Google Maps is getting the biggest update in a decade. The company is rolling out a set of Gemini-powered upgrades, essentially making the app a travel companion that does all the heavy-lifting. The newest features centre on two major additions: Immersive Navigation, a redesign of the driving experience with vivid 3D visuals and smarter, more human-sounding guidance, and Ask Maps, a conversational AI feature powered by Google’s Gemini models.
Ask Maps: Converse with Maps in natural language
Ask Maps is a conversational interface that allows users ask Google Maps complex, real-world questions in natural language, by text or voice, and receive personalised answers. Google says that these responses are drawn from information about over 300 million places and reviews from more than 500 million contributors worldwide.
For example, users can ask questions like, “I want to go to Noida Sector 18 from Connaught Place, suggest best way to reach there are recommend restaurants nearby for vegetarian dinner.” Ask Maps will provide clear directions, options what mode of transport to take, estimated arrival times and tips pulled from reviews as well as relevant information about restaurants.
Google also says that if Maps has access to users’ history in Google Maps like places searched for, saved or visited before, it can provide personalised recommendations, without you having to provide details.
Ask Maps is rolling out now in the United States and India on Android and iOS, with a desktop version coming soon.
Immersive Navigation: Driving gets a makeover
The second major update is Immersive Navigation, which is a full redesign of the Google Maps driving experience. The update brings a vivid, real-time 3D view of the world around you as you drive. Buildings, overpasses, and terrain now appear as they actually look, giving users a spatial understanding of your surroundings rather than the flat, abstract map view that drivers have stared at for years.
Maps will also highlight critical road details such as lanes, crosswalks, traffic lights and stop signs, to help users make correct turns. According to Google, this has been made possible by Gemini models analysing fresh imagery from Street View and aerial photography to give an accurate, up-to-date picture of the road ahead.
Smarter guidance on Google Maps
Google Maps Immersive Navigation also gives users a broader view of the route, with smart zooms and transparent building overlays that let users see around corners and prepare for tricky turns well in advance. Voice guidance has also been updated to sound more natural. For example, instead of “In 500 metres, take the exit,” you might hear: “Go past this exit and take the next one for Illinois 43 South”.
Google Maps already processes over 5 million traffic updates every second from around the world, Google says, adding that when an alternate route is available, Maps will tell you the actual tradeoff like, “This route is three minutes longer but avoids the motorway construction”.
One of the most frustrating parts of any drive is the last few minutes — finding the building, locating the entrance, figuring out where to park. Immersive Navigation now addresses this directly. Maps will highlight the building’s entrance, nearby parking options and which side of the street you need to be on.
Immersive Navigation is rolling out across the US, with availability expanding over the coming months to eligible Android and iOS devices, as well as CarPlay, Android Auto, and cars with Google built-in.
