IF YOU rely on Google Maps for your directions, then there are five features you need to know about right now.
Google Maps is easily one of the most-used apps in the world, boasting more than 154 million users per month.
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Despite its popularity, there are still several features on the app that many users don’t know about.
Thankfully, we have compiled a list of some of these features to help you make the most of your Google Mapping experience.
Track your friends’ location
A lot of Google Map users are unaware that you can share your location with friends and vice versa.
The tool makes meeting up with people a lot easier, especially if you’re coming from different areas, or going somewhere new.
To use this feature, simply open Google Maps on your device, tap your profile picture, and then choose Location Sharing.
Next, tap the Share Location button.
After you do that, you can decide how long you want to share your location and with whom.
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You can select as many contact names as you like, then tap on the Share button.
The people you ticked will now receive an alert to track you.
Get train alerts
If you’re constantly worrying about missing your train home or to work, then fear not – Google Maps has you covered.
The app will notify you of train schedules or disruptions on routes you travel often.
To enable this on iOS, go on your iPhone > Settings > Notifications > Google Maps > Allow Notifications.
If you’re on an Android device, go to Settings > Notifications > Turn on a notification > and select Google Maps.
Now you can receive whatever notifications Google Maps has for you – usually, this is done automatically when you’ve started or set up a route.
Use Maps offline
If you are traveling to a foreign place and don’t have any service, then you can still access Google Maps if you plan ahead of time.
Just go to the app on your phone, and tap on your profile picture in the top right corner.
From this menu, you can select Offline maps, and either see the maps you already have downloaded or can choose Select Your Own Map.
If you tap on the latter, you can select the area you want to have an offline map for.
Once highlighted, hit download and as long as you’re connected to WiFi, you can download your map for offline use.
Explore the Locale
If you’re in a new area and curious about what’s around you can simply tap ‘Explore’ on the Google Maps app.
There, you can discover fun places to hang out, interesting things to see, and good places to eat.
You will also see a rating and description for each place.
Go back in time
To celebrate its 15th birthday, Google’s Street View launched a ‘time travel’ feature for smartphones.
The tool lets users see how landscapes have changed over the years – straight from their phones.
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Users can access this tool by simply clicking on a famous landmark, or building in street view and then tapping on ‘See more dates.”
To make the feature even more fun, Google has curated a list of popular places that users can explore.
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