By Google Maps has just received an update bringing the king of mobile navigation up to version 5.7. New in this version of Maps is Transit Navigation, which is given the beta tag and available in over 400 cities worldwide. For those traveling in a new city with public transportation it should prove to be a big help. Based on your location, Maps will alert you to your stops and transfers. No more confusing bus schedules or subway maps.
In addition, searching for walking or driving directions will now bring up a shortcut to Navigation, making it easier than ever to jump right into your route. Place pages have been given better directions support, and you can now view photos for a place. Finally, the search bar has been refined to include for quicker, more accurate searches for nearby locations. You can grab the update in the Android Market now.
Android Market Link: Google Maps
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queer
Go into the labs (menu.. more.. labs) and select the “Download map area”. Now, on the main maps page, you can download map area for offline viewing!
@Kevin, Maps 5.7 has an additional new feature which you didn’t mention, but which I find *extremly* useful: there’s a Labs extension (Menu->More->Google Labs) that allows the user to download and cache map tiles explicitely, without having to physically be there. Very useful for when there’s no signal, or while roaming abroad.
The tile size is fixed at 10*10 mls, so download is a bit cumbersome for large areas.
From the article: “Based on your location, Maps will alert you to your stops and transfers. No more confusing bus schedules or subway maps.”
How well will it work on the subway?
WOW, I usually like google products, especially maps and navigation, but this is UTTER CRAP!!! I have tried three separate journeys, two from where I am and one from two places I know in London. The results were so bad they were comical. 4 hours to do a 40 minute journey, and one was over 9 hours to go to Ikea near my home… Beta? More like Alpha!