Google Maps update: Three incredible new features that make this app so much better

Google Maps continues to extend its lead over its rivals thanks to new updates from the American tech giant.

Google recently announced three new changes for Maps on Android and iOS – each serves a unique function that will benefit its gigantic user base.

Here is an outline of each:

Making your travel plans more intuitive

Google Maps has long been an essential companion for anyone that loves travelling.

But the American tech giant is now making things even more simple – Google Maps can now show a user’s flight information and hotel reservations within the app.

Google Maps’ side menu will now display an option called “Your Places” – within this section is a tab called “Reservations”.

Here a user will be able to see an intuitive list of any forthcoming trips and holidays they have lined up.

In addition to reminding the user where they are going, the menu will also showcase how many days the outing is for.

Clicking on a particular option will bring up all bookings for it.

As showcased by Google in a blog post, if a user is heading to Paris they can click on a selection called “Trip to Paris” – this tab will then showcase flight details and any other reservations they have made.

Discussing the new feature, Google said: “Now, you can use Google Maps to see all of your flight and hotel reservations in one place – a lifesaver when you’re checking in at the airport or en route to the next hotel in your destination.

“Simply tap on the three grey lines at the top left corner of your screen, and then on ‘Your Places’. Then, hit the ‘Reservations’ tab where you’ll see a list of your upcoming trips.

“Selecting your trip will instantly pull up your reservations, and you can even access them if you’re offline, so no need to worry if you’re off the grid with no service or traveling internationally without a data plan.”

Google Maps’ new Your Places feature is currently rolling out for Android and iOS.

Google Maps already allows users to intuitively locate dishes that suit their tastes – however the American tech giant is severely upping the ante in this regard.

Google Maps can now show users popular dishes of a particular eatery – these are accompanied by images of the dishes in question from other users.

This, combined with the app’s ability to tell a user how busy a restaurant will be, make the American software incredibly useful for locating good food.

Explaining Google Maps’ new functionality, the Mountain View firm said: “Real talk: Food is one of the main highlights of any vacation.

“With Google Maps, you can quickly find restaurants tailored to your tastes with Your Match, see how long the wait is, and even book a reservation without ever leaving the app (and no, we’re not talking about delicious dinner apps).

“With the popular dishes feature, you can quickly find out what the must-try items on the menu are.”

The features listed above are available for iOS and Android.

Allowing users to relive their favourite travel moments

Google Maps users that have their Location History setting enabled can use a feature called Timeline that will display previously visited locations.

These include restaurants, shops, attractions and more.

Discussing the feature, Google said: “The best part about any life-changing trip? Reliving the memories, and sharing them with loved ones.

“If you’ve chosen to turn your Location History setting on, you can now use the updated version of Timeline to easily remember that amazing hole-in-the-wall restaurant you dined at or the cute vintage shop you popped into.

“You’ll also be able to see all of the places you went to in a country or a city, and even drill down to the categories of places you visited–including restaurants, shops, attractions, hotels and airports.

“So the next time someone asks you for trip recommendations, you can easily export the places you loved to a list, make notes about exactly what you liked (like the great picnic spot by the Louvre), and share that list with friends and family.”

Google Maps’ Timeline feature is available on Android devices right now, however it is unclear when it will arrive for iOS.