Google announced today that it"s adding three new features to Google Maps. The navigation app now comes with improved transit directions, so you can easily see the best route to take based on factors like trip length, number of transfers, and ETA.
The updated transit navigation will start rolling out to Android and iOS devices in the coming weeks. Google Maps will let you customize transit directions with route options such as the type of transit you want to take or if you want to walk less.
Google Maps will also display precise indicators for station entrances and exits, clear walking route to and from these locations, and which side of the road they are on. This functionality will be available in 80 cities across the globe, including Berlin, Boston, London, Madrid, New York City, Paris, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto.
Google has updated the lists feature on Maps with support for collaboration. You can plan upcoming trips with your friends by creating a new collaborative list in Google Maps or sharing an existing one. Each person who joins the list can add new places and react to other places with an emoji.
Collaborative lists will also start rolling to Android and iOS devices in the coming weeks. Apart from that, Google Maps has also added the ability to react with emojis on photos, videos, or reviews posted on the platform.
You can choose the emoji you like or use mashups generated by Emoji Kitchen. Google said that the feature has started rolling out today on Android and iOS. Speaking of emojis, the search giant is trying to put them wherever it can, including Google Sheets and even Gmail.
The new changes have arrived several weeks after Google added a host of AI features and Immersive View to Google Maps. Meanwhile, its subsidiary Waze added support for crash history alerts to caution drivers about accident-prone roads.