One of Google’s most powerful and feature-rich apps is getting a makeover. Google Maps has started rolling out a refreshed bottom navigation bar that consolidates multiple tabs into a cleaner, more simplified layout.
The update, first spotted at the Google I/O conference last week, reduces Google Maps’ 5-tab bottom navigation bar to just 3 tabs: Explore, You, and Contribute. It’s a modest change, but one that should make navigating the app a little easier.
Previously, the bottom bar of Google Maps had separate tabs for Explore, Go, Saved, Contribute, and Updates. The new presentation combines the Go, Saved and Updates functions into a single unified “You” tab, which replaces the old saved bookmarks icon. The Explore and Contribute tabs remain unchanged, still providing quick access to Maps’ place discovery tools and the ability to submit edits and ratings, respectively.
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Google Maps simplifies its navigation bar
By grouping the Go, Saved and Updates sections, Google makes it easier to switch between current navigation, saved locations such as home/work addresses, offline maps, location sharing status and recent notifications. All the main user-facing features are now grouped in the centralized “You” tab.
Although it’s a small visual change, the result is a less cluttered bottom bar that might be more intuitive for new Google Maps users. This also allows the navigation application to be more in line with Google’s desire to improve the consistency of the designs of its mobile applications thanks to Material You. In fact, now you don’t even need to open Maps to follow a route.
Updating the three tab layout seems to be a change reserved for Android for the moment. Google Maps on iOS still displays the old 5-tab bottom bar as of this writing. Google confirmed the new Google Maps bottom bar design at the I/O conference, but didn’t provide many other details. According to reports from 9to5Google, the new look has started rolling out to some users on version 11.27.x of the Android app.