Google Maps for iOS update adds iMessage live location sharing, new widgets and more


Google Maps has announced a new update for their iOS app that adds a couple of new features such as a dark mode, two new widgets and the ability to share live location on iMessage.

Sharing your live location via Google Maps is a feature that has existed on other messaging platforms such as WhatsApp for many years. Native support for the feature is finally being added to iMessage, and by default, it will share location for an hour. There will also an option to extend the time to up to 3 days.

The second feature is a new nearby traffic widget that will show the live traffic conditions on your current location right from the home screen. Along with this, there is also a Google Maps search widget that will enable quick searching of locations right from the home screen.

The last update is a addition of dark mode for the Google Maps app on iOS. It can be turned on by simply navigating to the settings, tap on dark mode, then select “On”.

These three features will be rolling out to all users on iOS over the next month.