Mumbai: Search giant Google is reportedly adding two new features to its popular Maps app which will not only boost its effectiveness but will notify daily passengers about unpredicted service disruptions on routes.
According to a new Android Police report, the ‘mass transit delay notification’ is the first out of the two updates, which will help daily passengers travelling via buses or trains, by notifying them regarding any service disruption on the route they take on a regular basis.
Though the feature existed earlier, the notifications were not configured to a limited area and were silent. Google has now understood the importance of sending out these alerts and is doing the needful to warn daily commuters, especially those who have to switch between multiple modes of transport.
These alerts will also accompany a fair amount of detail regarding the cause of the disruption, giving users a fair idea about the intensity of the disruption. Other than that, now commuters will also be able to manually choose ‘specific transit lines’ rather than trusting Google Now to identify the best route.
With this option, daily passengers will be able to overcome numerous predicaments they encounter on a daily basis. However, this is not the only feature the company plans to roll out; a new Wi-Fi only mode option is also being integrated, as per reports suggested.
The Wi-Fi mode control is a simple way to save on mobile data packs, which will be switched off when users travel through a Wi-Fi enabled zone. Users can juggle between data mode and Wi-Fi only mode on the settings screen.
The new Wi-Fi only mode, which was previously titled ‘offline areas’, does not seem to be a fitting solution in a country like India where live Wi-Fi hotspots are hard to come by while travelling. However, users can alternatively download offline maps on an existing Wi-Fi connection and utilise it later.
The update requires all Google Map users to have Maps v9.32 installed to make use of these two features. The update will be rolled out in a phased manner so don’t panic if you already haven’t got the update.
