Google Maps Can Now Order Your Dinner and Track Your Train Delays
Google Maps Gets Smarter: Your New Personal Assistant for Travel and Food
Google Maps is no longer just for directions. Today, Google introduced some exciting new features for its "Ask Maps" assistant, powered by Gemini AI. Think of it as your new smart helper within the Google Maps app, ready to tackle multiple tasks and make your life easier.
Ordering Food Just Got Easier
One of the most impressive new abilities of Ask Maps is completing multi-step tasks, like ordering your dinner on the way home. Imagine this: you're leaving work, and you're hungry. Instead of opening multiple apps, you can simply tell Ask Maps:
"Order spicy pad kee mao with seafood for me to pick up on my way home."
What happens next is pretty amazing. Ask Maps will:
- Find restaurants along your current route that are open.
- Let you choose your preferred restaurant from the options.
- Add the specific dish you asked for (spicy pad kee mao with seafood) directly to your shopping cart.
- Allow you to review your order and complete the payment process.
This means less tapping, less searching, and a smoother experience getting your favorite meal. This food ordering feature is available right now with partners like Square and Toast, and Google says that Uber Eats integration will be coming very soon, expanding your choices even further.
Your Travel Companion for Hotels and Events
Planning a trip can be stressful, but Ask Maps aims to simplify it. When you're traveling, Ask Maps can now help you find information about hotels and events. Need a place to stay? It can:
- Compare hotel prices in real-time.
- Check the availability of rooms.
- Suggest things to do and events happening nearby based on your location and interests.
This means you can discover a great deal on a hotel and find fun activities without ever leaving the Google Maps app. Whether you're looking for a concert, a local festival, or a popular tourist attraction, Ask Maps can point you in the right direction and provide all the necessary details.
Real-Time Transit Updates: Never Miss a Beat
For daily commuters and public transport users, Ask Maps is introducing a fantastic new feature: live transit updates. A new transit widget within Ask Maps will give you up-to-the-minute information about your journey. This includes:
- Delays for buses.
- Updates for train schedules.
- Information about subway and ferry rides.
No more guessing if your bus is late or if your train has been delayed. With these live updates, you can plan your commute more effectively, reduce stress, and potentially find alternative routes if necessary. This feature is designed to make public transportation a much smoother and more predictable experience for everyone.
Personal Intelligence: Maps That Know You Better
Google Maps is getting even more personalized with a new "Personal Intelligence" option in Ask Maps. This feature allows Ask Maps to connect to your Gmail account. Why is this useful? It can:
- Factor in your upcoming plans without you needing to give specific instructions.
For example, if you have a flight confirmation in your Gmail, Ask Maps might proactively suggest the best route to the airport or remind you about traffic conditions. It's important to know that connecting to Gmail is entirely optional and turned off by default. You have full control over your privacy. If you choose to enable it, Ask Maps will work even harder to provide tailored and helpful information based on your personal schedule.
Additionally, if you have your history settings turned on, Ask Maps can remember your previous conversations. This means it can use past context to understand your current requests better, leading to more relevant and efficient responses over time. It learns from your interactions, making each subsequent use more effective.
Conversational Edits: Share Your Local Expertise
Do you have a hidden gem in your neighborhood? A secret shortcut? A local tip that only insiders know? Ask Maps is introducing a "conversational edits" option that lets you share your knowledge with the community. You can simply tell Maps about an insider tip, and Ask Maps will then offer this valuable information to other users.
This feature encourages community involvement and helps enrich the data within Google Maps. By sharing your insights, you're helping others discover new places, find better routes, or simply enjoy their surroundings more. It's a fantastic way to contribute to a collaborative mapping experience and make Google Maps even more useful for everyone.
Wider Availability: Ask Maps is Expanding Globally
Good news for users around the world! Ask Maps is significantly expanding its reach. It's now available in:
- Australia
- Brazil
- Canada
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Mexico
In addition to these countries, Ask Maps is rolling out to over 150 countries and territories worldwide, all in English. This massive expansion means that a vast number of new users will be able to experience the power and convenience of this AI-powered assistant.
Feature Rollout: What's Available Where
While Ask Maps is expanding globally, some specific features are rolling out in stages:
- Available everywhere Ask Maps is: The live transit widget, personalized responses, and conversation memory are rolling out to all regions where Ask Maps is available. This means commuters worldwide will soon benefit from real-time updates and a more intelligent assistant.
- Rolling out in the U.S. first: Food ordering, discovering hotels and events, and conversational contributions are initially launching in the United States. Google has plans to add more countries for these features later, so international users can look forward to them in the future.
This phased rollout ensures that Google can refine these advanced features and adapt them to different markets effectively.
Where to Find Ask Maps
Excited to try out these new capabilities? Ask Maps is readily available wherever you use Google Maps:
- On the web, through your browser.
- In the Google Maps app for iOS devices.
Simply update your Google Maps app to the latest version, or visit Google Maps on your computer, and you'll find these new agentic features waiting to help you navigate, plan, and order with unprecedented ease. Google continues to innovate, transforming Maps from a simple navigation tool into a powerful, AI-driven personal assistant for all your travel and daily needs. This update is a significant step towards making our digital interactions more seamless and helpful, truly bringing the power of AI into our everyday lives.
This article, "Google Maps Can Now Order Your Dinner and Track Your Train Delays" first appeared on MacRumors.com
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