We’ve all been in the situation where we’re running late for an important meeting only to have the low fuel indicator light up our dashboard. Google Maps, already set to take you to your destination, has to have the current route cancelled and a new route programmed to take you to nearest petrol pump, a time consuming process, especially since you have to reset your former route after topping up the tank. Before you know it, you’re too late for your meeting, your prospective buyer has walked out and you are informed your shipment of cat plushies has fallen of a ship in the Bering Strait. Alright maybe that last one isn’t the fault of Google Map’s inflexibility and more due to divine will.
Thankfully,Google recently announced that they are finally giving users the option to add a “stop” along their current route, without having to cancel their current route. To access this new feature, users can tap on a magnifying glass icon that appears at the top-right corner of the screen while in navigation mode. From here, a drop-down menu will appear offering several options, including gas stations, restaurants, grocery stores, and coffee shops. The final option is a “search for more places” button that will let you instead search for other businesses or addresses.
You will also be available to search through voice commands by tapping on the microphone button, something not hands free but does prevent you from taking your eyes off the road. Plus, after you select a detour or stop, the app will begin a countdown of about 10 seconds before navigation will automatically switch over to that destination, notes the blog Android Police, which was able to grab the SDK for the updated app and test it out.
In addition to adding detours, Google also announced you’ll also be able to check for fuel prices at petrol stations.
The feature is coming first to the Google Maps application for Android, and is expected to arrive over the next couple of weeks.
Source: Google
