Google released an update to Google Maps for Android smartphones and introduced an all new feature called Driving Mode. And what’s so special about it? Well, it guesses where you want to go. Driving Mode make assumptions about where you’re going based on your regular routes and recent searches and then shoots up relevant informations at you to make things easier for the user. This can come pretty handy specially in times when it’s a little burdensome to manually pick each destination, especially if you already know where you’re going. Its somewhat like Google’s very own Google Now – an intelligent personal assistant that answer questions, make recommendations, and perform actions by delegating requests to a set of web services.
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On being asked, how exactly the Driving Mode works, a Google spokesman informed, “Destination predictions is based on home / work addresses you have set location history data, and recent search history. Based on location and time of day, Google Map driving mode will show ETAs for recently searched-for destinations.”
There is basically two ways one can access Driving Mode. On one hand, you can add the Driving Mode short-cut to your home-screen. Got to Android widgets and select the Google Maps driving shortcut icon. On the other hand, you can head to Google maps and then tap the sidebar menu, and select the ‘Start Driving’ option.
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For now Drive Mode is only available in English and to just seven countries – U.S., United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore and Great Britain. Apart from Driving Mode, Google Maps has got new timeline settings where you can choose if you want your web and app activities to appear in your timeline among other things.
You can download the new version now from Google Play.