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Bikers, Google Maps has good news for you

By Ashish Narsale
December 08, 2017 08:15 IST

Do you use Google Maps for your daily commute?
If not, then here's why you must, says Ashish Narsale.

Text.
Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters.

 

If you are a regular Google Maps app user in India, you have probably been asked if you are a two-wheeler rider. The reason behind that has now been revealed.

In an India-first feature, the Google has added a two-wheeler navigation mode to the latest version (9.67.1) of its Maps app.

This is in addition to the existing mapped modes of commuting. And the feature not only offers the two-wheeler rider the best routes possible, but also provides short cuts that are accessible only for two-wheelers.

 

The image on the left shows a biker will take only 5 minutes to get from Chandni Chowk to Paranthe Wali Gali whereas the image to the right shows a four-wheleer taking 13 minutes for the same journey.

 

The two-wheeler mode, as with other modes, will give real-time navigation using GPS.

Google has been improving its map accuracy rapidly, and there aren't many unexplored routes in cities at least.

In fact, many app makers -- especially those in shopping, food delivery, cab hailing -- use the Google Maps Application Programming Interface (API) to build their own apps.

The two-wheeler addition will only increase the Google Map apps massive user base.

Ashish Narsale / Rediff.com in Mumbai

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