The most exciting Google Maps trick now delivers a must-have feature for managing the coronavirus

[Chris Smith]

• Google significantly upgraded the way it displays busyness information about places in Google Maps to provide more accurate data about crowdedness.
• Google Maps will tell users how busy a place is likely to be, showing the information prominently on the map and in the directions panel.
• The busyness information will also be included in the Live View AR experience, providing instant information about stores and restaurants that should help with social distancing precautions.

From the first months of the novel coronavirus pandemic, Google brought several new features to its most important products to help people manage these tough times. Google set up a COVID-19 resource information, gave COVID-19 coverage prominent placement inside News and YouTube, and updated Google Maps regularly with features meant to help people navigate the pandemic. Google Maps allowed store owners to update their listings with accurate information during lockdowns and offered warnings when users started looking for doctors. The app also started highlighting restaurants that deliver food at the time. Google also used location information to show whether communities were respecting lockdown measures. More recently, it added a new layer to Maps that offers information at-a-glance about the infectivity rate of a region and the trend so that people can alter travel plans in real-time.

This brings us to what might be one of the most important coronavirus-related changes Google made to Maps. And one of the best things about it is that it’ll work inside Google’s most exciting trick for Google Maps so far, Live View.

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The most exciting Google Maps trick now delivers a must-have feature for managing the coronavirus originally appeared on BGR.com on Fri, 16 Oct 2020 at 07:31:50 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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