Google Maps Releases 4 New Updates for iPhone And iPad

By Dondi Tiples, Christian Post Contributor Friday, March 20, 2015

Google has just released a substantial update for its Google Maps app for iPhone and iPad, featuring four new improvements for its highly popular application.

Google Maps has updated its app for iOS providing iPhone and iPad with a host of new features and improvements, including full-screen maps, a shortcut for "directions to," transit line colors, Zagat-rated restaurants search filter capabilities, and more.

The first batch of updates were released in January, and the second batch was made available a month after. The current set of updates for March brings Google Maps iPhone and iPad versions up to 4.4.0. Apart from removing several bugs, it includes four major features and other improvements for better user experience on the mobile web mapping service.

Users can access a full-screen version of the map by tapping an empty spot on it. Comprehensive directions in the form of transit line colors will appear on the map, and users can also filter search results when on the lookout for Zagat-rated restaurants in the area, where they are available.

One significant feature dispenses with the confusion most people experienced getting directions from the earlier version of the app. The new update will allow users to tap on the mic and say: "directions to (place or address)," or type the phrase: "directions to (place or address)," and Google Maps will display faster results.

Navigational features of Google Maps remain the same, including comprehensive and accurate maps of 220 countries, voice-guided GPS for driving, walking and biking navigation, transit directions for more than 15,000 towns and cities, live traffic updates and auto-rerouting, comprehensive information on over 100 million places, as well as Street View and indoor images for restaurants, museums, and other places of interest.

The updated version of Google Maps is available for free download at the Google App Store.