10 hidden Google Maps features to enhance your navigation experience

Google Maps recently got supercharged by generative AI capability via Gemini, where you can now start navigation to a specific location using just voice commands. The deeper integration between these two features enables seamless interaction between these two apps, making it easy to access Google Maps, especially while riding a bike.

If you are an EV user, then locating a charging station has never been this easy. Just choose your charger type on Google Maps and search for "electric vehicle charging stations near me," where Maps will highlight the nearby charging stations that are compatible with your electric vehicle, whether it's a two, three, or even a four-wheeler.

With Google Maps, you can also travel back in time and look at how a place or location used to look a few years ago using the street view time travel feature. Do note that this feature is only available for select places and locations.

Using Google Maps, you can also share your live location with friends and family, a handy feature, especially when travelling to a new place. You can either share the live location for a specific period or forever, where you need to turn it off manually to stop sharing your location information. Do note that this feature will take a toll on your smartphone's battery life.

While it is hard to find parking spots in most modern cities, remembering where we park our vehicles is also a hassle, especially if the neighbourhood looks similar. Using the Save Your Vehicle Parking location feature, you can mark the exact GPS location of your vehicle, which makes it easy to identify the location of the car/bike when you come back.

You can now get real-time weather information of your location directly from the Maps app, including the air quality index. Google Maps now offers weather forecasts, making it easy for travellers to prepare accordingly.

Getting lost at an airport or a big mall is quite easy these days, and with the indoor live view, you will be able to easily navigate and look for that specific store or your boarding gate with ease. However, this feature is currently limited to just over 10,000 places and covers major airports and well-known malls and shopping complexes in countries like the US.

Google Maps also allows users to download the map of a specific city for easy navigation, and this is a lifesaver feature, especially if you plan on touring a new place where the network could be patchy. With offline maps, you can navigate in real-time without any issues.

Travelling during peak hours is a burden, so you can use Google Maps to find the fastest routes with less traffic with just a click. Make sure to set your home and office address in the Maps app, where it will automatically select the best possible route when you leave home or the office.

Currently available for select users, the upcoming feature on Google Maps allows users to discover new places a lot easier. You can now ask Google Maps questions about new places to party, places to shop for home appliances or more, and Maps will offer an AI-generated summary to help you pick the best available option.