Real-time live location sharing
Google Maps will allow iPhone users to share their real-time location using Apple’s native messaging app — iMessage. Users will be able to do this through the iMessage app where they will be able to see the Google Maps button. Tapping on this will enable users to share location for one hour by default, however, it can extend up to three days. In order to stop sharing the real-time location, users will have to tap the “stop” button on the thumbnail. We checked for this feature in iMessage and were able to spot and use it.
Google Maps search widget
With the iOS 14, Apple had rolled out support for widgets with an aim to make it easier to access apps. Now, the company has rolled out the search widget for Google Maps to allow iPhone users to look for places marked as favourites and other frequent destinations easily. Google already allows Chrome, Gmail, Search to be added as widgets. The new widget design shows that it will be divided in two sections — one that shows traffic situations and the other that shows shortcuts to favourite places as well as other essential places.
Dark Mode support
Lastly, Google Maps now comes with support for Dark Mode. Dark Mode was rolled out to iOS devices as part of iOS 13 about two years ago and now Google Maps offers support for it. Google says that this feature starts rolling out in the coming weeks. In order to enable it, iPhone users will have to head to Settings, tap on dark mode, then select “On”. The app supports Dark Mode to align with the iPhone’s system settings.
