One of the early signs that Google might expand beyond search in all sorts of interesting and unexpected directions was the Google Maps release in 2005. Borne out of a series of acquisitions, the has grown over the years to encompass satellite imagery, millions of points of interest, street views, turn-by-turn navigation, traffic conditions, public transportation, and a good deal more. Google Maps boasts more than 1 billion active users today, making it the most popular navigation software in the world. How to save your home and work addresses One of the first things you should do with Google Maps is save your home and work addresses. To do this, open up Google Maps, tap the menu button — represented by the three horizontal lines in the top-left corner — and tap Your places. You can now ask Google Maps to navigate to Home or Work instead of having to enter the address. You can search for a place or touch it on the map, then touch and hold the blue Directions button at the bottom right, and Google Maps will choose the best route and launch straight into Navigation mode. If you want to tweak the route or change your mode of transport, then just tap it once, make your changes, then tap Start. How to share your real-time location If you want to share your location in real-time with family or friends then tap the menu button three lines in the top-left corner and choose Location sharing. You can tap the Add People icon at the top right to choose how long you want to share your location for and Select People to share with. If they have a Google account then your position will be shared with them in their Google Maps app; otherwise, it will be sent as a link they can tap. You can also choose to share your location via a host of other apps like Facebook Messenger. Anyone who is sharing their location with you will have their own tab at google maps app satellite view top of the screen and you can tap on it to see where they are. How to share a location Just tap and hold on any location to drop a pin. Tap the address section at the bottom of the screen to expand it, then tap Share. If someone is having trouble finding your location, then a photo view of the front of the actual building can help. Check the next tip for how to share Street Views directly. How to see Street View on mobile If you want to see a photo of your location, then you need Street View. Touch and hold on the map to drop a pin on your chosen location, then tap at the bottom where it says Dropped pin or the address to bring the information up. You should see an image of the location near the bottom of your screen. You can share that Street View by tapping the menu in the top-right corner and tapping Share. If you scroll down, then you can narrow your search by choosing one of the categories. You can also search for whatever you need by typing in the search bar at the top, or do a voice search by tapping the microphone icon at the top right. How to zoom one-handed Everyone is used to pinching in order to zoom in and out, but you can also zoom one-handed in Google Maps. How to view maps offline A lot of users complain that one of the major weaknesses of Google Maps is the fact that you need to be online to use it. Actually, you can download and view maps offline with a little planning. After doing so, you google maps app satellite view name your map and save it. Your saved maps will be listed in the Google Maps menu, which is accessible by tapping the three horizontal lines at the top left google maps app satellite view you first launch the app. Take a look under Your places, and scroll along to the Maps tab to find your offline maps. Offline maps are pretty limited, unfortunately. In order google maps app satellite view do it, simply tap on the place you want to save on the map, expand the information by tapping on the address at the bottom, and then tap Save. You can choose to save it as a favorite place with the heart icon, mark it as a place you want to go, or add it to your starred places list. When a location has been saved, the Save option will switch to Saved with the relevant icon. How to check bus and train timetables You can also use Google Maps to check up on bus and train times to any location. Simply enter the location you want to travel to in the search bar, tap on Directions and tap on the icon of the train at the top. If you want to check when a later train is available or see when the last train leaves, then tap where it says Depart at and enter a specific time, or you can tap on Last to find your latest option. You can also filter the results by type of transport bus, train, undergroundand set preferences in terms of fewer transfers or less walking via Options in the top-right corner. You can use the calendar located in the top-left corner to select specific dates, or date ranges to see weeks and months. Toggle it off completely, or choose specific devices that you want it turned off for.
