Google Maps goes indoors

Google Maps is useful when you’re walking in an unfamiliar territory. It gives you a pin for your position with a blue circle around it and a pin for your destination, too. Your pin also moves along with you (provided you have your mobile device’s GPS service turned on). Now, Google Maps for Android is ‘pinning’ you indoors, giving you a map of an indoor space like a mall or an airport and letting you position yourself to help you get to your destination. Usually at these indoor locations, you will try to look for a directory to help you get to where you want to go, but Google Maps 6.0 on Android becomes your directory in your palm, confirms an official blog post by Brian McClendon, VP of Engineering, Google Earth and Maps.

Screenshot of Google Maps used indoors

Floor plans can be viewed for buildings where available. If you move upstairs or downstairs in a building, the blue dot indicating your position will automatically adjust and new floor plan for your new position will be displayed. Some locations that have support for Google Maps indoors include Mall of America, IKEA, The Home Depot, select Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, Daimaru, Takashimaya and Mitsukoshi locations, as well as certain major airports like San Francisco (SFO), Tokyo Narita (NRT), Chicago O’Hare (ORD) and more. Watch the video below for a demo of Google Maps taken indoors.

More from News & Analysis

What is the US HIRE Bill and why is India’s $250-billion IT sector worried? Is the internet dead? What's this theory that OpenAI's Sam Altman says might be true?