Jun

[Update: Coin Use Discovered!] Mysterious New Files In The Google Maps 6.8 APK: History Timeline, Latitude G+ Integration, And More

Posted by Ron Amadeo in APK Teardown, News

Last Updated: October 8th, 2012

So Google Maps hit version 6.8 yesterday, bringing with it the crazy Zagat/Google+ mashup that was detailed earlier. The "What's New" section in the Play Store lists "See reviews from experts and people you know," "Find just the right places with Zagat scores and summaries," "Get directions directly from map bubbles," but they left out the most interesting new change: "Unreleased feature assets buried in the APK."

Timeline

For starters, we've got some brand new image files. Check these out:

So there's a bunch of fresh files, all called "timeline_something." The XML stretches "timeline_line_mid" vertically, so it clearly connects them.

Feb

Google Maps Update To 5.1 Brings Check-In System Through Latitude

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Applications, News

The official Google Maps app has been updated again, this time with a major addition to Latitude - check-ins. Just as Hotpot seemed to be a Yelp-killer, Google must now have Foursquare in its sights, because Latitude's check-ins have a few major advantages over Foursquare and its competitors.

Latitude will notify you when it recognizes your location, giving you the option to check-in wherever you are. However, you can also set up automatic check-ins for only the places you want, an incredibly convenient feature that still covers any privacy concerns. Whether you check-in manually or automatically, you will be checked-out once you leave (another feature Foursquare users have been asking for).

Jun

Google Maps 4.3 Update Rolls Out 3 New Awesome Features

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News

Today Google released an updated version 4.3 of its popular Google Maps Android application. The update brings the following features:

reviews for places now contain more detailed ratings of individual qualities, such as food, service, selection, atmosphere, value, and more
public transit stations now contain schedules, making half of the public transportation apps out there instantly obsolete, especially considering that Google Maps on Android supports getting directions via public transport
adding friends in Latitude, which is Google's version of foursquare, is now very easy - in fact some of you (*cough* @Stericson *cough*) have been doing nothing but adding Latitude friends all day

Overall, excellent update, Google!