Google yesterday rolled out a series of updates to its Google Maps app for the iPhone and iPad, which introduces support for widgets that can be added to the Home Screen.
Home Screen widgets were popular back when Apple released iOS 14. The new update, which is already available for download, offers new support for two different types of widget.
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After adding the Google Maps widget to their Home screen, users can then choose from two separate widget options. The first widget lets users check weather conditions, traffic, restaurant reviews, store opening times, amongst other things, for a specific location.
The second type of widget lets users find places that are close to their personal location like nearby restaurants and grocery stores. This widget has speed of access in mind, and it facilitates users’ searches for places that they may need to find in a hurry like, say, a gas station if they’re running low on fuel.
Another nifty trick from the second type of widget is its ability to grant users lightning-quick access to home directions, offering an easily accessible search interface that lets users tap in directions directly from the Home Screen.
Google Maps is probably the best iPhone navigation app when compared to other services (and is far superior to Apple's first-party Apple Maps (opens in new tab) app.) You can access the Google Maps widget by hitting the ‘+’ symbol in either the Today View or on the Home Screen of your iPhone. Make sure to have downloaded the latest version (opens in new tab) of the Google Maps app from the App Store to be able to use the new widgets.
