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A tech guide outlines how Google Maps' built-in tools—arrival-time planning, color-coded traffic updates, turn-by-turn voice navigation, and offline map downloads—can simplify driving for older users. The app is pre-installed on most Android phones and available free on both the Google Play Store and Apple's App Store.
Google is developing a feature for Google Maps on Android that would greet users with a 'Welcome to [city]' notification upon landing at an airport. The message encourages travelers to use the app's Ask Maps tool for help getting into town, finding a meal, and discovering local events, and even includes a pre-written query to simplify the process. Code for the feature, found in a recent app update, references support for more than 90 airports worldwide.
Apple Maps is displaying building footprints across Gaza that match pre-war conditions, even though many of those structures have since been destroyed. A comparison image circulating online contrasts this with Google Maps, which reportedly shows the current, damaged state of the area.
A hands-on comparison found Google Maps' Gemini assistant can be triggered by voice alone on Android Auto, while on CarPlay it requires tapping a button that appeared only late in testing. Google's own help page reportedly still listed Gemini as unavailable for CarPlay at the time, and route changes such as adding stops or finding alternate paths home were slower to process on CarPlay than on Android Auto.
Android Authority outlines methods already available on most Android phones for sharing a user's real-time location with contacts, including Google Maps, Google Messages, and Find Hub. The guide walks through enabling location sharing in Google Maps via the profile menu, where users can set a time limit or share indefinitely until manually stopped.
Apple Maps has begun obscuring satellite views of several NASA and U.S. Space Force and Air Force installations, including Wallops Flight Facility, Stennis Space Center, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Vandenberg Space Force Base, and Whiteman and Ellsworth Air Force Bases. The change appeared without any Apple announcement, and coverage is inconsistent—some sensitive sites like Dyess and Barksdale Air Force Bases remain unblurred, as do large Navy installations such as Pearl Harbor and Norfolk. Google Maps has not made similar changes to these locations.
Google Maps is now displaying trees in red, orange, and yellow hues along navigation routes in select US metro areas, replacing the usual green foliage. The company confirmed via X that this seasonal visual update will remain active through November 30, appearing within its Immersive Navigation interface for Android Auto.
TikTok introduced Must Eat, a new in-app feature that compiles restaurant recommendations from roughly 40 million posts, reviews and comments shared on the platform. The tool lets users browse 'everyday eats' and 'elevated dining' categories, filter by rating, distance, cuisine and open hours, call or reserve restaurants, and view a map of nearby spots. It launches first in New York City, Los Angeles and the Bay Area, and TikTok says restaurants cannot pay for placement in the lists.
A Frankfurt Regional Court ruled that Google's aerial and satellite imagery on Google Earth and Google Maps breaches German privacy rules when it shows property areas not visible from public streets without owner consent. The case was brought by an anonymous Frankfurt homeowner who had previously won a similar case forcing Google Street View and Apple Look Around to blur his home. Google said it strongly disagrees with the ruling and plans to appeal.
At a South Carolina rally, President Trump said he had personally called Google CEO Sundar Pichai to ask whether Google Maps could rename the Atlantic Ocean after himself or 'America.' Trump claimed Pichai declined, reportedly saying oceans touch too many countries to rename, though Trump said he's still considering renaming the Pacific the 'American Ocean.'
Trump recounted a conversation with Google CEO Sundar Pichai in which he considered relabeling the Atlantic Ocean after America or himself, following Google's earlier renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on Google Maps. Trump said Pichai pushed back, noting oceans border far too many countries for such a change, so Trump said he would drop the idea.
A ZDNET writer discovered that after Google's August Android update, Pixel phones no longer offer a straightforward way to set a third-party app like Waze as the default mapping tool. The workaround involves disabling Google Maps first through the phone's Apps settings before Waze can take over as default for links and other apps that open map locations.