{"id":101000,"date":"2018-05-21T17:39:54","date_gmt":"2018-05-21T17:39:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sftarticles.wpenginepowered.com\/en\/?p=101000"},"modified":"2025-07-01T23:28:41","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T06:28:41","slug":"6-things-you-didnt-know-you-could-do-on-google-maps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/6-things-you-didnt-know-you-could-do-on-google-maps\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Things you didn&#8217;t know you could do on Google Maps"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We use<b> Google Maps<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0all the time. Whether you&#8217;re driving in an unfamiliar area or just trying to find that restaurant that <em>must be around here somewhere<\/em>, it&#8217;s a miracle of modern technology. But Google Maps has lots of great features you may not even know about. It&#8217;s time to raise your Google game, friends. Read on and start exploring!<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>6 Things you didn&#8217;t know you could do on Google Maps<\/h2>\n<h3><b>Download maps<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is an\u00a0awesome option for travelers: <\/span><b>download maps to see them later offline.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> To do this, search for the location you want, then swipe up and you&#8217;ll see a <strong>download<\/strong> button. Click that and then you can refine the area you want to save. Click <strong>download<\/strong> again to save the map to your device. The larger the map, the more memory it will use. To access the maps offline, click the menu in the upper left corner and select <strong>Offline maps.<\/strong> No Wi-Fi? No problem.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-101027\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/maps2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/maps2.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/maps2-300x267.jpg 300w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/maps2-768x683.jpg 768w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/maps2-1024x911.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/maps2-1200x1067.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><b>Custom maps<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you\u2019re thinking of going on a trip somewhere and you would like to have a custom map that includes points of interest, Google Maps has a simple feature for this. To make one, you just have to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/d\/u\/0\/\"><b>go to this URL<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> from your PC and click on the option that says \u201c<\/span><b>Create a new map<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u201d From there, it\u2019s up to you. Everything you save, you can see later from the mobile version by clicking on<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201c<\/span><b>Your places.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-101028\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/Screen-Shot-2018-05-21-at-11.18.14-AM.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1884\" height=\"856\" srcset=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/Screen-Shot-2018-05-21-at-11.18.14-AM.png 1884w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/Screen-Shot-2018-05-21-at-11.18.14-AM-300x136.png 300w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/Screen-Shot-2018-05-21-at-11.18.14-AM-768x349.png 768w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/Screen-Shot-2018-05-21-at-11.18.14-AM-1024x465.png 1024w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/Screen-Shot-2018-05-21-at-11.18.14-AM-1200x545.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1884px) 100vw, 1884px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><b>Check traffic<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">You can see the <\/span><b>traffic in your city via Google Maps<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> within seconds. It\u2019s as easy as going to the menu and selecting \u201c<\/span><b>Traffic<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u201d The green lines represent streets that have steadily flowing traffic, yellow signals some congestion, and red is gridlock.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-101029\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/miami.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2234\" height=\"1832\" srcset=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/miami.jpg 2234w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/miami-300x246.jpg 300w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/miami-768x630.jpg 768w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/miami-1024x840.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/miami-1200x984.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2234px) 100vw, 2234px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><b>Share your real-time location<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Almost no one knows about this feature, but it&#8217;s really cool. Imagine that you\u2019re meeting a friend at a concert, but you\u2019re not there yet. Google Maps lets you <\/span><b>share your location in real time with that person<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. You move, your friend watches. It\u2019s that simple. Just go to the menu and click on <\/span><b>\u201cLocation sharing.\u201d<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Give access to everything it asks and add the amount of time you\u2019ll be sharing your location. Choose a contact and that person can watch your every move.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-card-program\">\r\n  <div class=\"sc-card-program__body\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row clearfix\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-logo\">\r\n        <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__img\" alt=\"Google Maps\" src=\"https:\/\/images.sftcdn.net\/images\/t_optimized,f_auto\/p\/95612986-96d5-11e6-af7c-00163ec9f5fa\/3278374776\/google-maps-logo.png\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\">\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-title\">\r\n        <span class=\"sc-card-program__title\">Google Maps<\/span>\r\n        <a class=\"sc-card-program__button sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/google-maps.en.softonic.com\/android\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Download Google Maps<\/a>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-card-program__col-rating\">\r\n        <svg class=\"rating-score__content\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.1\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\" viewbox=\"0 0 50 50\" enable-background=\"new 0 0 50 50\" xml:space=\"preserve\"><path class=\"rating-score__background rating-score--good\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><path class=\"rating-score__value rating-score__value--70\" fill=\"none\" stroke-width=\"6\" stroke-dashoffset=\"70\" stroke-miterlimit=\"10\" d=\"M40 40c8.3-8.3 8.3-21.7 0-30s-21.7-8.3-30 0 -8.3 21.7 0 30\"><\/path><text class=\"rating-score__number\" content=\"7\" text-anchor=\"middle\" transform=\"matrix(1 0 0 1 25 31.0837)\" data-auto=\"app-user-score\">7<\/text><\/svg>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <span class=\"sc-card-program__description\"><\/span>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <div class=\"sc-card-program__row\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"sc-card-program__bigpic\" src=\"\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none'\">\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <a class=\"sc-card-program__link track-link sc-card-program-internal\" href=\"https:\/\/google-maps.en.softonic.com\/android\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<h3><b>Avoid tolls<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you want to avoid all possible tolls, Google Maps can help! Just put in your destination and click on <\/span><b>\u201cDirections.\u201d<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> On the upper right, click on the three dots, then hit <\/span><b>\u201cRoute options.\u201d<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> There you\u2019ll see several fields, though the one we want is <\/span><b>\u201cAvoid tolls.\u201d<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Check it and you\u2019re good to go.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-101030\" src=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/maps.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1334\" srcset=\"https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/maps.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/maps-300x267.jpg 300w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/maps-768x683.jpg 768w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/maps-1024x911.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2018\/05\/maps-1200x1067.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><b>Calibrate your compass<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you want your position to be more accurate\u00a0<\/span><b>you can calibrate your compass on Google Maps<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. To do this, click on the blue dot indicating your current position and look for the option that says <\/span><b>\u201cCalibrate compass.\u201d <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Once you click there, you have to make a figure 8 (or loop) with your phone. Do it several times and keep checking the status of the calibration. If on screen it says \u201chigh\u201d accuracy, you\u2019re all set. (This isn&#8217;t an option on iOS &#8211; just open your Compass app to calibrate there.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/eloZBMBLQ9o8CC_84rfN-JedVCdzStQhhbs1FImcgOEmUYoeijg-tS4xNh6Kmd234n4=w350\" width=\"350\" height=\"350\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"sc-related-articles-grey\">\r\n<p class=\"sc-related-articles-grey__title\">More from Softonic<\/p>\r\n  <div class=\"sc-related-articles-grey__row\">\r\n    <a title=\"How to Share Your Live Location on Google Maps\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/how-to-share-your-live-location-on-google-maps\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-grey__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-grey__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2017\/06\/live-locations-1024x614.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-grey__text\">\r\n        <p>How to Share Your Live Location on Google Maps<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    <a title=\"Google Maps gets public transport step-by-step instructions\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/train-and-bus-journeys-easier-than-ever-as-google-maps-gets-public-transport-step-by-step-instructions\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-grey__article sc-related-articles-grey__article--last\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-grey__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2017\/12\/public-transport-1024x576.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-grey__text\">\r\n        <p>Google Maps gets public transport step-by-step instructions<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div class=\"sc-related-articles-grey__row\">\r\n    <a title=\"Google Maps\u2019 New Feature Will Save you Time\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/google-maps-new-feature-will-save-you-time\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-grey__article\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-grey__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2014\/06\/DSC0189-568x377.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-grey__text\">\r\n        <p>Google Maps\u2019 New Feature Will Save you Time<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    <a title=\"Google Maps might soon start telling your friends how much battery you have left\" href=\"https:\/\/en.softonic.com\/articles\/google-maps-might-soon-start-telling-your-friends-how-much-battery-you-have-left\">\r\n    <div class=\"sc-related-articles-grey__article sc-related-articles-grey__article--last\">\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-grey__image\">\r\n        <div style=\"background-image:url(https:\/\/articles-img.sftcdn.net\/sft\/articles\/auto-mapping-folder\/sites\/3\/2017\/10\/battery-192.jpg)\"><\/div>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n      <div class=\"sc-related-articles-grey__text\">\r\n        <p>Google Maps might soon start telling your friends how much battery you have left<\/p>\r\n      <\/div>\r\n    <\/div>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We use Google Maps\u00a0all the time. Whether you&#8217;re driving in an unfamiliar area or just trying to find that restaurant that must be around here somewhere, it&#8217;s a miracle of modern technology. But Google Maps has lots of great features you may not even know about. It&#8217;s time to raise your Google game, friends. Read &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/6-things-you-didnt-know-you-could-do-on-google-maps\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;6 Things you didn&#8217;t know you could do on Google Maps&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9091,"featured_media":101031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":0},"categories":[2441],"tags":[1082,2346,1068,1061,1083,1041],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-101000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-to","tag-android","tag-app-subdomain-redirectiongoogle-maps","tag-google","tag-google-maps","tag-ios","tag-travel"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9091"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101000"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":327968,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101000\/revisions\/327968"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101000"},{"taxonomy":"usertag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/usertag?post=101000"},{"taxonomy":"vertical","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vertical?post=101000"},{"taxonomy":"content-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/content-category?post=101000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}