Google Maps adds send to device
One of the annoying things I’ve had as a long time user of Google Maps was that the desktop and the mobile version didn’t play particularly well together. While you could see addresses you’d searched for on one in the other, unless you remembered the address, you might be left guessing if you’d been doing searching earlier.
Google Maps, the website edition, now has an option to send an address to supported devices. My guess is “supported devices” are anything with a current Google Search client that’s been configured for the Google Now cards.
On the Android device, you’ll either see a card in your Google Now options corresponding to the address/name of the location you looked for earlier, or a blue pushpin in your notifications with the address. The first time I sent a location over I had a card, after dismissing it and subsequent other tests I had blue pushpins, so I’m a bit unsure if the cards come back or what the deal is with them. Pushpins happen every time.
The really cool thing about this is it allows you to search out a few places and send the pushpins to your phone for swipe and tap navigation.
The only issue I see with this is there appears to be a very long lag between a pushpin showing up in the notifications area and it appearing in the history if you haven’t clicked it.
Dismissed locations will eventually show up in history, so make sure you are aware of that in case you’re using your Maps to do some sensitive navigation.
You can grab the Google Maps update for free, although as with most things Google there’s a chance you may be seeing an older version for a day or two until it’s rolled out to all of your friends and people who don’t particularly want that feature. Google’s algorithm for dispersal seems to be, “Will they use it? Nope? Give it to them.”
Download: Google Play
