Check This Cool Upgrade In Your Google Maps App

Dhir Acharya - Aug 10, 2019

Google said that it’s launching the Live View AR walking directions in its Maps platform to improve the experience for its users.

GPS has helped a lot of people with finding directions to places, but the tool still has some quirks. It may take a while for users to know in which direction they should head to and sometimes they may even go in the wrong way and have to turn around. However, Google said that it’s launching the Live View AR walking directions in its Maps platform.

Google-is-launching-the-Live-View-AR-walking-directions-1 — Google is launching the Live View AR walking directions

The company first introduced the feature at is 2018 I/O, and the Pixel phones received it this March. In the next week, the feature should also come to other Android phones that can run ARCore as well as iPhones that can run ARKit.

To use the feature, users need to input a destination on Google Maps, after getting the directions, they just need to set the transportation mode to walking and they will see an option for Live View near the screen’s bottom.

Yesterday, during a google event, a spokesperson talked about how the feature works, it essentially analyzes the buildings around the user to figure out their current position. The feature can do that thanks to the data collected through Street View for years so that smartphones can come up with an educated guess about the user’s location and which direction they need to take.

There-are-arrows-showing-which-direction-to-head-to-2 — There are arrows showing which direction to head to

In a demo by Gizmodo, a reported tried using this feature to walk from Times Square to Radio City Music Hall. The feature asked the reporter to scan building as well as signage across the street to know her starting point. Then, some large directional arrows show up on the app interface indicating where and how long to go.

However, you will have to keep your phone up to see the directions. At the same time, the app repeatedly reminded the reporter to put down the phone, it then switched to the regular view and buzzed when the reporter needed to turn.

Point-at-the-buildings-around-to-locate-yourself-3 — Point at the buildings around to locate yourself

But then, the Maps app couldn’t relocate the reporter’s location when she raised the phone again. It was useless pointing the phone at buildings, but re-launching the app seemed to help.

Google’s Live View has bugs, but still, it can come in handy especially for those in cities.