Google Maps are not only a world atlas, a road map and a satellite navigator, but also a real geographical tool useful to find any place and also to study positions, distances, areas of interest and archaeological areas. The recent updates of Google Maps offer an increasingly clean and real visual experience, improved from an aesthetic point of view not only in graphics and details, but also in search and location tools that are much clearer than before.
In this article we are going to discover 10 of the most useful Google Maps tools, the ones that you need to know in order to be able to use them, in some cases daily, in others when necessary when needed.
1) Get important information with colors
Speaking of Google Maps as a website and as an app for Android and iPhone, we were able to notice how the maps were redesigned a short time ago, eliminating many useless or little used elements.
This makes it easier to identify the urban points that matter most, traffic information, railway stations, green areas and monuments.
Then there are the " areas of interest ", that is the points that attract more people, where a higher concentration of restaurants, bars and shops is detected.
To find these areas of interest immediately, just look at the different colors on the map.
The areas of interest are those colored orange.
The colors in Google Maps are very important and if you start to notice it, you will get used to easily recognizing the position of places of interest such as churches, bars, parks, hospitals, schools etc.
Colors are also instrumental in understanding the traffic situation in real time, which is increasingly precise.
Obviously, don't forget that as in all Google apps, the search engine in Google Maps is really efficient and also answers more complex questions such as " pharmacy near via Roma " or " ATM in Frascati ".
2) Plan stage trips
Google Maps, when used as a satellite navigator, are really excellent because they also allow you to plan more stops at the beginning, so you can decide where to go.
This is certainly convenient during travel, but also in daily journeys, to check travel times based on traffic.
On the Maps website, to add stops to a route, just write the address to reach, then find the directions and add another address or place in the empty text box.
You can also order the various stages by pressing the up and down button next to the addresses.
On the Google Maps app for Android and iPhone, however, after starting the navigator with a destination, tap the menu from the button at the top right and press Add Map .
With this mode it is possible to add more stops up to a maximum of 9, including the starting point.
On a long journey, you can also add petrol stations and restaurants to the various stops.
3) Mark and rename your favorite destinations
On Google Maps, you can add custom names to any location on the map, so you can find locations more easily and quickly.
For example, it is possible to label friends' houses with their names.
Touch or click a point on the map and then press on the address to make it appear (an information card and the buttons to add it to your favorites or to put the label .
This feature is available on the website and Google Maps apps.
To find all the labels put, just go to the application options and go to " your places ".
Once labels are put, they can also be searched from the search bar.
4) Find interesting places nearby
Google Maps is also a tool for finding places of interest close to where you are.
On the Maps app, just touch the bar at the bottom to expand the "explore the surroundings" screen.
The recommendations indicate places to eat, places to see, things to do, bars.
Touching one of these places, the tab opens with useful information, such as phone numbers and opening hours, also reviews and the map to see where it is.
You can also find hotel offers on Google Maps, taken from various online booking portals such as booking.com, to see price, location, ratings etc.
5) Street View
Whenever you touch a point on the map and open the details, if it is a street or a shopping center, you can then touch the photo in the center to open Streetview mode, the one with the 3D photos that allow us to be there virtually.
On the Google Maps website, Streetview mode can be quickly activated by pressing the up arrow located at the bottom right.
Streetview images are those with a spinning arrow icon.
6) Estimate the time to reach a destination by bus
After setting the starting position and destination, touch the icon for public transport to find the recommended routes, then touch on the writing Departure At to change the departure time or to say that you need to arrive within a certain time, so that you know immediately when to leave.
7) Measure distances
If you are working on an urban project or just out of curiosity, Google Maps include a tool to measure the distance precisely from one place to another.
On the website, you just need to right-click a point on the map and choose the distance measuring tool.
Touch another point to draw a line and then another for another distance and so on.
On the Google Maps app, however, you must, in normal and non-navigator mode, touch a point, then expand the details tab and find Measure distance under the Labels and Favorites buttons.
NOTE: If you want to calculate areas of any surface, for example to know how large the Colossero is, you can use the Planimeter or Daftlogic website tool.
8) Send itineraries on the phone
This, for me, is one of the most convenient functions of the Google Maps site, because it allows you to plan an itinerary with all the possible stages from your PC and then send it to your smartphone so that it is ready when you get in the car.
The Send to phone button is immediately found in the tab that appears with the details of the searched street and allows you to send addresses to your mobile phone from your PC
Furthermore, even without pressing the button, each search is synchronized between PC and telephone, therefore, every way the website searches for, it appears in the history of recent searches also on mobile.
9) Maps and offline navigator
Since last year, Google Maps has also been an offline browser and it is possible to use it as you would with TomTom, without the need for an internet connection.
10) Move history
Only on Android it is possible to memorize all the movements and find them in the history of Google Maps, as if it were a travel diary.
As noted in the guide to this tool, it is possible to disable it for privacy reasons.
READ ALSO: Tricks and secrets of the Google Maps Navigator app on Android and iPhone
