Google maps for Android celebrates 50 billion kms of travel; followed by a new version (6.5) release
The Google maps for Android Team must have celebrated big time yesterday. Why wouldn’t they; after all it has helped all of us in traveling places with ease of directions and in turn have covered 50 billion kilometers of turn by turn directions. Excerpt from the official Google mobile blogspot:
Every day, millions of people turn to Google Maps for Android for free, voice-guided GPS navigation to guide them to their destination. So far, Navigation on Google Maps for Android has provided 50 billion kilometers of turn-by-turn directions, the equivalent of 130,000 trips to the moon, 334 trips to the sun, 10 trips to Neptune or 0.005 light years!
Google Maps 6.5 for Android:
The journey will not end sooner for this Team. The innovation is still on and is evident by the release of Google Maps 6.5 for Android we’ve redesigned the Navigation home screen in Android 4.0+ to make it easier to enter a new destination or select from recent and favorite locations by swiping left or right.
Better view for high pixel density screens:
Also now phones with high pixel density screens can experience higher resolution map tiles in Google Maps for Android that take better advantage of the pixels-per-inch on your screen for a crisper, less cluttered map that is easier to read and view.
A comparison can be found below between the old and the new styles. No explanation required to figure out the differences in enhancements. The new version has clearly paved way to a clearer road networks and with a better color contrast. The new version is directly proportional to panning, zooming, and twisting actions.
Left: Old; Right: New
Transit mode and route option:
And WOW! This time they were come with the transit and route options mode. This should lessen your traveling efforts as it lets you choose to prioritize a particular transit mode (such as the bus or subway) and route option (like taking the recommended route, one with fewer transfers or one with less walking), giving you the least distance recommendations of traveling.
Ankur
You may be relying on a travel map to get you to your destination, but if you are unfamiliar with the map, you may encounter difficulties with reading it. However, you can learn to read a map and make your trip much easier.