The holiday travel season is here, and if you’re skipping the airport and hitting the road for your family gatherings, both Google Maps and Apple Maps have apps that can help you save time and money. Sure, online map navigation has been around for years, but if you haven’t used the apps in a while lately, both companies have recently improved their tools for modern road trip concerns, like finding electric vehicle charging stations. or not arrive. lost in a country with low signal. Here is an overview.
Choose a route
For many people, google maps (for Android, iOS and WearOS) and Apple Maps (for your iOS devices and Apple Watches) have become the reference tools for getting around. The apps are free, easy to use, and are often installed by default on a device. (Ad-free subscription products like TomTom GO and Sygic GPS Navigation They are app store alternatives for those who want options).
Getting started is simple: open google maps or from Apple Maps, enter the destination point of your trip, tap the Directions button and enter your starting point. The app shows you potential routes, with time and toll costs, between the two locations. Both apps let you add stops along the way and filter out toll roads, highways, and other factors in your driving route.
In Google Maps, you can also choose the type of engine in your car to the most fuel efficient and greenest trip. For many routes, the application shows Street View Image Previews of the paths you will take so you can familiarize yourself before you leave. Google recently introduced a Immersive view feature that combines your Street View images with artificial intelligence and other technologies to create even deeper and more detailed route previews; Immersive View is available so far in 15 cities, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Miami.
When you start your trip, the Google and Apple apps provide visual and audible turn-by-turn directions, either directly on your phone or through your car’s screen, if your phone is connected through a dashboard system that supports Android Auto or from Apple carplay software.
Although it is a separate download, Google also owns the waze app for collaborative traffic information of its users. Some drivers prefer Waze for its real-time updates and detour directions, and the app has recently added new featuresas crash history alerts for roads that are frequent places of accidents.
Stop and connect
If you have an electric vehicle, worrying about a dead battery can add to the distress of driving on a busy road.
Some electric car systems include google maps or work with Apple Maps for route planning, battery level and location of charging stations. On your phone, enter “EV Charging” in the Maps search box to see the nearest charging stations with real-time availability. You can filter your results based on upload speed and network. In Google Maps, you filter by plug type or choose a plug type as the default in the app settings.
Alternative third party apps like PlugShare, Charging point and Load center It also offers features like charger availability and payment services. You can also bookmark the US Department of Energy file. Alternative Fuels Data Center page, which also shows nearby stations.
Use maps without signal
Real-time navigation provides a sense of security, but if you’ve ever been in an area with spotty cell service and watched your map freeze, you may remember the trepidation. Fortunately, Google Maps and Apple Maps (in iOS 17) allow you to download maps and directions to plan ahead for those low bar times or even when your phone is unplugged.
Depending on the size of the area, these maps may take up a portion of storage space on your phone or your SD card, but you can easily delete them after your trip. Not all areas of the country are available for download, so have a backup copy for your backup, even an old printed map.
In the Google Maps app, tap your profile photo in the top right corner, choose Offline Maps from the menu, and then Select your own map. Move the on-screen rectangle to the area you want to capture and tap the Download button to save the map data to your phone; this map comes into action when your connection goes south.
Similarly download a location in Apple’s Maps appSearch for the location and tap the Download button to save it to your iPhone. downloaded maps It can also be seen on an Apple Watch within Bluetooth range (about 30 feet) of the iPhone.
Hitting the road during the busy holiday season has its own challenges, but a well-tuned mapping app can help you prepare. You may have some traffic, but at least you don’t have to worry about your flight being delayed or cancelled.
