Navigation isn’t the only thing you can do with Google Maps. In fact, you can even travel between different points! Maps are known for having hidden gems that you can access every day, but they’re on tap when you need them.
Using these features, you can plan upcoming trips and find places you’ve visited and forgotten in the past, so it’s not just time travel for fun. Three features to help you become a digital time traveler and how you can use them.
Go back in time with Street View
Same place, different time?
Google Maps has many features that you may not use everyday, hidden gems like parking spots are useful for travel. One of them is a Street View feature it allows you to see a 360° view of the space for years and it’s one of the features I use for fun, out of navigationfrom the comfort of my home.
To use Street View’s “time travel” feature, search for a location in your Maps app. In the lower left corner you will see a small box with a 360° arrow above the name of the place. Tap this box to access Street View. Next, tap on the history of the view, after which you will get a panel that shows you the Street View from different points in time of the same location. You can switch between years and see a 360° view of the place and how it has changed over time.
Please note that this feature is highly dependent on Maps Street View vehicles as well as contributions from Maps users, so not all locations may have an extensive photo library from different years. The calendar feature works particularly well with more well-known, touristy locations, and you can use it for locations all over the world. It can also be used in the desktop version of Maps.
Track your travel history with Timeline
A digital diary of all your visits
This is one of the most appreciated features in Google Maps Timeline. It’s basically a way to record and store your location history, essentially a digital travelogue, so you can retrace your steps for weeks, months, or even years. A timeline is very useful when you want to revisit and reminisce about places you’ve forgotten, or when planning future vacations to places you’ve visited in the past. I’ve used this feature many times when revisiting my favorite cities or trying to remember the names of local hidden gems.
Tap your profile picture in the app to access your Google Maps Timeline. Click on “Your Timeline” and the Map will “take you back in time”. Using the calendar option, you can view your trips, travel information, previous trips, cities, etc. you can tap on any day (when Timeline is enabled) to see it.
If you want to enable this feature for the first time, make sure you tap the three dots at the top of the Timeline page, go to Location & Privacy Settings, device location is enabled, and Timeline is enabled.
You can use the pencil icon in Timeline to add, edit and delete visits in a day and add notes if necessary.
Please note that when you enable Timeline, you agree to regularly remember the exact location of each of your devices to show you where you are, including when Google apps are not open. If you’re concerned about privacy, you can delete your Timeline data on Maps at any time or turn it off entirely by going to your Timeline settings (which you can find and manage under “Location & Privacy” under Timeline data). Timeline is available in the Google Maps mobile app for iOS and Android.
Save places for future visits
The fastest way to create a digital itinerary
We’ve all had those days when we’re looking for a new coffee shop or cafe that pops up on our social feed but forgets the name by the next week. A navigation app if you want to bookmark places on Google Maps to return to later allows you to save them for the future. It allows you to remember and revisit places you’ve visited before or plan future travel routes without relying on other apps or resources.
When you save a place in Google Maps, the service saves the place name, location and other information. But that’s not all you can do with Google Maps. You can too create custom Listsit allows you to create a list of saved locations and group them for future use. For example, you can check your upcoming international trip, local shopping prices, business cafes, etc. you can create separate lists for Plus, Maps lets you add notes to your saved places so you can add your own thoughts about the place while you’re saving it, so you can keep track of important information, too.
To save a location to Google Maps, search for the location in the app or long press and release the icon on the map, tap the name/address of the location below and select “Save”.
To create a new list, go to the “You” tab (bookmark icon) at the bottom of the screen, then click “New List” to customize the details. Click Create to finish. Now when you save a location, you can add it to your wish list. Saved locations can also be easily tagged for classification. You can save places and create lists in the mobile app and desktop version.
There is Google Maps an array of features you can discover you won’t be able to use it for your daily commute. with New features of the mapWith Ask Anything and Immersive Navigation, rolled out to users every day, you can travel better than ever before.
