Google Maps Gets AR Directions And 'Your Places' Overhaul

Google Maps has new features that are aimed at making it easier to stay organized and to find your way when walking around on vacation or for business. One of the updates makes it easier for travelers to have all their reservations for air travel and hotel in one place. Google says that the new feature is a great way to keep reservations handy, allowing users to see hotel check-in time as they navigate to the next destination on the itinerary.

To use the new feature, users tap the three gray lines at the top, left the corner of your screen and then on "Your Places." The "Reservations" tab lets users see all upcoming trips, and when a trip is selected from the list, all reservations are pulled up. The reservation data can be opened offline, so if a user is traveling without a data plan, the reservation data can be opened.

Perhaps the more exciting feature is a new Live View navigation option that uses AR to show you which way to walk. The feature puts arrows and directions on the real-world view seen on the screen to help guide users intuitively and easily. Google notes that it tested the Live View feature with Local Guides and the Pixel community over the last few months and the beta for the feature has been expanded to Android and iOS devices supporting ARCore and ARKit starting this week.

Google Maps also has a new feature to help users find restaurants that they might like while on vacation. The food is tailored to what users like to eat with Your Match and the feature shows hours and how long the wait for the restaurant is. The popular dishes feature helps to find the best dishes at the restaurant to try. Google added the location of speed cameras to the app back in May and added real-time bike-share information in July.