Megan Ellis / Android Authority
While most people associate Google Maps with real-time navigation, the app has packed in plenty of features over the years. While some of these are related to its main purpose, like offline maps, there is also a lot of helpful info you can find in the app.
As a result, even though I don’t travel to new places all that much, I still find myself using the app pretty often.
In fact, Google Maps often saves me from having to visit a location first to figure out whether there’s parking, how long it will take to get there during peak traffic, and whether a certain suburb has any interesting spots. Here are a few of the ways I use Google Maps even when I don’t need it to direct me when driving.
Do you use Google Maps for something besides navigation? 13 votes Using Street View to scout locations. 31 % Checking out traffic and travel times. 38 % Finding nearby points of interest. 23 % Getting business hours. 8 % Something else (let us know in the comments). 0 %
1. Refreshing my memory
Megan Ellis / Android Authority
There used to be a time when I used Google Maps whenever I was driving. My sense of direction is generally terrible, so I was never really confident in my ability to remember where to go. This has improved somewhat now that my ADHD is being treated, but if I haven’t driven a route in a while, I still like to refresh my memory about places to turn off.
If my memory feels a bit fuzzy, I’ll quickly give Google Maps a look to see if I remember a route correctly. I identify the names of the roads I need to use for significant turns since I usually take the simplest route to any destination.
Sometimes I use Google Maps for a quick refresher on a route I haven't used in a while.
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