6 tricks you don’t know to get the most out of the maps app

Google is one of the technology companies that is closest to having a monopoly in several products. The most obvious is the search engine, which in countries like Spain has around 90% of the market share. It is true that it does so because of its higher quality, but the penetration of Android also helps. And this is another of those products in which there seems to be no competition in certain markets..

Google Maps is possibly the most overlooked of the large servicesbecause it works so well and has so few complaints that users hardly bother to look for alternatives. Currently giants like Amazon, Apple and Microsoft are trying to power an alternative, but it’s a long shot.

Most of the time Google Maps is used is to navigate using a route from one point to another, but. there are more and more functions in this application. Some of them are well known, but others go largely unnoticed by users. For example, it is possible to share the location, measure a distance and much more.

Measuring distances. One of the most useful functions of the application is somewhat hidden. From the cell phone you can find out the distance in a straight line between any two points. However, they cannot be points of interest or places, although you can select points very close to them.

What we have to do is to leave pressed on one of the ends that we want to measure and when the lower menu appears, slide up. At that moment we will look for the option Measure Distance, and we will select it. On the map we will move the line to establish the second point. In real time, the distance between both ends will appear at the bottom of the screen.

If we want to make a measurement of several segments just press on the icon of the white + symbol on blue background in the lower right corner and go moving the next point by sliding your finger on the screen. If you want to undo a section, click on the arrow in the upper right corner, where there is also the option to delete. Of course, distances are always calculated in a straight line, not surfaces.

Set departure or arrival time. One of the reasons why Google Maps is widely used in many countries is because it has real-time traffic information thanks to the GPS positioning of millions of cell phones. But it also has a data history that allows predicting, with some accuracy, how traffic will be in future days.

To set a route in the future and know what time we will need to travel it you have to select the two points in the normal way and then click on the icon of the three dots in the upper right corner to click on Define departure or arrival time. Set the desired time and the route is calculated. The only difference with respect to a normal route is that the date for which the route has been calculated will appear at the top.

Share location with a code. In an application that literally works based on addresses it is easy to share a location but, in many cases, there are no addresses, because it is a path or a stretch of road. Even in the middle of the desert. To share these places, coordinates are used. Simply click on the place, slide down the bottom menu and click on the Plus Code address. To search for it, simply paste it into the app’s search engine.

Make a reservation at a restaurant. More and more restaurants are focusing part of their strategy on Google Maps since many potential customers see the reviews before going to the site. But in addition to being able to see photos or read experiences, many allow you to book directly from the app.

To do this, you have to open the restaurant’s tab, click on the Book icon and select the date and time. A list of times that can be selected will appear, which will vary depending on what each restaurant establishes. When we choose one we must go to the last screen, which allows us to confirm data, put some comment, such as if a high chair or space for a wheelchair is needed, etc.

Shortcuts for routes. If we use the mobile app to go to certain places a lot and we do not want to look for them every time it is possible to set those addresses at the bottom of the screen. Simply click on “Go” in the bottom menu, slide up the suggestions panel that appears at the bottom and pin the suggestions by clicking on the pushpin button. They will then appear at the top of the bottom sliding menu.

Share your location. Although in Spain WhatsApp is the default application to share your location with someone, Google Maps also has this function, with an added advantage: it allows you to know the battery percentage of the mobile of that person, to be aware of whether it runs out of power. In addition, if we click on the icon with its avatar to create a route by car or on foot or otherwise from where we are to where that person is.

To share the location on Google Maps we have to click on the blue icon that marks the place where we are. Once there we have to select the option Share location. In the window that appears we select the number of hours we want to share that location, or select the option to share until it is manually canceled.