Megan Ellis / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google is testing a more efficient way to share your current location with others.
- With this change, a new button will reduce a step while sharing your location.
- Google is also testing changes to the additional options while navigating with Maps.
What do you typically do when someone asks for your current location? You probably share it over a messaging platform like WhatsApp or Google Messages, as most people would. But did you know you can also share your current location directly using Google Maps? I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t, because the option isn’t immediately visible, and you’re likely to have missed it unless someone specifically told you about it. Well, it looks like Google might have realized that too, and is now making it easier to share your location with others.
To be able to share your location from Google Maps, you must tap the blue dot that pinpoints your location. When you tap it, an overlay appears with a button to “Share your location.” This generates a URL and opens Google’s share sheet so you can send the link via an app. Thankfully, Google is fixing the less-than-obvious method.
Google could replace this with a floating action button (FAB) that appears on the main Maps screen, eliminating the extra step of tapping the blue dot. We’ve spotted the functionality being tested in version 26.12.03.884026066 of Google Maps, though it hasn’t been enabled for the broader set of users.
The newly added FAB has a share icon superimposed over a location pin to imply the functionality. When enabled, the button appears when you zoom in on your current location or tap the compass-shaped button. It auto-hides when you’re scrolling the map, exploring the area around your location.
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In addition to the share button, Google is testing more visual changes in Maps. When you’re navigating with Maps, you see a thin pill-shaped pull handle that you use to expand an entire menu. With the latest version, we’re seeing some changes implemented in that menu.
Firstly, the list of options is now being replaced with a grid with bigger, more prominent icons. Google isn’t changing the items in the menu, but two of them — “Show satellite map” and “Show traffic on map” — are being moved to settings, presumably because people don’t change them often. Finally, the option to share the trip progress is missing from the new interface, suggesting that Google has some cleaning up to do before rolling it out widely.
As is usually the case with APK teardowns, the feature may not be implemented as we’re seeing now, or may not be implemented at all. We’ll have more clarity when Google starts testing it with a small set of users.
⚠️ An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
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