users won’t be able to use this without navigation, but we would guess that there are reasons for this. If you’re asking yourself how this changes from the behavior in the previous build, well, your route will now be highlighted with a prominent blue marker, showcasing the street, road, or highway that you’re currently traveling on.
You will also be able to see more adjacent roads along your route, not just the one immediately coming up. These new changes won’t really be improvements for everyone, but it’s good to see Google making small tweaks here and there to try and improve the experience. If you want to see this change and try it for yourself, make sure you get all your apps up to date.
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Just used it today before I knew it was updated. I noticed the changes immediately. I LOVE THEM ! Great job Google Crew.
Google recently rolled out a “more muted color palette” for the map in night mode. The contrast between the route and surrounding roads was greatly reduced with the colors chosen being nearly indistinguishable to me with very common red/green colorblindness. It essentially disables the wayfinding function at night. Google’s suggested fix is to use the map in day (light) mode at night, or use satellite view which greatly increases data usage. Please, just use bright blue again!!
