Get bus and train directions on the go with Google Maps for mobile
Thursday, June 5, 2008 | 11:04 AM
Joe Hughes, Software Engineer
Ever since Google Maps added public transportation directions for San Francisco, it's been a lot easier for me to figure out which buses and trains will get me where I'm going around town, so that today's gas prices take less of a toll on my wallet. Even so, I've often found myself wishing that I had an easy way to get transit directions while I'm out and about.
Enter the new version of Google Maps for mobile. This version (2.2) allows you to get transit directions in all the same places as the web version of Google Maps, including Chicago, the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Vancouver, and over 40 other cities in North America.
This version of Google Maps for mobile even has a few tricks not yet available on the desktop version of Google Maps. For instance, you can find the last transit trips of the day (to figure out how late you can stay at the party) and more easily browse through earlier or later trips. The My Location feature, available on most phones, also makes it easier to set the start point of your journey.
To see how the transit feature of Google Maps for mobile works, take a look at this quick video walkthrough with my co-worker Ryan:
This version of Google Maps for mobile also includes a bunch of other goodies, like faster searching on BlackBerry devices and star ratings for businesses. It's currently available for BlackBerry devices and many other Java-based phones. To download it to your phone visit http://www.google.com/gmm from your phone's web browser or on the desktop.
We're working to bring public transit directions to Google Maps on other devices, so stay tuned!
Labels: google maps for mobile, Mobile Blog, transit
37 comments:
DadAgain said...
Does this version fix the GPS functionality with the Curve 8330? The previous version didn't work.
June 5, 2008 at 11:43 AM
Mike Macias said...
When will you have this for Symbian smartphones in a .sis format!
I noticed you guys have added favorites with the ability to import from Nokia Maps. No mention of this?
June 5, 2008 at 12:35 PM
Anonymous said...
No cell service in Manhattan subway system though. Hmmmm...
June 5, 2008 at 1:36 PM
Unknown said...
When will Google update their Palm OS version to include this new feature and the My Location Feature?
The Palm API supports this!
http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/8094/palm-to-support-google-maps-my-location-after-all/
June 5, 2008 at 1:47 PM
Unknown said...
I just tried downloading it on my Blackjack II and the only version available for download was 2.1... Is it not up yet?
June 5, 2008 at 2:01 PM
Chip said...
So how come Google Mobile Updater doesn't show version 2.2?
June 5, 2008 at 2:12 PM
B said...
The reason I subscribed to this blog was for this post. I have been waiting a while for this. Cheers and keep up the good work!
June 5, 2008 at 5:04 PM
About us - said...
Its killing me that I have a Palm Centro and I can't get the updated GMM. Please update this and publicize it.
June 5, 2008 at 5:25 PM
Drew said...
I agree with Chip - why didn't this appear on Google mobile updater?
June 5, 2008 at 6:38 PM
The Turtle said...
Calm down, boyz, goto the GMM site and have the thing send a link to your phone. On that page, you can download 2.2. I just did it, it's about 450K in size and requires a reboot. And no, Mobile Updater still thinks 2.1 is the current rev.
June 5, 2008 at 6:56 PM
Drew said...
I think our point was more about the sprawling nature of some of these updates. Is there really a reliable way to keep track of the newest Goog stuff and stay updated? I wonder if there have ever been two matching, simultaneous projects unaware of each other?
June 5, 2008 at 7:04 PM
andy said...
On my Nokia N95, the latest version is 2.1.0.14. Please update for Symbian S60 3rd edition people soon!!!
June 5, 2008 at 7:18 PM
Andy said...
I've been bugging every Google person I've come in contact about this and I'm happy it's finally been added, but please tell me it's also coming to the iPhone?
This and unformatted outbound links from Google Reader Mobile were my two big requests that I've been asking for the last year.
June 5, 2008 at 8:49 PM
Pauly said...
I can confirm the GPS works with 8330!
June 6, 2008 at 3:33 AM
Roger said...
2.2 isn't available for the Motorola Q9h yet. :(
June 6, 2008 at 7:59 AM
Romulus said...
I couldn't care less about My Location; I don't need Google or anyone else knowing where I am.
But there's absolutely no reason that Palm users should be denied the transit directions feature. We uses buses too. In fact, we probably use buses more than the ultra-yuppies that blow their money on the hot new cell phone flavor of the month.
Bad enough Google waited months to release the original GMM for Palm. Quit leaving us in the cold. PalmOS is still a major PDA platform.
June 6, 2008 at 10:10 AM
zathman said...
Works perfectly on my Blackberry 8310 - Thank you very much! I've been secretly hoping for this functionality ever since Google added RTD to their Transit site.
June 6, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Anonymous said...
Thanks a lot,but,when i try to download it , it tels me " Not found"?! is this from you or my phone ?!
June 6, 2008 at 12:55 PM
eat. bike. shoot. said...
So I've tried this twice now. Once yesterday and once today, using two different methods. Yesterday I pointed my phone's browser to the site mentioned above, but 2.2 wasn't available.
Today I tried going the traditional route by entering my phone number on the mobile website. I shortly received a text directing me to Google's mobile page which contained (among other links) a download link for Google Maps. I downloaded it, installed it, and found out that it's version 2.1.0.10.
Did I do something wrong? Is the link still not updated?
June 6, 2008 at 1:25 PM
Unknown said...
bring it to iPhone/iPod Touch baby. We'll be looking for it on Monday at WWDC ;-)
seriously though... nice work.
June 6, 2008 at 5:53 PM
Joshua said...
When will gmm version 2.2 be released for the moto q9c??
June 6, 2008 at 6:24 PM
Nuruddeen said...
You guys at Google are awesome! This is one of the best ideas I've heard of in a long time. Keep up the good work.
June 6, 2008 at 10:16 PM
Unknown said...
Please let this roll out internationally faster than other Google Apps tend to. Google usually doesn't mind letting people wait a year or two before bringing in features the US have had for ages.
At least in the major capitals (London, Paris, Tokyo, Beijing - Olympics coming up!), which all have world-renowned transport systems, we should be able to get some directions.
June 7, 2008 at 3:20 AM
Unknown said...
I really wanted to watch, but that guy is so annoying.
June 7, 2008 at 7:00 AM
Fred Fnord said...
> Bad enough Google waited months to release the
> original GMM for Palm. Quit leaving us in the cold.
> PalmOS is still a major PDA platform.
Jesus. Google puts out a product for free that doesn't even have any ad support or anything, that they in NO WAY make any actual money off of (so far as I can see), and people start thinking it's some kind of entitlement.
-fred
June 9, 2008 at 5:43 PM
Richard MacKinnon said...
I just now tried the download and the text message/link methods and received version 2.1.0.10. How come some people seem to have access to 2.2 but others don't?
--r
June 10, 2008 at 11:48 AM
Unknown said...
For which devices is this service available? It would be very helpful to know as I would like to demo it tomorrow during a meeting with a public transportation company...
June 11, 2008 at 1:34 AM
alsam said...
I just updated mu Curve 8310. I like the new look. A bit of a problem, when I search, it the text I enter is white on a white background.
June 11, 2008 at 9:22 AM
Unknown said...
Did the GPS update rate change on 2.2?
On 2.1 I'm pretty certain that it updated every second. On 2.2 it seems to update about once every 5 seconds.
This is not very useful when traveling in a car and looking for for a turn-off. You can be WAY past it before the map updates your position.
If the update rate did change, any chance of a 2.2.1 which allows setting the update rate back to 1 second?
June 12, 2008 at 9:58 AM
DadAgain said...
Okay, this version is broken on the Blacberry 8330. It won't allow pasting in the search form.
June 12, 2008 at 2:20 PM
Sandro Mancini said...
Google, this year alone, 2 *million* Palm Centros will be sold. A native Facebook client has been released this week for PalmOS. GMM for PalmOS not being updated by Google is not a wise decision. So please be true to your "don't be evil" motto, and support us PalmOS smartphone users, not just the 'hip and cool'! We're still in the millions, ok? :-) And consider this: Centros are entry-level priced, and particularly popular among the young, thrift and *poor* (specially in third world countries). Those are people who benefit A LOT from having such a great tool in their cell phones! This goes very well with your "do good" motto. ;-)
June 13, 2008 at 11:24 AM
Matthew Weinstein said...
One important feature that I had on Palm G-Maps but not on my Blkberry is ability to add a business to my contacts. One can only add to "favorites" (& only a few at that)...less than useful. How come?
Matt
Bklyn NY
June 19, 2008 at 8:19 PM
N. W. Carlson said...
Please help me out and release 2.2 for Windows Mobile 6! :) I am going to San Francisco for vacation July 31st so I'd really appreciate having it by then!
Thanks for rocking my face off with all your other awesome mobile apps for FREE!!!
July 8, 2008 at 7:19 PM
Unknown said...
For the love of god, release gmm v2.2 for Windows Mobile users, please.
July 15, 2008 at 5:54 PM
Unknown said...
Where is v2.2 for Windows Mobile? Your Windows Mobile page clearly states that you can get transit directions but it won't until you release v2.2 for Windows Mobile!
July 24, 2008 at 11:42 AM
Scott Pettersen said...
Update location used to work. Now it say Unavailable on my T-Mobile Dash.
Going to try newer version now, otherwise I will have to try and load a older version.
I save all my .CAB files for this very reason.
September 13, 2008 at 3:31 AM
Dinal Samaranayake said...
Does the My Location Feature work on Nokia 5320XM?
February 12, 2009 at 2:20 AM
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