Google Maps is a godsend on trips with the ability to bookmark places to visit and navigate around unfamiliar settings.
Its usefulness has just been taken up a notch as Google launches a new augmented reality feature named Live View which superimposes arrows and directions on your real life view of your surroundings on your smartphone screen so you’ll never get lost or veer off the path again.
The feature, which is still in its beta mode, was announced earlier this year at Google’s developer conference I/O and so far has been available to Google Pixel users for testing. Thanks to today’s rollout, the feature is coming to more devices including phones with Android 7 and above, such as all Pixel phones, the Huawei P20, Mate 20 and P30 ranges, Samsung Galaxy S7 and above as well as the iPhone 6S phones and above.
To try it out, search for a nearby location you want to visit or tap it on the map. Tap on the blue directions button near the bottom of the screen. Then, tap for walking directions near the top of the screen. After this, hit the ‘Live View’ button at the bottom of the screen and you can start navigating your way in AR.
Early reviews of the feature mention that it may cause battery power to dip when using this feature and it’s probably not going to become your primary navigation tool just yet. But it’s a cool way to use AR in real life, aside from just superimposing a funny filter onto your face.
If Citymapper is your favourite navigation app and you couldn’t possibly use anything else to get around, the app has a highly under-utilised 3D feature. When on a walking journey, take the 3D option at the top of the screen which gives you a better perspective of the route with a standard bird’s eye view. It’s not as revolutionary as AR directions but it comes in handy.
The Google Maps AR Live View feature is expanding to Android and iOS devices from this week so make sure to look out for it in Maps.
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