Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

Google is testing an awesome new Google Maps feature we can’t wait to get our hands on

Updated Dec 19th, 2018 8:49PM EST
Google Maps Explore Nearby

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

Google Maps is an amazing tool that has quite literally changed our lives. Even the shortest trips to unknown locations used to be a production that involved searches and routing on Mapquest (or, heaven forbid, on an actual paper map) and then carrying printouts of one’s path to consult while driving. Now, we type a quick search in Google Maps on our phones and go.

Of course, Google is hardly one to rest on its laurels despite having released a product that has had such an impact. The company is constantly adding nifty new features to Maps, and now it’s working on one we cannot wait to get our hands on.

FROM EARLIER: Awesome new Google Maps trick makes travel planning even easier

Getting to your destination is one thing, but discovering interesting things about your surroundings is an area where Maps clearly has room to improve. As noted by Android Police on Monday, Google is seemingly testing new features in Google Maps that may do a good job of supplying those improvements.

According to the site, Google is enhancements to its “Explore Nearby” feature that will provide users with information about points of interest close to them at any given point in time. There are plenty of apps that provide similar functionality — Google even makes one called Field Trip — but having a better feature integrated into Google Maps would make it far more useful.

Google Maps already has an Explore Nearby feature, but the updates being tested apparently do a far better job of helping users hone in on a particular category. Google’s new Explore Nearby feature also lets you select a time of day, so if it’s 11:00 p.m. you’ll be able to find nearby bars and lounges instead of libraries and museums, for example.

Unfortunately, there’s no word on when the new enhancements will roll out to all users.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.