TL;DR Google Maps may be considering a change to its interface for adding stops to a route.
Instead of seeing options on the map, you could choose them from a list, and also filter those results.
The new filters also appear to be in the works for Maps on Android Auto.
Plans change, but when they do, Google Maps is ready to roll with the punches. Even if we’re already in the middle of a journey, Maps makes it easy to search for new destinations along our route, and add them as new stops in just a couple taps. While that works great, Google has never been one to leave well enough alone, and we’ve spotted the company’s developers working on what looks like a new approach to how we add destinations like that.
Today we’re looking at version 25.42.02.817770306 of Google Maps for Android, and while you’ll see the regular old add-a-stop UI when running this release yourself, we’ve been able to trigger the appearance of a work-in-progress revision to this interface. Let’s start be reacquainting ourselves with how the system works now:
In Maps as we know it, after you initiate a search during navigation, you’ll see nearby destinations pop up on your map. Then when you tap on one of those, you’ll have the opportunity to confirm it as a stop you want to add.
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With this new release, Google’s also been building something that works slightly differently:
Instead of showing search results right on the map, here we instead get them in a screen-bottom card. Pulling that up displays details on those options — and notably adds a “Call” button to results. While it still shows how big of a detour these stops would be, though, the lack of being able to see exactly where they are in relation to us (and our planned route) does feel like a bit of a downgrade.
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