Google Maps could soon get its biggest design upgrade in years – and it'll save your battery too

If you've ever been attempting to navigate somewhere and found the dreaded low battery warning on your phone, there's good news coming from Google. According to a new report, the brand could be bringing a new Power Saving mode to the Google Maps app.

That was uncovered by the folks over at Android Authority, and comes from a backend code teardown. The mode appears to work independently of any power saving mode on the device itself, which should allow users to drop the power output of the app without doing so for everything.

The user interface is substantially less cluttered, with a monochrome design that does away with just about all information. That may sound like a problem for navigating effectively, though we'd anticipate that audio prompts will help in that arena.

Still, it might be a step too far for some. The black background is only broken by an array of light, barely translucent grey bars, which represent the roads around you. Unless you're already pretty familiar with your surroundings, it could be a bit disconcerting.

The feature is said to support walking, driving and bike travel, though there's no word on support for travel using public transport. That could possibly require more power to draw on timetables and the like.

Bizarrely, the report also suggests that the feature only works in portrait orientation. That's an odd decision – maybe horizontal maps use more battery than vertical ones? Either way, it joins the list of slightly peculiar things which exist around this leak.

Still, it's a good update for the app. While I may have some reservations about the overall implementation, the idea is solid and something which I can see being loved by users.

Of course, it's worth noting that features found in this way aren't always guaranteed to see the light of day, so while we'll be keeping an eye out, we wouldn't pin all of our hopes on this too soon.