Take your places and searches to go with Google Maps for mobile

Tuesday, February 2, 2010 | 12:24 PM

If you often use both a computer and a mobile phone in your daily routine, it can seem like a hassle when they don't stay in sync. You might spend time on your computer looking for a great used bookstore, only to forget the name of the place when you are ready to get directions from your phone. Sure, you could print directions in advance, but we believe smartphones are "smart" because they save you time. That's why today we're making your phone a bit smarter with the introduction of personalized suggestions and synchronized starring in Google Maps for mobile on Android.


Personalized suggestions make it easy to find places you've previously searched for. For example, imagine you're on your computer and you come across the Place Page for Mario's Bohemian Cigar Store Cafe. After reading reviews, you decide to stop in for lunch. When you're ready to go and want to get directions, just open Google Maps on your phone, start typing "mar," and you'll quickly see a suggestion - saving you from re-typing a long query and making it easier and faster to be on your way.













In addition, starring is a great way to save places to access them later. So whether you're standing at Amoeba Music with your phone or making plans to go there on your computer, you can star it so it appears on the map next time you're on either device. When viewing place details, just press the star icon next to the place name; these starred places are automatically synchronized between desktop and mobile, and can be accessed from both the "More" menu on your phone and from the My Maps tab on your computer.













Starring and personalized suggestions both require you to be signed in with your Google account, and your Web History must be enabled in order to use personalized suggestions.With synchronized starring and personalized suggestions, we hope to make your life easier when taking places and searches between your computer and phone. Both features are available in Google Maps 3.4. On Nexus One phones, you'll get this version of Maps after you accept the over-the-air update that started today. For other Android devices, starring and personalized suggestions will soon be available by downloading Google Maps 3.4 from Android Market. Lastly, be sure to check out the newly added "night mode" in Navigation, which will automatically turn on for easier Navigation viewing at night.

14 comments:

Pederson said...

...BlackBerry?

Matt Penniman said...

Will pinch-to-zoom be available for Droid in Google Maps 3.4, as it is for Nexus One?

Adam Brenecki said...

Come on Google, when will we be getting updates for Maps in Market (HTC Magic with Android 1.6 on Vodafone in Australia)? I still don't even have Google Transit.

JamesReb said...

Is it currently not avail on the Market? I've been searching and can't find it for my VZW Droid Eris.

Botogol said...

- how about a 2d barcode that I can point my phone at to take me to the download?

(searching for google maps in market yields 287 results).

Georgi Kodinov said...

What about iPhone ? Will you ever update this app ?

lowlight said...

Any word on 3.4 for Windows Mobile?

Google Maps is one of the few Google Mobile apps done right on Windows Mobile, so I am looking forward to the new version :)

Marcus Tucker said...

No mention of a 3.4 release for Symbian S60v3/5 either? Please at least attempt treat all mobile platforms equally/fairly by acknowledging them all.

I suggest that the best way to do this would be to include a table of each supported mobile platform and the expected release date for the new version, and to consistently use this table for all future announcements of new releases.

At least that way we can all be sure that you haven't forgotten our platform and know when we can expect to be able to download the new version.

Unknown said...

Would be nice to know when the new features will trickle down to the other platforms. Looking forward to the star sync, the night mode and spoken directions to the blackberry gmaps. Also looking forward to fixing the multi-day event bug on calendar sync.

Unknown said...

How do I sync starred items with my Google Apps account on my Android G1? I can't login with my Apps account in Maps on my desktop it seems, I'm using that on my Android though.

Dylan Weaver said...

Is there any way to turn night mode on/off manually?

Paul said...

you need to change the time of day on your phone to enable night mode

Tobie de Beer said...

Any idea when we can expect navigation for outside USA?

WPWoodJr said...

Blackberry Storm 2 needs a Google Maps update badly - its laggy and slow, and sometimes scrolls way too fast.