Google Maps: 7 ways in which you can take advantage of the app during your trip for Easter

If you decided to travel during the ‘long holiday’ for Easter, Google Maps is one of the most useful tools both for planning routes to the destinations you want to visit and for discovering new places that have caught your attention. The Redmond geolocation app can be of great help to you and here we leave you 7 tips to improve your experience using the app.

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“OK Maps”

Do you want to use Google Maps maps offline? It is very common to run out of data signal or WiFi during a trip, but don’t worry: you can save entire cities on your phone or tablet to navigate when you have no connection. Open the app from your mobile device, go to the city or place you would like to save and speak into the microphone saying “OK Maps” and the map will be saved to your phone.

Survive no signal

Even if you didn’t save the map and you’re offline, Google Maps can help locate you. For this you need two things: to have the satellite location function (GPS) turned on and to have loaded the map before losing the signal. Open the app and on the main screen you will see that the blue circle of your location keeps moving despite not being connected. Very useful for the road or when you can’t spend too much on data.

So you can download a map to use without an Internet connection. (Photo: Google)

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explore

Want to try a new restaurant or find things to do in the area? When searching for a place, a drop-down section will appear at the bottom of the map where you can discover suggestions for places and tourist attractions near your location. This can help you plan your trip in advance, as exploring the city beforehand will reveal sites that catch your eye and can be added to your itinerary.

When you search for a town or a city, Google Maps shows you a tourist guide, where you will be able to find information about that place, the main tourist attractions, the main hotels and even the most interesting things to visit. Also, when you’re using the map, when you zoom in on a place you’ll see directions to points of interest. You will have icons to distinguish tourist sites, cultural sites, restaurants, nature sites, etc.

One-click establishments

Google Maps can be very useful if you are in a place you do not know and you have the urge to find an ATM or a pharmacy. How? The mobile application shows you shortcuts located below the search bar and allows you to quickly access interesting types of businesses such as supermarkets, gas stations, pharmacies, even parking lots. To have a better experience of this utility, you must have the GPS activated.

You can use the features of the app to explore destinations that you do not know. (Photo: Google)

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Traffic and Incident Reports

If you travel in your own car, Google Maps shows you what is in front of you. When you look up directions, you’ll see congestion along the route and traffic incidents in real time. In the app, you’ll see lines overlaid on the streets, color-coded from green (fast traffic) to dark red (slow traffic).

Avoid highways and tolls

This is another feature of Google Maps for those who travel in their own vehicles. In the mobile app you can specify how you want to travel with options that allow you to avoid highways and tolls. When looking for directions, select “directions” and a new window will appear with “Route Options” and mark the category you want to avoid.

Google Maps recently announced that you will soon see the estimated toll price for your destination before you start navigating thanks to reliable information from local authorities. This functionality will soon arrive in Peru.

With this function, you will be able to find a route that does not make you cross highways or tolls. (Photo: Google)

Use voice commands

While driving you can use the Google Maps voice commands that the Google Assistant integrates. With this functionality you can give directions to the map without having to use your hands. All you have to do is say “OK Google” while you’re in GPS driving mode and you can say a voice command, for example, “What is the nearest faucet” to be indicated on the screen.

Source: Elcomercio