A NEW feature in Google Maps is set to turn the navigation tool into the latest piece of shareable social media.
Users can now save lists of places and routes and share them with friends or post them to strangers online. Much like platforms such a Spotify, you can also follow your friends’ lists to see their favourite trips.
“Now that we’ve got the world mapped, it’s your turn to map your world with Lists — from local hot spots to bucket list destinations world’s away,” the company said.
For a while now users have been able to save places of interest such as favourite restaurants or your best mate’s place within the app, but because they all get saved in the same spot it can become a bit of a mess.
It might not be embraced by everyone but for the uber organised among us, the new feature could prove pretty damn useful.
Here’s a handful of fun things you can do with Google Maps Lists.
Share cool spots with visiting friends
If you create a list of bars, restaurants, parks, museums, bushwalks and continually add to it when you find a favourite new place, then you can easily share it friends and family from out of town when they come to visit.
Keep road trips running smoothly
If you’re going on a long, and possibly disjointed road trip with a big group of people, the lists feature could come in handy to keep everyone in the loop of where you’re heading and could let people back home know where you are, in case of emergencies.
“Next time you’re on a trip, download offline maps of the area in advance and you’ll be able to see all the places you’ve added to lists on the map itself,” Google points out.
Send your friends and followers to your favourite spots
If you’re part of a particular community (like the Bywong Birdwatchers, for example), or you fancy yourself as a bit of a travel aficionado you can create public lists based around a particular idea. Such as the best bird watching spots, the most secluded watering holes or good places to play outdoor basketball.
Organise the world around you
As some have pointed out since Google’s announcement, the Lists feature will solve a bit of a headache. Previously when saving favourite places in the app it was easy to lose track of which stars meant “places I like” and which meant “places I’d like to check out”.
Now you’ll be able to organise into specific categories such as “absolutely must visit” and other less enthusiastic ones like “places that could be cool to check out”.
Google has been testing the new feature out for about six months, but is finally ready to share it with the world.
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