Google Maps Helps You Find Food And Night Shelters Across 30 Cities Amid CO.VID-19

Now, Google is listing public night shelters as well as public food shelters in 30 cities in India. The new feature is expected to help people during the outbreak of the pandemic çµand currently supports English. But the tech giant is working on adding support for Hindi too.

To benefit from this feature, users just need the Google Maps app on their phone, which they can use to search for public night shelters or public food shelters. Indian users can also use this feature on Google Search as well as via the Google Assistant on smartphones or KaiOS phones like the Jio Phone.

To be able to show results for night shelters and food shelters, Google is working closely with central and state government authorities. On Sunday, MyGov, the citizen engagement platform of the government, revealed its latest update on Twitter. Meanwhile, on Monday, Google released a press statement to confirm its presence.

Use can just activate the Google Assistant or launch Google Search or Google Maps, then search for keywords “Night shelter” or “Food shelters” to search for these public shelters.

As most users that need to find public night shelters and food shelters don’t have a smartphone, Google has provided access to the Assistant for Jio Phone users. The company is also working on increasing the number of languages supported and expanding the feature to more cities in the coming weeks. It’s worth noting that the tech giant hasn’t provided details on the shelters through the Assistant on Vodafone Idea Phone Line service, which could have been very useful for those using feature phones.

Besides this plan, Google also plans to create shortcuts for this feature beneath the search bar on Googe Maps for both smartphones and KaiOS feature phones. And night and food shelter pins will appear by default on the map when users first launch the app.

Google India’s Senior Program Manager Anal Ghosh said:

“Highlighting the locations of food and night shelters on Google Maps is a step to make this information easily available to the users in need, and ensure they can avail the food and shelter services being provided by the government authorities. With the help of volunteers, NGOs, and traffic authorities, we hope to convey this important information to the affected people, many of whom may not have access to a smartphone or mobile device during this time.”

Late last month, AAP announced it had developed a custom map on Google Maps that highlights Hunger Relief Centres, which are run by the Delhi government. The centers provide free dinner and lunch from 12 PM to 3 PM and from 6 PM to 9 PM every day.

To support the increasing demand for food delivery service, Google Maps has also added a Delivery option next to Petrol and Coffee. After opening the app, users can browse nearby restaurants or grocery stores that deliver orders.

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