Google Maps Gains Immersive View for Routes and Other AI Features

Google Maps is getting a new Immersive View for routes that uses artificial intelligence, Street View, and aerial images to preview every step of a journey ahead of time.

google maps immersive view routes
When users get directions for driving, walking, or cycling, Google Maps now offers a "multidimensional experience" that can be used to preview bike lanes, sidewalks, intersections, and parking along the route, according to Google.

A time slider can be used to see air quality information and how the route looks as the weather changes throughout the day, while AI and historical driving trends simulate how many cars might be on the road at a given time.

Immersive View for routes is rolling out in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Dublin, Florence, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Paris, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Tokyo and Venice on Android and iOS.

In addition to Immersive View for routes, Search with Live View is being replaced with Lens in Maps, which uses AI and augmented reality to help users orient themselves in a new neighborhood.

Tapping the Lens icon in the search bar and lifting your phone now gives you AR-delivered information about nearby ATMs, transit stations, restaurants, coffee shops, and stores. Google says Lens in Maps is rolling out to more than 50 new cities including Austin, Las Vegas, Rome, São Paulo and Taipei.

Elsewhere, the navigation map is getting updated colors, more realistic buildings, and improved highway lane details. These updates start rolling out in the coming months in 12 countries, including the U.S., Canada, France and Germany.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is also set to get information about high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes along a route, and in Europe, AI-powered speed limit information is expanding to 20 countries. Both features start rolling out on Android, iOS, and for cars with Google Built-in in the coming months.

Lastly, Google says EV drivers on Android and iOS will now see even more helpful charging station information, including whether a charger is compatible with their vehicle and whether the available chargers are fast, medium, or slow. This also includes the ability to see when a charger was last used so you know it's not a broken charger. These updates start rolling out globally on iOS and Android this week wherever EV charging station information is available.

Popular Stories

iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update

Tuesday April 1, 2025 10:34 am PDT by
Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software,...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.4 With Mail Categorization and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4 comes two months after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. With...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...

Top Rated Comments

Japan Ricardo Avatar
19 months ago
I hate to say it, but it’s much better than Apple Maps here in Japan.

I am sometimes forced to use it (website only and without signing-in, of course) because it simply has places on which Apple don’t show.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HobeSoundDarryl Avatar
19 months ago
* Want to much more confidently get where you are trying to go? Use Google Maps
* Want to maybe NOT get where you are trying to go but have a prettier app interface? Use Apple Maps

I keep trying & retrying Apple Maps every few months but instead of coats of ever-prettier paint, they need to get that underlying data cleaned up. I keep wondering why somebody doesn't write an algorithm to plot all points in all major mapping systems and compare where the destinations are plotted. If 4 out of 5 says X but Apple says Y, either flag Y as questionable and seek some community verification for it being right or wrong... or adapt "majority rules."

With a blend of majority rules and some user confirmation, underlying data should clean up quickly so that AM becomes at least as accurate as all others. If it is as accurate AND "prettier", then it can finally be crowned KING. In the meantime, I still want to dependably get where I'm trying to go... and that tends to be much more likely with GM.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
rcooked Avatar
19 months ago
I’m all in with Apple, but the amount of data that Google has on maps with reviews of places, etc…. Is handy. I find myself using it more and more.

It’s not my default. Wish Apple would copy that aspect and ditch Yelp.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CoreForce Avatar
19 months ago
Immersive views won’t help, when a road is closed for traffic since ever, but Google routes over that road and does not pick up on the map error reports.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacsRgr8 Avatar
19 months ago
Well, using Waze all the time here with CarPlay. So much better than Apple maps. Sad but true for me
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jlc1978 Avatar
19 months ago

“…and in Europe, AI-powered speed limit information is expanding to 20 countries.”

This is genuinely cool and useful and I hope that Apple could implement something similar, as currently speed limits in France are not very accurate and change quite frequently due to the road works. Since Apple already use anonymised speed data from a pool of iPhones in the moving cars, it should be reasonably simple for them to calculate an average speed the cars are travelling at for many roads, I guess.
Average speed and speed limits re different. Average speeds can give a reasonably accurate estimate of time to destination and arrival time; but the average speed may be above or below the speed limit for specific road sections.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)