Google Maps for iOS adds iPad support, live traffic updates and indoor navigation

Google unveiled a significant update to Google Maps on Tuesday, finally bringing support for Apple's iPad, while adding enhanced features like indoor walking directions and "Explore," a new interface for browsing shopping, dining and lodging destinations.

Google Maps for iPad.

Google Maps version 2.0 brings the iOS title more in line with the native Android offering, including indoor mapping and the newly released "Explore" pane. Perhaps the most notable addition, however, is support for the iPad and iPad mini, a highly requested feature since the iOS Maps app moved away from Google's mapping data in iOS 6.

Searching on the iPad brings up information cards with an option to create a route to or from that location. Navigation is handled in much the same way as the iPhone iteration, but the extra space of the iPad's screen affords a persistent view of the map. If a certain query results in multiple routes, the a card stack is displayed that can be expanded to show all available options.

Alongside its new iPad capabilities, Google Maps brings a number of features over from the Android version of the app, like live traffic updates and incident reports and indoor maps with walking directions for shopping malls, airports, and other popular sites. Also included is the new "Explore" feature, which Google defines as "a new way to browse and discover popular local places to eat, drink, shop, play and sleep."

In practice, Explore operates much like other standalone iOS apps, such as Yelp, which use location information to make shopping or dining recommendations. The feature uses a five-star rating system that taps into Zagat's review database, and users can enter their own rating and review in-app. Google Offers is also supported.

Google Maps is a free 11.6MB download from the App Store.

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43 Comments

tallest skil

said about 10 years ago

Good! And I would! (three claps) If I thought that I was understood! And it'll be great! Just wait! (three claps) Or is it [B]too little, too late[/B]?

poksi

said about 10 years ago

just integrated GooGle Maps last week in iPad app. Works perfectly. What's the catch?

mp1963

said about 10 years ago

Just installed this "new" release on my ipad. All I get is the usual iphone app in 2X mode. I thought this was a new version ???

applesauce007

said about 10 years ago

I don't need it. I could not care less.

Keep Google spying apps off of your iOS devices.

doctorgonzo

said about 10 years ago

Integrated car, transit, bike and walking directions make it a killer app for me.

I want Apple Maps to be a worthy competitor to keep Google on its toes, but its car-centric focus is a hopelessly outdated approach. It would have been acceptable in 1995, but not 2013.

I'm not finding and downloading a new helper app every time I travel to a new place. I'm not keeping track of which helper apps can deal with the city I'm in. I'm not learning an entirely new map UI when I go to a new city. I'm not switching back and forth between Apple Maps and helper apps every time I want to a new set of directions.

Yes, it takes some extra work to update the latest timetables from every transit agency in a country, but it's nothing compared to constantly updating the existence or non-existence of roads and highways in every nation on Earth.

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