We were waiting for a good update to Maps. One of those apps that gave a lot of strength to the Android operating system and that allowed Google to cajole other users of other OS for mobile devices, as it was at the time with iOS. An application that we have criticized at some point for forgetting those offline or offline maps, and that allowed other apps, such as HERE Maps, to attract a large number of users who are looking for high quality offline maps. so that, at that moment in which they cannot access data for whatever reason, they can continue browsing without major problems.
Now Google has released version 9.19 of Maps for Android in which it brings a good series of news and improvements including driving mode and audio alerts among many other features. Other new features are in a new settings screen in the timeline that allows you to have more control over those parameters that we want to adjust and what would be an option to activate the audio, located in the navigation mode, which will facilitate the deactivation of these notifications by turn by turn voice. In short, a great update for one of the best apps that we can have on a mobile device such as one under Android.
A great update
We missed an update like this that brings us some very palpable news when one uses this great online and offline map app. We can stand out the new driving mode that uses the knowledge that Google has of your habits and what the search history is to predict where you are going when you are driving with your car, in order to offer even more useful information.
So that navigation through Google Maps takes another level and offers accurate information so that the user does not have to waste time on certain manual settings and focus primarily on driving.
The new driving mode is mainly dedicated to keeping you informed while you are directed to your destination. This mode is a new version of navigation mode that uses location history and web searches to make claims about where you are driving to provide traffic updates and potential outages. Something we have in Google's own app with Waze.
This new mode can be launched from a shortcut on the main screen or from the navigation panel. For those who want to use it from this update, you should activate it manually from Settings> Navigation settings> Add shortcut to driving mode. Tell you that to activate this shortcut you must go to all the menus, close the application and even restart the device so that it appears. Once it is active you will be able to see the option of the new active driving mode. This is due to a bug that will be fixed soon.
Activating audio in navigation
One of the most important improvements that is closely linked to the new driving mode is the audio button to switch between the three options Most important: muted, alerts only, and active. Alerts are only displayed in navigation while muted, and the asset appears in both navigation and the new driving mode. Switching between the different audio modes will take a few taps, but it's definitely more intuitive than it was before.
Thus we will have real control over the audio, since at times it can be a bit annoying.
"Your timeline" settings
We already knew how Google added the timeline in Maps in order to know the history of locations that we are leaving in our step. In this update is enhanced with a number of features as it is a settings screen with new ways to control what we want to see and what type of data is collected.
When you open the timeline view and click on the drop-down menu, the option "Manage location settings" has been replaced by "history settings by date". This new screen offers some ways to restrict the use of your data and add some options to determine if you want the images to appear in Google Photos or if the activity or search app should take a more important role in editing the locations.
A question. I have version 9.21.0 and that function does not appear to me.
Do you know anything about how to activate it? Thank you!