Picture this: you’re using Google Maps to navigate to a place you’ve never been before and time is running out, but you did it! You have found the location, but there is a problem: you don’t know how to get into any building and panic arises. Maybe that’s just me, but if you can figure it out, it looks like we’re getting some good news: Google Maps is testing a feature that shows you exactly where you can enter buildings.
According to Android PoliceGoogle Maps is working on a feature that shows user entrance indicator icons for selected buildings. I can immediately see how this could make it easier to find your way in and out of a location. Loading markers this way would require a lot of internet data if it were done for every suitable building in a given area, especially metropolitan and densely populated areas, but it appears that Google has taken this into account; the entrance icons only become visible if you select a precise location and zoom in closely.
Google Maps is a hugely popular app for navigation and looking up recommendations for various activities, such as finding attractions or places to eat. If you’ve ever done this in practice, you may have had a situation like I described above, especially if you’re trying to find your way around a larger attraction or building. Finding the right entrance to a trade fair center or sports stadium can be a nightmare. Places like these often have multiple entrances with different accessibility options, such as underground train stations that span several streets.
Google’s experiments should help users better manage those parts of their journey, starting with only certain users and certain buildings for now, by displaying icons showing where you can enter and exit a place (for example, if there is only exit/ access doors). example). This feature follows the introduction of Google Maps’ recent addition of indicators for the best station entrances and exits for public transport users.
The current status of the new feature
Android Police tested the new feature on Google Maps version 11.17.0101 on a Google Pixel 7a. As Google apparently intended, Google Maps showed the entrances to a place only when it was selected and while the user zoomed in, showing a white circle with a symbol indicating “entrance.” That said, Android Police was unable to use the feature on other devices running the latest version of Google Maps for different regions, suggesting that Google Maps is gradually rolling out this feature after limited and measured testing.
While using the Google Pixel 7a, Android Police tested various types of buildings, including hotels, doctor’s offices, supermarkets, hardware stores, cafes and restaurants in cities such as New York City, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Berlin. Some places had these new entrance and exit markings and others did not, which likely means that Google is still working on collecting accurate and up-to-date information about these places, most likely through the StreetView tool. Another problem that emerged was that some of the indicated entrances were not in the right place, but teething problems are inevitable and this problem seemed to be more common on smaller buildings where it is actually easier to find the entrance once you get there are.
The entrances were sometimes marked by a green arrow instead of a white circle, and it is not clear at this time exactly what it means when a green arrow or a white circle is used. Google Maps has a reputation for being a very helpful, functional and often reliable app, so whatever new features are introduced, Google will likely want to make sure they meet a certain standard. I hope they complete the necessary stages of experimenting and implementing this new feature, and I look forward to using it as soon as possible.