14 DAY TRIAL // It’s not a secret that Google isn’t quite the biggest Windows 10 supporter, and the company has no intention of bringing its apps on the platform, but in the meantime, developers who actually see the opportunity of reaching a growing audience work on third-party apps integrating Google services.
And one such example is Maps App Discovery (via WinBeta), an app that does the same thing as the already pretty popular GMaps: it lets you access Google Maps straight from your Windows 10 desktop in a more convenient way than by opening the browser.
As the description of the app posted in the Windows Store reveals, Maps App Discovery uses the “Google Maps API to deliver native-like Map experience for Windows 10,” coming with a pretty clean interface that’s based on Google’s famous Material Design language.
Google apps on Windows 10
At first glance, most features run smoothly, but we’ve also discovered that the app becomes rather slow at certain times, especially when searching for an address. Plus, it traced our location wrong several times, but it got it right after hitting refresh.
There’s also a Street View mode, which lets you access street-level imagery from your desktop, as well as support for directions to discover the best route to your destination. You can also add locations to favorites, save the last location and toggle between the default and a black theme.
Certainly, this is a good effort and shows that Google apps do have a future on Windows 10, despite the fact that the Mountain View-based search giant isn’t willing to bring its own services on Microsoft’s platforms.
Without a doubt, universal Google apps would be really successful, especially because there are plenty of users missing services such as Google Maps, Google+, or even Gmail, although you can set up a Google email account in Outlook or other third-party mail clients.
