Who’s got those summertime feelings? If the warmer months have you feeling extra inspired — and excited — to get outside and explore with friends, Google Maps can help you transform the way you coordinate plans and stay connected this summer and beyond. Whether you’re checking out top landmarks in a new city, planning to hop on your bike, or hanging out with friends around town, these updates have you covered.

Experience global landmarks in a whole new way

The summer travel season is in full swing, and people are turning to Google Maps to plan their trips and find helpful information about places they plan to visit — like what time a place is open and how crowded it is. To help you with the trip-planning process, we’re bringing photorealistic aerial views of nearly 100 of the world’s most popular landmarks in cities like Barcelona, London, New York, San Francisco and Tokyo right to Google Maps. This is the first step toward launching immersive view — an experience that pairs AI with billions of high definition Street View, satellite and aerial imagery.

Say you’re planning a trip to New York. With this update, you can get a sense for what the Empire State Building is like up close so you can decide whether or not you want to add it to your trip itinerary. To see an aerial view wherever they’re available, search for a landmark in Google Maps and head to the Photos section.

Get ready for your ride with new cycling route information

More people are hopping on their bikes! Over the past few months, cycling has increased by more than 40% worldwide – which is no surprise given that the warmer weather and high gas prices have people opting for more sustainable transportation choices. Google Maps has provided cycling directions for over 12 years thanks to AI paired with data from cities, trusted cartographic partners and feedback from the Google Maps community. With our new cycling route information, you will soon be able to easily compare bike routes and see even more granular details (when this data is available) to prepare for the ride ahead.

Just get cycling directions to any destination. In addition to seeing the elevation along your route, you’ll also know if you’ll encounter heavy car traffic, stairs or steep hills. You’ll also be able to get a highly detailed breakdown of the route itself so you can know at a glance what type of road you’ll be biking on – like a major road vs. a local street. Gone are the days of unknowingly pedaling up a strenuous hill or on a route with more car traffic than you’re comfortable with.

Stay connected and safer on the go

More social outings means more time juggling meetups with friends and family. With new location sharing notifications, you can see when a loved one has arrived or left a place so you can more easily coordinate schedules and have peace of mind. Say you’re headed to a concert with a group of friends. If they’ve already chosen to share their location with you, you can set a notification for the concert venue’s address so you can see when they’ve arrived and meet up quickly. You could also set a notification to see when they’ve left the venue — just in case you get split up. One of the ways I plan to use this feature this summer is when I set out on my solo hiking trip. By asking my sister to set a notification for me so she can see when I’ve returned to the trailhead parking lot gives me peace of mind that someone will know that I made it back safely.

We’ve built this feature with privacy at the forefront. Notifications can only be set for someone who has already chosen to share their location with you. The person who’s shared their location with you will receive multiple reminders to let them know — including both a push notification in the Maps app and an email, along with recurring monthly emails. As always, you’re in control: you choose to stop sharing your location or block someone from setting notifications altogether.

Aerial views of landmarks and location sharing notifications are rolling out now globally on Google Maps on Android and iOS, with cycling route information launching in the coming weeks in the hundreds of cities where cycling directions are available.

The holidays are right around the corner, and we’re starting to get santa-mental! This year, many places around the world are lifting restrictions — which means people are excited to celebrate with friends and family. To keep the coming weeks stress-free, we’re launching new Google Maps tools to help you stay safe, maximize your time with loved ones and find that perfect holiday brunch spot. ?

Avoid the crowds — or flock to the festivities ?

Whether you’re heading to your hometown or exploring a new city, you can use Area Busyness, a new feature that combines live busyness trends to help you instantly spot when a neighborhood or part of town is near or at its busiest. Say you’re not a fan of crowds — just open Google Maps to see places to avoid, like the area near a holiday fair. And if you’re traveling and want to check out some of the more popular areas in town, you can easily pinpoint which neighborhoods are lively.

Want more info? Tap on a neighborhood to see how busy it is at different times of day, along with the restaurants, shops and recreational places (like a museum) within it, so you can decide if you want to visit. Area Busyness starts rolling out globally on Android and iOS, in time for this holiday season.

Navigate malls, airports and transit stations in a snap ?

There’s nothing quite like running through the mall in search of a last-minute gift or dashing across the airport to catch your flight. To help you find your way around large buildings fast, we’re expanding the Directory tab globally on Android and iOS for all airports, malls and transit stations around the world. Now, when we have this data available, you can quickly see what types of stores are in a building (like toy stores or jewelry boutiques), airport lounges, car rentals, parking lots and more. And within each category, you can see a list of the relevant businesses, in addition to helpful information about whether it’s open, its rating and what floor it's on.

Holiday hosts can save time on grocery shopping ?️

We’ve all been there: You spend weeks writing a grocery list to prepare for a big holiday feast, only to realize that you’ve forgotten a key ingredient ​​?. Not to worry — pickup with Google Maps is here to help. First launched in Portland, Oregon with select Fred Meyers stores, once you place your order from the retailer, pickup with Google Maps lets you track your order status, share your ETA and let the store know you've arrived, all from the app. Pickup with Google Maps now includes more Kroger Family stores like Kroger, Fry’s, Ralphs and Marianos — as of today, it’s now available in over 2,000 store locations in more than 30 states across the U.S. People who use pickup with Google Maps typically wait less than five minutes for their groceries, meaning you can grab exactly what you need and get right back to your day.

Calling all foodies! See and contribute helpful information about restaurants ?️

Not in the mood to cook? Not to worry. To help you quickly find a restaurant that fits your budget, you’ll start seeing price ranges for dining spots in the U.S. based on contributions from other Google Maps users. We’re also rolling out a simpler way to provide more detailed reviews about places, like whether or not a restaurant or cafe has things like outdoor seating, delivery options, curbside pickup and any features that customers should be aware of.

The holidays are an exciting time, and Google Maps can help you keep it as stress-free as possible. To learn more about how your city is celebrating the holidays, check out our latest trends.

The holidays are right around the corner, and we’re starting to get santa-mental! This year, many places around the world are lifting restrictions — which means people are excited to celebrate with friends and family. To keep the coming weeks stress-free, we’re launching new Google Maps tools to help you stay safe, maximize your time with loved ones and find that perfect holiday brunch spot. ?

Avoid the crowds — or flock to the festivities ?

Whether you’re heading to your hometown or exploring a new city, you can use Area Busyness, a new feature that combines live busyness trends to help you instantly spot when a neighborhood or part of town is near or at its busiest. Say you’re not a fan of crowds — just open Google Maps to see places to avoid, like the area near a holiday fair. And if you’re traveling and want to check out some of the more popular areas in town, you can easily pinpoint which neighborhoods are lively.

Want more info? Tap on a neighborhood to see how busy it is at different times of day, along with the restaurants, shops and recreational places (like a museum) within it, so you can decide if you want to visit. Area Busyness starts rolling out globally on Android and iOS, in time for this holiday season.

Navigate malls, airports and transit stations in a snap ?

There’s nothing quite like running through the mall in search of a last-minute gift or dashing across the airport to catch your flight. To help you find your way around large buildings fast, we’re expanding the Directory tab globally on Android and iOS for all airports, malls and transit stations around the world. Now, when we have this data available, you can quickly see what types of stores are in a building (like toy stores or jewelry boutiques), airport lounges, car rentals, parking lots and more. And within each category, you can see a list of the relevant businesses, in addition to helpful information about whether it’s open, its rating and what floor it's on.

Holiday hosts can save time on grocery shopping ?️

We’ve all been there: You spend weeks writing a grocery list to prepare for a big holiday feast, only to realize that you’ve forgotten a key ingredient ​​?. Not to worry — pickup with Google Maps is here to help. First launched in Portland, Oregon with select Fred Meyers stores, once you place your order from the retailer, pickup with Google Maps lets you track your order status, share your ETA and let the store know you've arrived, all from the app. Pickup with Google Maps now includes more Kroger Family stores like Kroger, Fry’s, Ralphs and Marianos — as of today, it’s now available in over 2,000 store locations in more than 30 states across the U.S. People who use pickup with Google Maps typically wait less than five minutes for their groceries, meaning you can grab exactly what you need and get right back to your day.

Calling all foodies! See and contribute helpful information about restaurants ?️

Not in the mood to cook? Not to worry. To help you quickly find a restaurant that fits your budget, you’ll start seeing price ranges for dining spots in the U.S. based on contributions from other Google Maps users. We’re also rolling out a simpler way to provide more detailed reviews about places, like whether or not a restaurant or cafe has things like outdoor seating, delivery options, curbside pickup and any features that customers should be aware of.

The holidays are an exciting time, and Google Maps can help you keep it as stress-free as possible. To learn more about how your city is celebrating the holidays, check out our latest trends.

More than a billion people turn to Google Maps to navigate and explore the world and their communities. And thanks to the hundreds of millions people who contribute information to Google Maps each year—like the best takeaway dish to order at a local restaurant or a photo of a nearby park’s new open hours—people can get local recommendations and up-to-date information about where to go and what to do. We’re now making it easier to uncover community-powered updates and recommendations in Google Maps.   

Last year we announced a Google Maps pilot feature that allowed people to follow select Local Guides, the everyday people who are passionate about sharing their experiences on Google Maps. It was exciting to see many of the Local Guides we invited in our initial pilot opt in and participate. Equally exciting was the interest we saw from many Google Maps users who began following top Local Guides to receive helpful recommendations about the places around them.

Today we’re expanding this feature and beginning to roll it out globally. If a Google Maps user has shared photos, reviews or lists publicly, you can now follow them and get their recommendations, advice and updates delivered to your Updates tab in Google Maps. So the next time you find someone sharing helpful photos of takeout menus, handy lists of your city's most spacious parks or inspiring photos of local shops and services, you can keep up-to-date on all of their recommendations. 

There will also be new topic filters on Google Maps profiles, so you can see the topics and places people share about the most, like pizza, brunch, camping and parks. Whether they’re a coffee enthusiast documenting every last latte, or a hometown expert reviewing all things Perth or Phoenix, you can follow other Google Maps users with public profiles to get helpful recommendations about the places around you.

Control your Google Maps experience and profile

People want to be in control of their digital footprint. That’s why we’ve built in settings so you can easily manage and personalize your Google Maps profile. As always, everyone has the option to show (or not show) their reviews, photos and posts on their public Maps profile. To become followable in Google Maps, an eligible user can go to their profile and follow a simple process. And users who are followable on Google Maps can make their profile restricted. With a restricted profile, you approve new followers before they can see contributions on your profile. 

Want to share your personality on your Google Maps profile? Create a short tagline that sparks a sense of adventure. Or simply drop in a pasta emoji if there are no words to describe how much you love Italian food.

It’s people’s personal recommendations and access to reliable, local information that make Google Maps a helpful tool in your pocket. Now all of that is easier to find and follow.