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Multiple Destinations Feature Spotted on Google Maps App

The inability to add stopovers is a significant shortcoming of the mobile app compared to Maps on the web.

 & Tom Brant Managing Editor

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Some users of Google Maps' iOS and Android apps finally have access to a long-awaited feature: the ability to plan a trip with multiple destinations.

Google Maps Multiple Destinations

Previously only available on the full web version of Google Maps, the multiple destinations feature started to pop up on smartphones today, Android Police reported. The new feature appears to originate from an update to the maps server, since the Google Play Store shows that the last app update was a few days ago.

The web version of Google Maps lets you add additional destinations to your route by clicking on a plus icon below the address field. It's available for biking, walking, and driving directions, though transit users are stuck plotting complicated routes one destination at a time.

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its plans to roll out the multiple destinations feature to the mobile app or whether it would support multiple transportation modes.

If you're curious as to what other stealth updates Google has planned for its Maps app, you can sign up for the beta testing program for Maps on Android. Announced earlier this month, the program came shortly after Google updated the stable version of Maps to let you search along your route when you're in biking or walking navigation mode.

Another long-rumored but perhaps less welcome change to Google Maps is advertising: Google announced in May that it is "experimenting with a variety of ad formats on Maps that make it easier for users to find businesses as they navigate the world around them." Those formats include dropping promoted pins along a route for waypoints like gas stations and coffee shops.

About Our Expert

Tom Brant

Tom Brant

Managing Editor

I’m a managing editor at PCMag.com focused on PC hardware. Reading this during the day? Then you've caught me testing gear and editing reviews of Wi-Fi routers, printers, laptops, and tons of other personal tech. (Reading this at night? Then I’m probably dreaming about all those cool products.) I’ve covered the consumer tech world as an editor, reporter, and analyst since 2015.

I've covered most major consumer tech events, including CES, Computex, Google I/O, and IFA. I've also appeared on CBS News, in USA Today, and at many other outlets to offer analysis on breaking technology news.

Before I joined the tech-journalism ranks, I wrote on topics as diverse as Borneo's rainforests, Middle Eastern airlines, and Big Data's role in presidential elections. A graduate of Middlebury College, I also have a master's degree in journalism and French Studies from New York University.

The Technology I Use

While most people buy a phone or laptop and stick with it for years, I’m lucky enough to use devices based on Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows daily as part of my job. As a result, I cycle through lots of tech in addition to my IT-issue work laptop. (Yes, that's a ThinkPad.) Personally, I’ve also owned a lot of tech products both cutting-edge and cringeworthy, from the Nintendo GameCube and the original MacBook to the Palm m105 and the CueCat.

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