According to a report by Android Police, Google is testing a new feature on Maps with a few users and buildings. With this feature, Google Maps will show an icon indicating where to exit and enter a place when it’s selected. The report claimed that the feature appeared on Google Maps version 11.17.0101 on a Google Pixel 7a smartphone.
This new entrance indicator feature seems to be in the early stages of development at Google. So, it might take some time until it rolls out more widely.
Google Maps entrance indicator feature: How it may work
As per the report, entrances of a place showed up only when it was selected on the map and was zoomed in sufficiently. The entrances of a place were depicted as round, white circles with an entry symbol in them.
The report claims that this new information didn’t show up on other devices with Google Maps updated to the latest release across different countries and continents. This suggests that the feature is currently in a very limited test run and is available only to a handful of users and devices.
The report also noted that Google Maps on the Pixel 7a also showed selected businesses or buildings in red. This will make it easier for users to differentiate them from surrounding places.
This feature was tested with different kinds of buildings, ranging from hotels, doctors’ offices, supermarkets, hardware stores, cafes and restaurants and multiple cities including New York City, Las Vegas, San Francisco and Berlin, the report noted. However, the entrances showed up for some of the places but not for all. This indicates that Google may still be in the process of collecting the necessary information.
For some places, the feature confirmed that the entrances aren’t shown in the right spot. However, this can be a bigger problem for smaller buildings where the exact position doesn’t matter as much.
In some cases, entrances were also depicted with a green arrow in a white circle. However, the report couldn’t explain why Google Maps showed different icons for various entrances.
Recently, Google Maps also added a similar feature to public transit navigation. In select cities, Google Maps now shows exactly where users need to enter or exit train or subway stations. This feature comes in handy particularly for complex stations that stretch across multiple streets below the earth.