Google Maps is testing out crash, speed trap reporting

It seemed inevitable, or rather expected, that Google would be making use of some of Waze’s features. And that day seems to have arrived—at least for some users. Reports surfaced online that Google Maps is letting some Android users report crashes and speed traps while they navigate, similar to what you can do on navigation app Waze. For those who are part of the test, they see a new “+” report sign at the bottom left of the display. It does only show up though when you navigate with the app. And whether it’s going to be a feature we’ll see in the future is still up in the air. Google hasn’t made a comment on the report just yet.

Source: CNET

Share your ETA easily with Google Maps

Google Maps has a new feature that will make it easier for you to share your ETA with your family, friends, or other favorite contacts. If you share your location on ride-sharing apps, the principle is similar and your chosen contact can see how long it’ll take for you to get to your destination. The feature is coming to both Android and iOS. Once you start navigating to your destination, tap on the ^ button and then Share trip progress. From there, it’ll let you share your live location, route, and ETA. The update lets you share to third-party apps like Facebook Messenger, Line, WhatsApp, and more so you can reach your contact on their platform of choice. The app will automatically stop sharing your location once you reach your destination. This feature works not just for those who drive but for those who use walking or cycling navigation on the app as well.

Source: Google

Google Maps on the desktop now shows Earth as a globe

Before when you zoomed out on Google Maps, our planet Earth would be depicted as a flat surface. Now, a new update coming to the desktop interface changes this into a globe, which allows the map to show the Earth more accurately than it has in the past. With this new 3D Globe Mode, “Greenland’s projection is no longer the size of Africa.”

Before this, Google Mpas has been using the Mercator projection, which projects the map on a flat surface. This projection became largely standardized and made it easy to print onto maps. But this also presented a distorted image of the Earth. Those near the equator scaled relative to one another, while those closer to the poles looked larger than they are. As the example above, Mercator maps make Greenland appear larger than Africa, even though in reality, Africa is 14 times larger.

Source: The Verge

Location sharing on Google Maps now shows your contact’s battery level

While useful, we might have reached another level of creepy with the newest feature on Google Maps. Android Police first noticed this during an APK teardown of the app but now it’s going live for users. When you share your location on the app, it’ll now show your contact your battery level. And it isn’t just an estimate but more of an accurate number. But it is useful for those who might be wondering why the person they’re tracking isn’t answering. There doesn’t seem to be a way to turn this off, so if you share locations and want to lie about not answering their call because the battery is dead, then you might want to rethink that.