Travelers have relied on Google Maps for years to navigate and explore the world around them, and when Live View was introduced last year, it unlocked even more possibilities. Now Google is announcing some upcoming improvements to Live View, including popular landmarks and location sharing.

Soon when you're in Live View mode, the location of nearby landmarks will appear in order to help users find their bearings and navigate more confidently. Live View will show how far away landmarks are, as well as which direction to walk in to get there. For now, landmarks will include local parks, tourist attractions, and more famous places like the Empire State Building and the Roman Pantheon. They'll be available in select cities worldwide.

Famous landmarks will show up with distance and direction information.

Other notable upgrades include Live View becoming accessible while using transit directions and the arrival of location sharing. Pixel owners were the first to receive this futuristic functionality earlier this month, but the period of exclusivity isn't lasting long. Google says the feature will soon expand to all Android and iOS users on ARCore and ARKit supported phones to make meeting up with friends in unfamiliar places that much easier. The destination pin is also being made more accurate thanks to advancements in global localization.

Thanks to machine learning, Live View will soon get more accurate pin placement.

As AR features like Live View become more widespread, it's cool to see all the different, helpful applications they can be used to create. Live View makes walking directions much easier to use, and now it's getting even better with the inclusion of landmarks, location sharing, transit directions, and improved pin accuracy.

Source: Google