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Tag: Google

  • Google Meet update adds 1080p video resolution for groups calls

    Google Meet update adds 1080p video resolution for groups calls

    After bringing the ability to install third-party add-ons directly within the app last month, Google Meet is now getting another useful feature that’s not really related to productivity: 1080p support for group calls.

    Previously only available for 1:1 Google Meet calls, full HD support is now being expanded to meetings with three or more participants. Those with 1080p cameras must select the higher resolution option before entering a meeting because it’s off by default.

    According to Google, 1080p is only sent when one or more users are pinning the 1080p-enabled user on a screen large enough to render the high-resolution video feed.

    For this to work smoothly, additional bandwidth will be needed to be able to send 1080p video. As expected, if the requirements aren’t met, the app will automatically adjust the resolution. Support for 1080p streaming in groups calls is now available on both Rapid and Scheduled Release domains.

    Google confirmed that the new feature is available for free to Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Plus, Enterprise Essentials, Enterprise Standard, Enterprise Starter, Education Plus, and the Teaching and Learning Upgrade.

    The new feature is also available to Workspace Individual subscribers, but not to users with personal Google Accounts, at least for the moment.

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  • Google makes a small change to the Android version of the YouTube app

    Google makes a small change to the Android version of the YouTube app

    Google likes to fool around with YouTube like a person who can’t stop scratching an itch. Unlike changes made to Google Maps that are helpful, some of the changes made to YouTube appear to be done for no real reason. Recently, the web version of the video stream moved from square corners to rounded corners on the thumbnails and the video player, and the feedback from YouTube users was not exactly favorable.

    Now it appears that YouTube is making the same change to videos on the YouTube Android app. The result is a more blinding white light in the background which might lead some users to turn on Dark theme. Open the YouTube app on Android and tap the profile picture in the upper right corner. Next, tap on Settings > General > Appearance. A popup box will ask you to choose from using the device theme, Light theme, or Dark theme. Make your choice.

    Since the rounded corners extend to the video player on the web and not just the thumbnails, we can assume that this will be the case for the Android app as well. Right now, the new look hasn’t been pushed out to many Android devices and it has yet to appear on my Pixel 6 Pro using Android 14 Beta 5.3.

    On the YouTube website, the rounded corners do not appear when you are watching a video in full screen or in Theater mode. But once you return to Default view, they do return. Now we don’t know exactly when Google plans to roll this out more widely to Android users and whether it will follow through by rounding the corners on the iOS YouTube app.

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  • The Files by Google app is about to become smarter

    The Files by Google app is about to become smarter

    Google is reportedly working on a new feature for its Android Files app called Smart Search, which will automatically identify and highlight important documents. This could make it easier for users to find the files they need, such as contracts, tax documents, or medical records.
    Smart Search, not to be confused with Smart Storage which helps you save space on your device by deleting media that has already been backed up to Google Photos, is meant for files in the Documents folder of the Files app. It will use machine learning to identify important documents based on a variety of factors, including their content, file type, and creation date. Once a document has been identified as important, it will be highlighted in the Files app so that users can easily find it

    This was originally found and reported by @AssembleDebug on X, who was able to enable the feature via a flag. While testing, the leaker found that the feature will automatically and periodically scan and index your documents and images using something akin to OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to identify text within those files. Additionally, as the name implies, search will be available to find the related text and document in which it is contained.

    In addition to highlighting important documents, Smart Search can also suggest related documents. For example, if a user opens a contract, Smart Search might suggest other contracts that the user has saved. This could help users to stay organized and find the documents they need more quickly.
    Smart Search is still in development, but it is believed that it will be released in a future update to the Files app. It is a new and innovative feature that could make the Files app even more useful, especially when an important detail in a document is needed right away.
  • Future of Google Search will depend on who wins this antitrust battle

    Future of Google Search will depend on who wins this antitrust battle

    Something related to the tech world is supposed to take place later today. But it isn’t the event that you’re thinking about. Sure, Apple will be unveiling the iPhone 15 line later today, along with the Apple Watch Series 9 and the second-generation Apple Watch Ultra. But in a Washington D.C. federal courthouse, prosecutors will be putting on a case starting Tuesday that will run for 10 weeks in an attempt to prove that Google’s search business is a monopoly.
    During the 10 weeks, both sides will be testifying before U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta. We expect Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai to appear in the witness box, and court documents show that Apple executive Eddy Cue might also be called to testify. The trial’s first phase will end in November, and after more documents are filed, Judge Mehta will make a ruling, although this is not expected to occur until early next year.
    If the judge rules against Google, another trial will be held, and this will be the penalty phase, where it is determined what penalties Google will be forced to comply with. As noted by the AP, Google has come a long way since Sun Microsystems co-founder Andy Bechtolsheim became Google’s first investor 25 years ago. Bechtolsheim gave Google co-founder Larry Page a $100,000 check, allowing Page and Sergey Brin to start Google in a Silicon Valley garage.

    Google parent Alphabet is now worth $1.7 trillion and generates $224 billion in ad revenue led by its search engine. While Google says that it is the top search engine in the world with a 90% share because it is the best search engine and beats out competitors like Bing and Duck Duck Go fair and square, the DOJ wants to bring up deals that Google has with companies like Apple. Google pays Apple a huge sum to be the default search engine on the iPhone and Safari. It also points out that Google pays Mozilla and Samsung as the default search engines on Firefox and Galaxy devices, respectively.

    Google doesn’t mind shelling out this kind of money because it makes more than it pays as millions of iPhone, Safari,Galaxy and Firefox users use Google Search allowing Google to charge big bucks to advertisers to reach these consumers. Google also demands that phone manufacturers who want to use the Google Mobile Services version of Android for their handsets use Google Search as their default search engine. All the data that Google collects from its search engine allows it to prevent Bing and Duck Duck Go from obtaining information that could improve their search results.

    Google says that consumers can easily switch their default search engine to another search provider. It also says that it faces competition from Bing’s use of AI although Google has also started adding AI-based results to its search results. Google also says that it has never stopped looking to improve its search capabilities, which explains why “Google it” has become such an iconic phrase and the company has become synonymous with search.

    In 2019 Google was fined billions of dollars by the EC for restricting Android users to selecting Google as their default search engine and Chrome as their default browser. To comply with the EU, Google showed two screens to Android users the first time they opened the Google Play Store app following an update that was about to be disseminated. The screens allowed these Android users to choose a default search engine and default browser from a list that included four Google Search competitors and four Google Chrome competitors.
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  • Google Maps now allows users to find their favorite places faster using emojis

    Google Maps now allows users to find their favorite places faster using emojis

    With the Google Maps app, you can tap the Saved tab on the bottom of the screen to create lists of places where you want to go or your favorite places. Just the other day Google posted on its Google Maps’ X account that thanks to a new update to the app “you can customize your saved places with emojis to help you find your fav spots faster.” The emoji are the same ones available in messages so you can use a food emoji, a sports emoji, or any emoji you wish to symbolize a place that you’ve saved.

    To add an emoji, open Google Maps and press the Saved tab at the bottom of the screen. This won’t work with the default lists that come with Google Maps such as “Want to go,” “Favorites,” “Travel plans,” “Labeled,” and “Starred places.” You’ll have to create your own list or edit an existing one you created. In a video shared by Google on X, a new list named “Fav Coffee Spots” is created. Select an emoji for the list, which in this case is a cup of coffee, and add a description. Now, add the spots you want to add to the list.

    Once you’ve filled out the list, when you see one of these spots on Google Maps and are close to the location, you’ll see the name of the place with the chosen emoji next to it. If you zoom out on the map, you’ll see only the emoji. We assume that Google made this change because, unlike a pin stuck in a map, an emoji can convey more information to the user. Using emojis, you’ll be able to quickly determine if a certain spot on a map is one of your favorite coffee houses, a favorite ice cream parlor, or a burger joint you visit often without having to tap on the location.

    With so many emojis to choose from, the user can use them to find his/her favorite spots faster on Google Maps.
  • Google Maps tests the use of some colors that copy Apple Maps

    Google Maps tests the use of some colors that copy Apple Maps

    While Google Maps is still considered the top mapping and navigation app for mobile devices, Apple Maps has made an incredible turnaround after the fiasco that was the original launch of the service back in 2012 with the release of iOS 6. Apple was forced to start from scratch to revise the app and has done a pretty decent job of doing so, And now Google appears to be testing some new color options for Google Maps that match some of the shades used by Apple Maps.
    Google Maps is testing a lighter blue color to represent water and any difference to the hue used by Apple is very minor. On the other hand, Google appears to be moving away from Apple by using a darker green color to indicate areas like parks and forests. Previously, Google and Apple both used a lighter shade of green to represent such areas.
    But Google Maps is also testing the use of gray, instead of white, to signify a road, and dark gray to represent a highway. All of these color changes being tested bring Google Maps in line with Apple Maps’ color scheme. And if you use Dark theme on both apps, Google Maps’ implementation of it remains darker than Apple Maps. Dark theme on the mapping apps is an acquired taste with some drivers complaining that it is harder to view the maps on the apps using a darker background
    You can go into the settings for both apps and keep them in Light mode if that is what you prefer. Additionally, Google Maps is also giving the driving directions at the top of the screen a darker green background color although you will have to use it under real-world conditions to see what impact the darker color has on you.
    The updated version of Google Maps is reportedly rolling out today to Android users although it has yet to hit my Pixel 6 Pro running Android 14 beta 5.2.
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  • Google Chrome may finally be getting a massive upgrade to reading mode

    Google Chrome may finally be getting a massive upgrade to reading mode

    Reading mode is awesome, but it has gotten stagnant. Most of the best phones available right now have Google Chrome pre-installed and while it is awesome that the browser comes with a reading mode for text-heavy pages, it feels… Stagnant.

    Not only that, but if you are on any of the Chrome beta channels, your experience becomes even weirder. Sometimes you can’t turn on reading mode and other times, it cuts off big chunks of the content that you’re there to read in the first place.

    So, it is obvious that it is time for an upgrade. And given that Google seems to be running an experiment over on the Canary version of Chrome for desktop, we may actually know what we’re in for. And that’s a reading mode that can also read aloud.

    So, Chrome Canary. What is it? Well, it’s a developer-first version of Chrome. It’s plenty experimental, it changes often and if you’d like to join in on the fun: you can run it on your phone and computer. Oh, and its users get to test out features ahead of time.

    Now, hold on to that last bit, because — as someone who uses Canary on the daily, just out of preference — not all changes stick. And it is a real bummer, because some of them are totally awesome, but oh well. You can’t win ‘em all!

    Anyway: reading mode. The latest update on the desktop version of Canary, as you can see above, comes with a new secret treat: a reading mode that can actually read text aloud to you.

    Right now, the voice that executes that role is being described as monotone and robotic, but this is Google we’re talking about. They have the power and prowess to improve that… As long as the feature sticks.

    What are the chances of this actually making its way to the mobile version of Canary and then Chrome stable? Well, pretty big, as long as testing goes well. But, before that happens, let me raise you this:

    Did you know that your Android phone can already do this? If not, know that as long as you’ve got Google Assistant installed and running, you can prompt it — while on the article page in question, such as this one — and ask it to read it aloud. It works quite well.

    So, while adding such a feature to phones may sound redundant, it may also serve as a shortcut to prompting Assistant to do that. Plus, it may solve another issue: granting phones that aren’t really compatible with Google Assistant such a feature. Will that be the case?

    We’ll see if the testing period goes well.

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  • Google announces rich text formatting for Keep Notes on Android

    Google announces rich text formatting for Keep Notes on Android

    Last week code was found within Android which revealed a feature in progress for Google Keep. This alluded to the possibility of adding rich text formatting to notes within Google Keep, a highly requested feature for those that use the app regularly.
    However, as the discovery had not rolled out to any users yet, all we had to go on at the time were the screenshots and notes provided by by Mishaal Rahman on his X post. Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait long for official word, as Google has now announced via its Google Workspace Updates Blog.
    In the official announcement, Google revealed that Google Keep will be gaining new text formatting options to notes on Android devices. The company cites the amount of users requesting this feature as its motivation for following through.
    The new formatting options allow for users to customize notes by making text bold, italic, or underlined. You can also choose from heading styles like H1 and H2.
    The new formatting options will only be available for new notes, although support for existing notes is expected to be added in the coming weeks. The rollout begins today for all Google Workspace customers and users with personal Google Accounts, although it make take up to two weeks for the feature to reach all users.
    To use the new formatting options, tap on the text you want to format and then select the desired option from the toolbar. However, keep in mind that text formatting is only available on Android devices, so if you open a note with formatting on a desktop browser or an iOS device, any formatting you had previously applied won’t be visible there.
    Even though the addition of formatting options to Keep does not bring it up to the same level as more advanced note-taking apps such as Microsoft’s OneNote or Squid, especially when you can only see the formatting changes on Android, it is definitely a good start to a feature that has been so highly requested for such a long time.
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  • Google Maps will no longer show gas stations for EV drivers

    Google Maps will no longer show gas stations for EV drivers

    Google makes changes to its apps all the time and Maps is no exception to what seems to be an unwritten rule. Whether these changes are good or not for users, it remains to be determined. We can only hope that any anti-consumer decision will be rectified by the companies providing many of the services that we use.

    One of the important changes that will affect Google Maps for Android Auto in the not-so-distant future involves gas stations, which apparently will be removed for those who drive electric vehicles.

    Google has already confirmed the information, so expect this to be reflected in your Maps for Android Auto very soon. According to Google spokesperson Pearl Xu, “to help people get the most relevant information when navigating, last year we added the ability for EV drivers to see a shortcut for charging stations instead of gas stations on Google Maps for Android Auto.”

    The ability to see gas stations for EV drivers can be disabled in favor of the option to see charging stations since last year, but with the new change, Google Maps will no longer show gas stations as a category while navigating in an EV using Android Auto.

    If you’re using Google Maps for navigation purposes while driving an electric vehicle, you’ll soon notice that the top item will now show EV charging stations. In any case, here are some of the EV-specific features offered by the app, as highlighted by Google:

    • Real-time charging port availability: Just search for “ev charging stations” in Google Maps and you’ll see the real time availability of charging ports at nearby stations so you don’t have to wait in line.
    • Charging speed filters: The ‘very fast’ charging filter will help you easily find stations that have chargers of 150 kilowatts or higher. For many cars, this can give you enough power to fill up and get back on the road in less than 40 minutes. You can also use the “fast” chargers which will show you stations with chargers 50kW or higher.
    • Plug type filters: You can also filter for stations that offer your EV’s plug type so you only see stations with plugs that are compatible with your car.
    • Adding charging stops to trips: On any trip that’ll require a charging stop, Maps will suggest the best stop based on factors like current traffic, your charge level and expected energy consumption.
    • Charging stations in search results: We’ll also show you in search results when places like a supermarket have charging stations on-site. So, if you’re on your way to pick up groceries, you can more easily choose a store that also lets you charge your car there.
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  • Big data to help collect tax from foreign service providers

    Big data to help collect tax from foreign service providers

    Big data on e-commerce would help the tax watchdog to efficiently collect tax from foreign cross-border IT services providers, a tax official said.

    Statistics showed that cross-border IT services and social network providers, including Google, Apple, Facebook, Netflix, TikTok and Microsoft, paid around VND4 trillion (US$169.5 million) in taxes in the first half of this year, compared to VND3.5 trillion for the full last year.

    The tax that Vietnam collected on the providers remained modest compared to the revenue of the retail e-commerce market which reached $16.4 billion in 2022, statistics of Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency showed.

    It was estimated that Vietnam’s retail e-commerce market would expand by 25% to hit $20.5 billion this year.

    On the e-commerce market, six foreign providers namely Meta (Facebook), Google, Microsoft, TikTok, Netflix and Apple, accounted for about 90% of the revenue on cross-border digital platforms in Vietnam.

    In the field of digital advertising, according to Kantar Media Vietnam, the revenue on platforms such as Facebook, Youtube and TikTok reached $2.5 billion in 2023 and is forecast at $3.4 billion this year.

    Nguyen Bang Thang, director of Tax Management Department of Large Enterprises, said that the tax watchdog would continue to create favorable conditions for foreign providers and domestic establishments which were seriously developing business in Vietnam. At the same time, strict punishments would be applied to violations, he stressed.

    He added that the tax watchdog regularly cooperated with relevant agencies to analyze risks related to tax declaration of foreign providers and authorized organizations for handling measures. Experiences from other countries, including the U.S. and the EU, showed that the development of big data on e-commerce would be critical to ensure efficiency in tax management on cross-border platforms.

    Admitting tax loss in e-commerce, Nguyen Thi Minh Huyen, deputy director of Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency, said that the legal regulations on tax collection in the industry were still in the process of being improved.

    Huyen said that a mechanism for data sharing between relevant management agencies must be raised to prevent cross-border tax loss.

    According to Hoang Van Cuong, deputy of the National Assembly’s Finance – Budget Committee, the focus must be placed on strengthening digital transformation to have an adequate data for easy and efficient tax management.

    The Ministry of Finance targeted to increase domestic tax collection by 5-7% in 2024 with one of the focuses on enhancing the efficiency in tax collection from cross-border e-commerce.

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  • Google Maps on Android Auto gets a design tweak that will help drivers on the road

    Google Maps on Android Auto gets a design tweak that will help drivers on the road

    Google Maps is rolling out a new design for the Maps app on Android Auto. The new design adds a sidebar to the Maps experience in your car where controls live.

    Previously, map controls were only displayed when you interacted with the map. But with the new design, the controls are always visible in a translucent bar on the left side of the screen.

    The new translucent bar’s controls include zoom, changing the map’s orientation, changing what is said out loud by the assistant, and access to additional settings.

    The new design appears to be in its testing stages although some users already report seeing it on Android Auto v10 and v9.9 with Google Maps v11.90. This version isn’t live yet for everyone and it is not yet clear if the new design will be available for older versions of Android Auto.

    The new Android Auto design has a very significant benefit: It makes it easier to access map controls while you’re driving since they are now positioned closer to the driver — at least in the U.S. — and you no longer have to fumble around with the touchscreen to find the controls you need. Even if you’re not familiar with the app, this new design makes the most used controls more visible and easier to get to.

    Note, though, that this view only shows up when the app takes up the full screen and not when it uses the Coolwalk split-view redesign that Android Auto introduced a few months back. This also follows a redesign of how the Google Assistant appears in your console, showing more consistency with what you see when you use the Assistant on your phone.

    This tweak to Maps on Android Auto is a welcome improvement. It makes it easier to use Maps while driving, providing a more consistent look and feel across Android Auto apps.

  • Google Assistant and AI might help Pixel users understand what they are reading online

    Google Assistant and AI might help Pixel users understand what they are reading online

    code found in the latest beta version of the Google app (version 14.29) indicates that Google Assistant will soon be able to use generative AI to help summarize passages found on the internet. While browsing the web, a user can tap on a “Summarize” button when the Google Assistant’s presence is requested with the iconic “Hey Google” call out. Or, you can ask the Assistant to “Summarize this” to see a quick summary of what you are reading on the screen.

    The Summarize suggestion will appear when browsing the internet using Chrome or when an app opens a web page in a Custom Tab (also powered by Chrome). At the moment, the feature does not work as requests for the Assistant to summarize a passage from a website return an error message as seen in the embedded image below.

    While it isn’t clear if and when this feature will be made available, it is a strong possibility that the Google Assistant’s AI summary of internet content will be limited to Pixel phones and tablets only. Google Assistant is supposed to be more optimized and offer faster responses on a Pixel handset.
    The problem with relying on AI to summarize a document is the same problem that is typical with artificial intelligence: the possibility that summaries from Google’s AI service will contain “hallucinations.” These AI platforms are “trained” using information derived from humans and could contain biases and outright incorrect data. But this is something that you need to keep in the back of your mind anytime you use AI to interpret information.
    The Google app right now will also help answer your queries using generative AI on Android and iOS. All you have to do is tap the “Generate” button to the right of your question on the Google app and you’ll see more enhanced information related to your search. Again, you’ll need to watch out for hallucinations and biases, if any.
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  • Google Messages could soon feature end-to-end encryption for cross-platform messaging

    Google Messages could soon feature end-to-end encryption for cross-platform messaging

    Rich Communication Services (RCS) is the messaging platform available on the Messages by Google app for Android. Similar to Apple’s iMessage, RCS runs off data connectivity, not cellular connectivity. This allows it to send and receive huge messages, share higher-quality images and videos, deliver read receipts and typing indicators, and offer end-to-end encryption.

    But like a chat made up of iMessage users that loses all of its great features when an Android user dares to join the group, the same thing happens when an iPhone user joins a chat session made up of RCS users. One of the features that both RCS and iMessage users lose when someone from a rival platform joins a group chat is the aforementioned end-to-end encryption.

    As Google said in a blog post it published on Wednesday, “This is why Google is strongly supportive of regulatory efforts that require interoperability for large end-to-end messaging platforms.”
    Google writes, “For interoperability to succeed in practice, however, regulations must be combined with open, industry-vetted, standards, particularly in the area of privacy, security, and end-to-end encryption.” And this makes sense. Otherwise, you’ll have a situation where end-to-end encryption would be a mess. “Group messages would have to be encrypted and delivered multiple times to cater for every different protocol,” the company says.

    As a result, Google announced that it is supporting Messaging Layer Security (MLS) which would allow end-to-end encryption to remain in effect between two large messaging platforms like iMessage and RCS. MLS is a protocol developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and now enables “practical interoperability across services and platforms, scaling to groups of thousands of multi-device users.”

    Google plans on integrating MLS into Google Messages. The goal is to have users of the Google Messages app enjoy secure group chats with all members of a group chat regardless of the messaging app they are using.
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  • Google’s new Weather interface will feature improved short-term forecasts

    Google’s new Weather interface will feature improved short-term forecasts

    Google has started to offer its updated Weather interface on both of its large-screened Pixel devices, the Pixel Tablet and the Pixel Fold. So far though, the new Weather interface has yet to be pushed out to Pixel phones. The new interface includes a larger, bolder current temperature reading and a transparent system navigation bar.
    Perhaps more important than the redesign is the improved accuracy of the short-term weather forecasts delivered by the interface. Android Police notes that the interface will now update weather data multiple times each hour. This data comes from the Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) system that uses multiple radars and algorithms to help improve the accuracy of hazardous weather forecasts and warnings.
    Also being used to improve the accuracy of the forecasts for the Google Weather interface is High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR) which is an atmospheric model that updates every 15 minutes. Both MRMS and HRRR are systems belonging to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
    More accurate weather forecasts will help Pixel Tablet and Pixel Fold users plan their day around a  precise and accurate weather forecast. And when the weather changes abruptly, the Google Weather interface will show users the latest forecast in time to prepare for the new weather activity on the way.
    It isn’t clear when the Pixel handsets will get the new weather interface. Right now, to get the Google Weather interface on your Pixel phone, open the Google app and swipe the carousel underneath the search bar until you see the local weather and temperature. Tap on it and about half the page will be dedicated to the current weather. Tap the three-button overflow menu icon on the right of the screen where you’ll see the “Weather/Today” heading and a menu that includes an option to “Add to homescreen.”
    Once you add the weather icon to the homescreen of your Pixel phone, you’re just a tap away from seeing Froggy, the latest temperature, and the forecast. Since it is available on Android 13 for the Pixel Fold and Pixel Tablet, we are not simply awaiting the update to Android 14 to see it on Pixel handsets. But when it does become available on Pixel phones, it will allow users to get the information they want without having to scroll to the bottom of the screen.
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  • Changes made by Apple is making iPhone users switch back to Apple Maps from Google Maps

    Changes made by Apple is making iPhone users switch back to Apple Maps from Google Maps

    Apple Maps was something of a mess for a long time, prompting users to download Google Maps instead. Things are finally getting better though and iPhone owners are beginning to appreciate the changes that Apple has made to its maps app.
    Google Maps used to be the default mapping app on the iPhone and iPad but that changed after iOS 6 was announced. Apple Maps had many bugs including misplaced labels for landmarks and businesses and missing roads in cities. The user experience was so bad that Apple CEO Tim Cook had to issue an apology for the frustration it caused.
    Apple Maps has improved to the point that many people are sticking with it instead of switching to Google Maps.
    Changes such as an attractive design, clear public transit direction, faster routes, and better management of the unpredictability of subway outages than Google Maps is making people like Jason Rabinowitz who switched to Android to use Google Maps more easily come back to Apple’s ecosystem.
    Jane Natoli, who considers herself a Google Maps power user, says she has started using Apple Maps more after her iPhone prompted her to use the app in an airport. The app was able able to detect that she was at the airport and recommended shops and restaurants in her terminal. Natoli also liked that it had clearer information than Google Maps. She also thinks that it’s easier to read Apple’s find directions when compared to Google Maps.
    “It made me kind of revisit and rethink some of my prior assumptions about it. Whatever initial reputational hurdles that Apple Maps faced, I think they’ve jumped over those.” – Jane Natoli
    Georgia Tech graduate Angelica Nguyen says that roads are easier to look at on Apple Maps and the view is not cluttered by points of interest.
    Even though the iPhone comes preloaded with Apple Maps, most users have downloaded Google Maps as an alternative, according to Canalys. But Apple Maps is more deeply integrated into iOS and services that need direction use Apple Maps.
    People generally like to use default options, according to user-experience consultant Peter Ramsey. So now that Apple Maps has improved, people have no reason to download Google Maps.
    Google Maps is still considered the better option by some when they are driving. And Apple still has a lot of work to do. Costume-design student Laura Pladziewicz says that Apple Maps misguided her when she was in Boston. Law student Noah Abdelaziz said the app suggested a route that lengthened his commute.
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