In Google Maps, navigating to nearby destinations will soon take just seconds. A new traffic widget is designed to make route planning quicker and more convenient.
Google Maps gets a new traffic widget for Android. (Source: Google / Screenshot: Netzwelt)
Google has given its in-house route planner a new Android widget. The mini-application informs you about your current position directly on your Android start screen and shows the traffic situation in your immediate vicinity. So you no longer have to open the Google Maps app for every short route. This could prove very handy and become one of the most popular features of the app.
As is usual with such widgets, you can zoom in and out with a simple tap, as product manager Luke Wroblewski shared on the Google blog.
Feature likely to be available soon
When exactly the function will be available on Android devices is not mentioned in the blog entry, but it should be ready in the coming weeks.
Google Maps: Strange pictures and creepy finds
Curiosities in Google Maps
A Mc Donald’s in the Australian outback? Is the group really building a branch here? (Source: Google Maps / Peter Bagusauskas) [Auf einer Seite anzeigen | Als Story anzeigen]
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What’s that swimming in the water? The answer is far less scary than I thought. (Source: Google Maps / Maxar Technologies, US Geological Survey USDA Farm Service Agency) [Auf einer Seite anzeigen | Als Story anzeigen]
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Behind this cage in Alaska is something completely different than expected. (Source: Google Maps / Landsat / Copernicus, Maxar Technologies, Municipality of Anchorage, US Geological Survey) [Auf einer Seite anzeigen | Als Story anzeigen]
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No, these are not giant jellyfish, but something completely different. (Source: Google Maps / Maxar Technologies, USDA Farm Service Agency) [Auf einer Seite anzeigen | Als Story anzeigen]
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This drawing is not an optical illusion, it is real. To this day, however, the Marree Man remains a mystery to us. (Source: Google Maps / CNES / Airbus, Maxar Technologies) [Auf einer Seite anzeigen | Als Story anzeigen]
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From the air, the “Badlands Guardian” in Canada looks like an ancient warrior. (Source: Google Maps / Airbus, Maxar Technologies, S. Alberta MD’s and Counties) [Auf einer Seite anzeigen | Als Story anzeigen]
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A former resident spotted the car wreck on an aerial image from Google Earth. The police made a chilling discovery inside. (Source: Google Earth / Maxar Technologies) [Auf einer Seite anzeigen | Als Story anzeigen]
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You can discover this kissable mouth in Sudan. (Source: Google Maps / CNES / Airbus, Maxar Technologies) [Auf einer Seite anzeigen | Als Story anzeigen]
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In Porters Lake, the city government was particularly creative in choosing street names. (Source: Google Maps) [Auf einer Seite anzeigen | Als Story anzeigen]
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Has a giant sandworm left its mark here? Probably not – the tracks are man-made. It is an artwork called “Desert Breath”. (Source: Google Maps / CNES / Airbus, Maxar Technologies) [Auf einer Seite anzeigen | Als Story anzeigen]
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A Morse code has been painted on the street in front of the Resistance Museum in Oslo. (Source: Google Maps / Maxar Technologies) [Auf einer Seite anzeigen | Als Story anzeigen]
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“On the Road to Nowhere” – the road with this name really exists, but what lies at the end, where does it lead? (Source: Google Maps / CNES / Airbus, Maxar Technologies) [Auf einer Seite anzeigen | Als Story anzeigen] Picture 12/16
Drone or artwork? This aerial photo from Google Maps is causing wild discussions on Reddit. (Source: Google Maps / Bluesky, Maxar Technologies, Sanborn) [Auf einer Seite anzeigen | Als Story anzeigen]
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This well-fortified island in the Indian Ocean could be straight out of a James Bond film. In fact, it was apparently built by the Chinese military. (Source: Google Maps / Maxar Technologies) [Auf einer Seite anzeigen | Als Story anzeigen]
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Flying needs to be learned, as this witch in Argentina shows us. (Source: Google Maps) [Auf einer Seite anzeigen | Als Story anzeigen]
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These symbols are intended to guide Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard home when he returns to earth. (Source: Google Maps/ Maxar Technologies, NMRGIS, USDA Farm Service Agency) [Auf einer Seite anzeigen | Als Story anzeigen]
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The same blog entry also mentions a total of 35 Google widgets to be released with the Google Maps Gadget. However, this is currently struggling in Germany because the Federal Cartel Office has taken legal action against Google Maps.
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