Google is improving it’s maps systems. This is especially true for Apple and Android smartphone users. Whether you’re commuting or on vacation, Google wants to guide your steps.
They removed road outlines and made it easy to spot points of interest, like train stations, gas stations and subway/bus stops. The cleaner Google Maps will highlight things to see and do. The neighborhoods with lots going on? Those will be shaded in orange. This allows users to explore a certain neighborhood virtually before they do so physically. These areas are determined at random. The system automatically picks the areas with the most businesses. But highly density populations are more human controlled. Other geographical areas are shaded in colors. Highways are shaded in orange or yellow. Hospitals and schools are in beige or gray. Parks are in green, naturally. Bodies of water are in blue, naturally. More changes will soon be on the way. Do you use mass transit? Google maps will alert you if there are delays. This map will be a Wi-Fi only mode. Some are asking Google Maps to put local public transit maps on their website. They could show you when the train/bus is coming and when it’s not.
I live in Boston and depend on public transit often (you try driving in Boston). Say I go to the subway platform. I check my phone to see if the train is late. It’s very late. But I had no way of knowing that. Because the train platform doesn’t get Wi-Fi. I would have to check at home before I’d know the train is late. Something has to be done about that. Sorry, I’m not feeling the other changes either. I can just type ‘store’ or ‘coffee shop’ in a neighborhood and find one. It only takes a few seconds. What’s with coloring public facilities? Just put what the facilities are. Oh, right, they already do that. Some of these shades are so natural is ridiculous. What do you think of these Google Map changes?