Google just did a complete about-face with its new Android Google Maps
app after announcing July 10 that the latest version no longer
includes capabilities to use the maps offline when
users don't have Internet access.Early on July 11, Google responded to user
complaints about the offline maps omission and announced that it would again
add the feature to the latest Maps app, beginning immediately."Based on
user feedback on offline maps, we pushed an update late last night to the new
Google Maps app for Android," a Google spokesman said Google also posted a Google+
announcement about its response."We've been happy to hear so
many of you enjoying the interface and features of the new Google Maps app for
Android, but we know some of you are missing an easy way to access maps
offline," the post states. "That's why our engineering team has been
working around the clock to add a 'Make this map area available offline' card
below the search box for easier access. And, if you still want some #thumbercise,
typing 'ok maps' will work too!"The new version, featuring the
reintroduced offline maps capabilities, will begin rolling out globally today,
the company said.Google had announced July 10 that the new Maps app for Android
is getting a new "explore" option that allows users to visually
browse and discover new places without typing. Instead, users can tap the
search box, and they'll see pop-up "cards" that display nearby places
to eat, drink, sleep and shop. In addition, users will get enhanced
capabilities that can help them navigate around traffic, with traffic details
that can describe what is happening on nearby roads.At the same time, though, the
July 10 announcement also slated several Maps features for a demise, including
the offline maps and the Latitude and check-ins features.They were to be being
replaced with location sharing and
check-ins to Google+ for Android (coming soon to iOS) to provide similar
services, the post stated. Google had told users in the July 10 post that they
could still access offline maps by entering "OK Maps" into the search
box when viewing the area where they were traveling. In addition, that post
stated, "My Maps" functionality was also removed in the new app but
it is slated for return to future versions of the app. Users
were critical of the moves on the Google+ page and Google apparently listened
to the feedback. Users were just as happy about the company's change of heart
and thanked Google after it announced the turnaround.That initial feedback
caused Google to change its course, the company spokesman told in
a follow-up conversation. "After seeing some of the comments and reactions
of users around the world who were missing the offline functionality, our
engineering team worked around the clock to develop an easier way to cache a
map for offline use," the spokesman stated. The new Google Maps for
Android builds on the design the company introduced for the iPhone last
December and improves on it with a few useful search and navigation features,
according to the company. The new version is the first dedicated app for
Android tablets and iPads. The new app will run on Android devices with Ice
Cream Sandwich and Jelly Bean versions of the operating system. The Apple
version will support iOS 6+ when it is available in the future. - See more at:
Interfaces aside, this new
Android release has a few tricks that its iPhone counterpart doesn’t have
(quite yet):
§ Realtime traffic
rerouting — If an accident happens on the road ahead and an
alternative route would now be the faster one, Maps will reroute accordingly.
§ Traffic Incident
Reports — If an accident is reported,
its location and description will appear on the map. Curiously, Google says
neither this feature nor the aforementioned rerouting make use of the Waze
technology Google acquired last month.
§ A new interface
optimized for tablets
§ Zagat reviews — Making use of
Google’s 2011 acquisition of Zagat, Maps now pulls Zagat reviews and lists
directly into the interface. If the restaurant you’re looking at is on Zagat’s
“Best Of San Francisco” list, for example, it’ll be marked as such and provide
a quick link to the full list.
§ Business review
averages now show as numbers (e.g. 4.3) rather than just stars, because, as
Google Maps director Daniel Graf put it to me earlier, “the [real world]
difference between a 4.3 and a 4.6 can be huge”
Don’t be sweatin’ too hard
over the lack of realtime traffic rerouting and all that other stuff on your
platform, though, iOS users; from what I gleaned during the meeting, it sounds
like the iOS version of the update — complete with proper iPad support — is
just waiting for Apple’s oh-so-crucial greenlight. Once it’s released, the
Android and iOS builds of Maps should be a near feature-by-feature match for
the first time in ages. As mentioned, though, there’s a catch or two. Dumping
the old interface and bringing in a whole new one meant a few features got the
boot, if only temporarily. The “Make Available Offline” button (which, as
labeled, let you save maps for offline use) has been pulled. According to Graf,
it just wasn’t quite ready. On the upside, I learned a little easter egg that
kinda-sorta brings it back — more on that in a post later today.Google Maps has
also dropped support for Latitude, the service that lets you share your
location with friends and stalk them accordingly (with permission, of course).
Instead, location sharing is getting integrated into Google Plus. The move is
part of a wider closure of Latitude that will see Google moving out of
check-ins and real-time location tracking, as well as offering these to
developers via a set of APIs.
READ MORE
http://pitstoptech.blogspot.in/2013/07/new-google-maps-spread-up-in-play-store.html
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