14 DAY TRIAL // iOS customers who use Google Maps on their iDevices have a new update to download and install. Specifically aimed at users who are experiencing issues with the app, Google Maps 3.0.1 reportedly brings fixes for Navigation. If you’re planning a long trip, it’s probably a good idea to update your Google maps app.
Google begins to describe the 3.0.1 update by enumerating all the new additions that arrived as part of the 3.0.0 update a while back. However, the only change in the 3.0.1 build being offered today is that it “fixes occasional issues with Navigation.”
Basically, if you’ve noticed that Google Maps isn’t spot on, you shouldn’t panic or switch to Apple Maps (though Tim Cook & Co. would greatly appreciate that) and just download Google Maps 3.0.1 and see how it fares from then on.
For those of you who missed the 3.0.0 update, here’s a quick rundown of what else you’re going to get by installing this firmware.
Google Maps 3.0.0 brings turn-by-turn navigation with lane guidance and quick access to route overview, the ability to view travel time, distance, and estimated arrival in navigation mode at a glance, an option to save offline maps to a custom list for future travels where you might not have an Internet connection, and transit results with total walking time of your trip and the next scheduled bus or train.
Other new features include a filter search results for restaurants, bars, and hotels by rating, price, and opening hours, the ability to sign in to see your “Places to review” list from recently saved or searched for places, and the option to launch the Uber app right from Google Maps when comparing route options (if you have the Uber app installed, naturally).
With the 3.0.0 release, Google further introduced “things you’ve been asking for,” including access to contacts directly from the Google Maps app, the ability to tap and hold your finger on the map to drop a pin and save / share that location, Google Voice Search for searching without typing, and a new way to estimate distances on the map (scale bar).
Google Voice Search is supported in quite a few languages, while users can set the Google Maps interface to English, Arabic, Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.
iOS customers can download Google Maps 3.0.1 on any iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad with iOS 6.0 (or newer) or iOS 7.0 (or newer) installed.