Google Maps for iOS Gets Support for Interactive Widgets to Ease Navigation

Google Maps for iOS has been updated with two widgets to help users quickly navigate using their Apple devices. One of the newly added Google Maps widget is meant to let you easily look for your nearby restaurant or petrol pump (gas station) or navigate to your home or office — all with a single tap. The second widget is designed to check traffic conditions and location details before heading out for some work or just for fun. You can place the Google Maps widgets directly on your Home Screen or on Today View.

The updated Google Maps for iOS (version 5.74) leverages the widgets experience offered by iOS 14 to deliver an all-new navigation experience. It lets you find places nearby and navigate to and from your home and office locations through the search widget.

You can tap on the available options to navigate to your nearby restaurant, ATM, or petrol station or to get navigation for reaching your home or office. Alternatively, you can tap on the pill-shaped search bar to look for a particular address on Google Maps.

In addition to easing your search and navigation, Google Maps has added the second widget to let you check the latest traffic conditions and see location details, shop opening times, and restaurant reviews. The 1x1 widget also shows your current location along with the traffic layer.

Previously, Google Maps offered widgets in the older format to show information such as travel time, traffic, transit departures, and local guides. Those were, however, not that interactive when compared to the new ones.

You can download the updated Google Maps app from the App Store. The app is notably compatible with both iPhone and iPad devices. However, the widgets are limited to iPhone only at this moment as iPad users are due to receive widget support through iPadOS 15 that is currently available under preview and is scheduled to reach the users this fall.

Once downloaded and installed, Google Maps lets you add its new widgets directly by tapping Edit in the Today View or pressing the + icon in the editing mode on one of your Home Screens.

In November, Google updated Gmail for iOS with a widget to let users quickly search for their inbox and compose new emails.

Similar to Google Maps, Apple Maps has three different widgets on iPhone and iPad to let users receive destination suggestions and ETA tracking as well as find nearby places such as restaurants, gas stations, and banks.