21 Tips and Tricks for Google Maps
Table of Contents
- Add stops on the route to your destination
- Customize the car icon on the map
- Search your destination with voice recognition
- Download maps offline
- Change the route layout with the mouse (desktop version)
- Find the route at a point on the map (desktop version)
- Measure distances (desktop version)
- See the way with Street View
- Use augmented reality to see the route
- Request transport using Google Maps
- Find affordable public transportation
- Remember where you parked your car
- View and delete Google Maps history
- Enable anonymous browsing
- Automatically delete location history
- Share location with others
- Add your images to contribute to Street View
- Add music to your trips
- Look for a charging station for electric cars
- Save and share locations
- Become a Local Guide
O Google Maps It's not just another app that shows you a route from one address to another, depending on the chosen means of transport. Over time, it has stood out in its segment with the various resources it has gained in its more than 15 years of history. O showmetech brought together tips and tricks for Google Maps which show that the tool is a reference for geospatial research, thanks to features such as Augmented Reality, personalized icons and even functions that may be somewhat hidden, regardless of the device you use. Look!
Add stops on the route to your destination
After adding the start and finish points, click on the three dots in the upper right corner. 
In the menu that opens, click Add Stop 
A third point will appear on your route, point B. Click on it and enter another address for your route. Ready! The third address (point B, in this case, Av. Paulista) will appear on your route along with the starting point (Av. Nove de Julho) and point A (Av. Pedroso de Morais)
Are you heading home from a friend's party and need to drop off a ride along the way? Or do you simply want to stop by a pharmacy before heading home? O Google Maps allows you to add stops on your route to your final destination.
To do this, add the starting and ending points of your destination. If you are on your smartphone, click on the three dots in the top right corner. In the menu that opens, click Add Stop. A third point appears added to the map of your route and a field to fill in with the next address appears just above the map, called Point B. Click on it and enter the desired address. The third address (point B) is then added to your route, along with the starting point and point A.
Note that the third added point always changes the initial route, changing the arrival point. In the example above of a route drawn between streets in São Paulo, the starting point remains as Av. Nove de Julho, but the arrival point changes from Av. Pedroso de Morais (point A, previously the arrival point) to Av. Paulista ( point B becomes the arrival point). If you want to change this order, you can easily: just tap the icon with the letter inside a circle at the chosen point, hold and drag, placing it in the order you want.
In the desktop version, just click on Add destination, which appears right below the starting and ending points. To change the order, the reasoning is the same: click on the icon just to the left of the desired address, hold and drag it to the order you want, reorganizing the route.
It is important to highlight that this tip works for all means of transport in which it is possible to plot a route, except public transport.
Customize the car icon on the map
Did you know that you can change the icon that appears on your route while driving? In iOS and Android apps, this is possible.
With your route started, tap the icon that indicates your current location. Then, a menu appears at the bottom of the screen with three options for you to choose from: a red sedan car, a yellow SUV car or a pickup green.
Search your destination with voice recognition
With Google Assistant integrated into Google Maps, finding information about your route while driving is a breeze, without needing to take your attention off the traffic.
During the started route, say “Ok Google” or tap the microphone in the top right corner of the screen. At this point, it opens the Google Assistant menu, allowing you to ask it to help you with something. For example, if you're running low on gas and you urgently need to stop by a gas station to continue on your way, say “Gas stations nearby” and Maps will show you all the gas stations on the map. You can also ask questions like “what’s the next turn?”, “how long until there?”, “what’s the traffic like ahead?”, “where am I?” or “avoid tolls”, among others.
Download maps offline
Are you traveling, have you ever needed to have Maps working to explore the beautiful landscapes around you, but you couldn't see it because you didn't have internet access in the chosen region? Google Maps allows access to maps offline, that is, you can download the map you want on your cell phone or on an SD card and then be able to access it whenever you are offline.
To do this, search for the location to open the map you want to download. By default, Google Maps opens a lower menu with information and photos of the location, followed by the buttons: Routes, Save, Share Place and Download (which may be hidden on your screen). To easily spot the button download, tap the place name and drag the menu up. When the button Download becomes visible, click on it and the cell phone will start downloading the map.
Once the download is completed, the map is available in the Maps option offline from the menu. Tap your profile photo or avatar. In the menu that opens, choose Maps offline.
This feature can be a great alternative when you need to save mobile data and battery and still need to access maps offline. By activating the Wi-Fi only option and downloading the maps in advance, the cell phone directly uses the saved offline map data. To do this, tap your profile photo, then go to settings and press activate Wi-Fi only. In this function, you can only see car routes and information about traffic, alternative routes or lane guidance will not be available.
Change the route layout with the mouse (desktop version)
You can also change the paths of your route to pass through specific streets. Click, hold and drag to the desired point and you will see that Google recalculates the route, passing through the chosen point.
For example, if you are on Avenida Pedroso de Morais in São Paulo and need to go to Avenida Nove de Julho, but would like to go through Av. Brasil instead of Av. Brigadeiro Faria Lima, click on the route previously drawn by Google and Drag the line of the route that passes through Faria Lima to the place of Avenida Brasil, placing the route on the desired avenue. Google recalculates the time needed and the distance of the journey automatically.
This function only applies to the desktop version of Google Maps.
Find the route at a point on the map (desktop version)
You can also define routes from a point on the map or take a route to that point. 
By clicking on Routes from here, Maps will automatically insert the address as the starting point, leaving the arrival point blank for you to add or mark on the map If you want to add it to the map, right click and go to Routes here Maps plots the route from previously defined points By clicking on Routes to here, Maps will automatically insert the address as the arrival point, leaving the starting point blank for you to add or mark on the map 
If you want to add it to the map, right click and go to Routes from here 
Maps plots the route from previously defined points
On Google Maps, entering the departure address and arrival address is not the only way to plot a route. You can also define routes from or to a point on the map.
If you right-click on a point on the map, a menu will open where you can select with the options Routes from here and Routes to here. Google will mark the point with the address and number.
If you choose the routes from here option, Maps will automatically insert the address as the starting point, leaving the destination blank so you can enter the arrival point in two ways: either by typing or marking a new point on the map. To mark the arrival point on the map, simply right-click on the point and go to routes here.
If you choose the routes to here option, the opposite happens: Maps will automatically insert the address as the arrival point, leaving the starting point blank for you to add. To mark the starting point on the map, simply right-click on the point and go to routes from here.
Measure distances (desktop version)
Right click on a point on the map and go to Measure Distance 
Right click on the other point where you want to know the distance and go to the Distance to here option Ready! The distance between the two chosen points is displayed To add more points to the path, right-click a third point and choose Distance to here again. The total distance is updated with the third point added
In the desktop version of Maps, you can measure distances between two points on the map. To do this, right-click on the first point and choose the Measure Distance option. Then right-click on the second desired point and now choose Distance to here. Ready! Google Maps draws a black line as if it were a black “ruler”, indicating the distance in meters between the two points, which are represented by a white circle with a black outline.
To add more points to the path, right-click again, go to the Distance to here option again. Note that the total distance, displayed at the bottom center of the screen in a white box, is updated, now calculating the entire distance of the route.
See the way with Street View
Search for a place, for example, Eiffel Tower in the search bar. You can also click or tap a marker if you're on desktop or mobile, or tap and hold a point on the map to mark a place if you're on mobile. Select the photo with the Street View icon to open. 
Open Street View for that point on the map. You can turn off your finger on the screen, swipe left or right. To facilitate navigation, you can open the map and move with the blue icon on the map or touch wherever you want, using the arrows that show the direction At the Eiffel Tower, for example, by changing the lines to blue, you can navigate and explore various points in that location, seeing images shared by other users. If you're on your phone, pinch open or close to zoom in or out. When exploring the surrounding area, you can turn up or down when a blue line appears. By turning your phone sideways, you can get a wider view with “landscape” mode 
On desktop, you can also type in the search field or click on a map marker. On the left, you can select the photo that has the Street View icon or use pegman, that little orange stick figure in the bottom right corner of the screen. Click on it and drag to the area of the map you want to view images. Click on expand, which is located inside the map, in the lower right corner, to view the map along with Street View in a split screen for easier navigation Move the cursor in the direction you want to go. It turns into an arrow for you to click. You can also click and drag your mouse to explore your surroundings. You can also use the left and right arrow keys on the keyboard. 
To see which direction to go, click the X. To zoom in or out, you can use the mouse wheel or two fingers on the touchpad. To change streets, just like on your cell phone, click on the routes in blue.
O Street View It's a great tool for getting to know environments and exploring the world around you without leaving your cell phone or computer screen. This is because it is made up of panoramic images that reveal various landmarks of a given city, world tourist attractions, such as the Coliseum, natural beauty, restaurants, companies, museums or stadiums, for example.
The images that appear on Street View can come from two sources: Google itself or contributing users, who contribute images that a Google car would not be able to pass with your own cell phone, for example.
As you can see in the gallery above, navigation on mobile and desktop is very similar: you can view photos by searching for a place on Google Maps, or clicking (or tapping, if you're on mobile) a marker, or dragging Pegman, the little orange sticker in the bottom right corner of the map for any place you want to view in images.
On the desktop, another way to access Street View is to search for the place directly on Google Search and on the right, when the photo and information about the place appear, click on the photo marked “see outside”.
You can also use a compass to help you navigate. It is on the right of the screen and with it, you can zoom in or out, set the direction to north, by clicking on the bottom right corner or using the left or right arrows.
Use augmented reality to see the route
Plot a walking route and click Live View If it's your first time using it, some guidelines appear to make Live View work at its best. Click next. Click Next again. Then click Start Next, you need to authorize the use of the camera. 
Holding your cell phone vertically and pointing at the street, 3D arrows appear over the environment giving guidance on the route
With live view, you can use augmented reality to discover a route on your walking routes by pointing your phone camera at buildings and signs (never trees or people) which can be used by Maps to recognize the street based on the Street database View (comparing approximate GPS location and images captured by your cell phone with more striking visual aspects, such as the shape of buildings, for example, from what you found in Google's image bank and their known location) when creating an interface between Maps and a Real-time feed with your cell phone camera.
The application also uses machine learning that allows it to differentiate between a transient feature, such as rain or a streetlight, from something permanent, such as a building.
When Maps recognizes the location, navigation instructions for the chosen route will be displayed in the camera view: large 3D arrows appear over images captured of the real world by the cell phone, indicating street names, distance to be covered and the direction in which you should travel. always be followed with a small map at the bottom of the screen. Whenever you reach the next stage of the route, your phone vibrates.
It is worth remembering that the feature works well in well-lit areas and where it is available. The cell phone must be compatible with ARKit/ARCore.
Request transport using Google Maps
You can easily request private transportation through Google Maps.
After plotting the desired route, tap the private transport icon. Then see the travel options offered and the ride-hailing apps available. Then just click on open app for the application to redirect your choice to the chosen service.
The public transport option also shows the same route available for transport via app. To do this, scroll to the end, arriving at Consider Also and discover the travel options offered and the private transport apps available
Find affordable public transportation
People with reduced mobility can have a minimal idea of which routes are most accessible to them with the Accessibility option on Google Maps.
To do this, trace the desired route. Then select the public transport option and tap Best Route. The Route Options menu will open. Select Accessibility and click Apply. With this option chosen, you can search for routes that facilitate urban travel for people with reduced mobility. However, Google Maps has the following warning: “Be careful. Accessible routes do not always reflect actual conditions.”
It is also possible to find out if the places covered along the route are accessible by indicating the wheelchair icon. Tap one of the locations you want to check for accessibility conditions. The estimated arrival date and the wheelchair icon will appear next to it.
Remember where you parked your car
The difficult task of remembering where you parked your car is no longer a complication with the help of Google Maps.
Tap the blue dot that indicates your location. In the blue menu that opens, choose Save parking location. Google adds a red arrow that says You parked here. By tapping on more information, you can delete the arrow marked on the map where you parked, share the location of where you parked with others, enter notes, parking time and also add photos.
To find the location where you parked, type in the search bar parking location.
View and delete Google Maps history
Accessing the page My Activity, you will find a record of everything you search or access.
To see Maps data, click Filter by date and product. Then, choose the period and select Google Maps from the list of products that appear below and press Apply. All searches you have previously made on Google Maps will appear.
To delete all previous searches, click on the three dots and go to Delete results. You can also delete just a specific record from the list.
Enable anonymous browsing
By browsing in incognito mode, you prevent Google Maps from saving the browser you are using or your search history to your account or sending you notifications.
To enable incognito browsing, tap your profile photo, and then turn on Incognito Mode. Ready! At the top of the screen, the message will appear: “incognito mode is activated”.
To disable incognito browsing, tap your profile photo again, and then tap deactivate incognito mode.
In this mode, Google also does not use your activity data to personalize your experience using Maps, nor does it update your location history or shared location, but as with most web browsers, you are not invisible and also It doesn't affect how Internet providers, other apps, voice search, and other Google services use or save your data.
Automatically delete location history
On the My Activity page, click Location History 
Then select Auto-Delete 
Choose how often you want to delete your data from Google's server (more than 3 months, more than 18 months or more than 36 months) 
To delete all data records you have so far, press the Delete button, just below the Search your activity search box. 
In the Delete Activity window, choose Entire Period. 
Then click Delete
Google allows you to automatically delete your location history, establishing a period for this to happen: every 3 months, 18 months or 36 months. It is also possible to delete location data manually.
To do this, go to the page My Activity and click on Location History, which appears in the center of the screen. Next, go to automatic deletion. Then, choose how often you want to delete your data from the Google server (more than 3 months, more than 18 months or more than 36 months), including the places you've been, saved on Google Maps. Then click Next and Google will show you the Saved Preference confirmation.
To delete all data records you have so far, press the Delete button, just below the Search your activity search box. In the Delete activity window, choose Entire period, and then Delete.
It is also possible to delete just one location data manually. To do this, go to the page My Activity. In the Search your activity box, type the location you want to delete and select the Delete button, which will appear just to the right of the record you want to delete.
Share location with others
With Google Maps, you can share your current location with others for 15, 30, 45, 1 hour or until you opt out.
To do this, tap your profile icon and go to Share location. Choose the contact you want to share your location with, set the time and tap Share. The contact will see your icon moving in real time on the map.
You can also share a route and your destination using Google Maps ou view the location of the person you shared with.
Add your images to contribute to Street View
Since the end of 2020, you no longer need the 360º cameras from Google's famous cars for your “street view” to appear on the map, as the Street View now accepts images captured from Android phones, compatible with ARCore technology.
To take photos for Street View, a Create tab will appear, where you select Connected Photos to start capturing images, making a collage of photos in sequence, which guarantees the impression of movement when you click the forward or backward arrows.
Once captured, the images are published via the Street View application. Google automatically assigns the correct positioning and coordinates on the map to the photo collage in the generated sequence. And that's it: everyone will see the location you captured appearing on Street View.
Add music to your trips
If you always use Google Maps to guide you on a route while driving or walking, adding music to your trips can be a very useful feature, as you don't need to leave the app to listen to music. Just have Spotify or Apple Music installed on your phone and Maps syncs the music app for you.
To activate the feature, tap your profile icon and go to settings. Then go to Navigation Settings. Maps asks you which streaming app you want. When you choose, just click next. You will see a window with the application of your choice at the bottom. You can skip to the next song, go back or press play. You can also switch playlists by tapping the name of the song sequence currently playing, on the left.
Look for a charging station for electric cars
Electric car owners no longer struggle to find a charging station. This is because Google Maps displays the charging stations closest to you and you can even filter by the type of charging connectors available, as manufacturers of this type of vehicle tend to use different plugs: while Nissan cars have CHAdeMo connectors, BMW and Volkswagen use CCS and Tesla uses its own format.
You can find these locations by typing words like: electric car charging stations, electric vehicle charging stations or EV charging stations. Then go to More filters. In the Filters window, select Your Chargers. All available filter options will appear. Choose the option used by your car and go to Apply.
Save and share locations
To remember this location, tap save. To send the location to someone, tap Share Place 
Automatically opens the Save to list window. Select an option or to create a new one, go to New List To return to a previously saved location, tap Saved at the bottom of the screen and scroll to the list where you saved the location. 
To share the list with others, tap the three dots and scroll to Share list.
With Google Maps, you can share save and share places with others.
To do this, search or tap somewhere on the map. In the window that appears, swipe up to reveal more options.
To send the location to someone, tap Share Place if you want to send it via text message, email, or your preferred app (like WhatsApp, for example).
To remember this location, tap save. Automatically opens the Save to list window. Select an option or to create a new one, go to New List. Click ok and that's it. Confirmation appears that the location is saved in the desired list.
To return to a previously saved location, tap Saved at the bottom of the screen and scroll to the list where you saved the location.
You can also share a list of places with others. On the same screen, tap the three dots and go to Share list.
Become a Local Guide
Have you ever thought about earning points and having advantages just because you shared a comment, added missing places on the map, made corrections, updated information or added photos of locations? In the wake of gamification, communities and collaborative networks, Google Maps launched the Local Guide program, a way to encourage sharing, the formation of a sense of community, help people find the information they need and also encourage small businesses .
The program works like a game that has 10 levels. Each contribution is worth a number of points that allow you to level up in the program: with 15 points, you can access level 15 and to reach the maximum, you need 100 points. Points do not expire, but may decrease if Google detects a violation of its policies in any user contributions or content.
The benefits range from early access to new features and exclusive benefits from Google partners, or for example, free Play Music, free storage on Google Drive or a discount for movie rentals on Google Play. From level 4 onwards, you receive your first Local Guide badge, which means your contributions will be more visible.
To become a local guide, simply click the start button on the program page. In addition to following the program on your favorite social networks, you can also interact with the Google team and other local guides to exchange experiences and tips on the program page. Connect forum.
Source: PCMag | Google | Google | Google | Google | Engineering is | Reab | Local Guides | Localoo
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