News & Reviews:   google maps

Apple is now reportedly considering bringing advertising support to its mapping service, Apple Maps, as early as 2026. That said, what should you know about it?

The world’s most popular web mapping platform, Google Maps, has announced that it will be displaying the ‘Gulf of Mexico’ as the ‘Gulf of America’ in the US following President Donald Trump’s Executive Order to rename the geographical area. Google Maps elaborated that the name change on the platform would take place after the US Geographic Names System has been officially updated.

Apart from Waze, Google Maps is also one of the most used apps to navigate around Malaysia. That said, Google just updated the app with a new feature - adding emojis to your favourite places.

If you’re an Android Auto user, then you must’ve encountered an annoying limitation that prevents Google Maps from being opened on your connected device when the app is opened on your car infotainment screen. Well, thanks to a new update, this has finally changed as the limitation is reportedly removed.

Previously, we reported that Google Maps on Wear OS 3 smartwatches now support turn-by-turn navigation without the need to link to a smartphone. Now, the Wear OS app has gotten another significant upgrade whereby users can let the display be continuously on while using Google Maps.

Previously, we reported on Google’s plans to introduce standalone Google Maps navigation support on Wear OS. True to its words, the tech giant recently announced that turn-by-turn Google Maps navigation on Wear OS without a smartphone is now available to users. 

Popular GPS navigation app Waze is testing a new feature that would warn users of potentially dangerous roads that have a “history of crashes” based on Waze community data. Currently in beta, the app would colour the road on the map red if it is deemed as high-risk.

Google has revealed that it will be merging its Google Maps and Waze teams under one department to cut costs and consolidate operations. Specifically, Waze, the mapping service acquired by Google way back in 2013 will be joining Google’s Geo organisation which also houses Google Earth and Google Street View.

Google has recently announced that it will be removing the standalone Google Street View app from both Google Play Store and Apple App Store in the “coming weeks”. Moreover, support for the app will also be discontinued in March 2023.

The iOS 16 lock screen has created a buzz after launching. Many took the chance to customize it with their styles, not to mention the lock screen widgets that help get you to be more productive in some ways. With that said, Google has also announced a series of lock screen widgets for iPhone users.