About a year ago, Google announced many new features for Google Mapsincluding integration with Gemini via functionality Ask Maps which allows users to find places to do and activities to do by searching in natural language through the app’s search bar for navigation.
Although this feature is not yet available globally, it appears that the development team is working to make it more immediately accessible by adding a dedicated link.
Ask Maps is coming to Google Maps
Google Maps, one of the most popular and appreciated mobile map and navigation apps (both for Android and iOS), could soon welcome a further dose of artificial intelligence or, better yet, could make its integration more evident.
Analyzing the version 25.41.03.815390258 beta of the app, the well-known insider AssembleDebug discovered that Google is working to add a “chip” (pill-shaped button) dedicated to the functionality Ask Maps as the first option of the carousel of buttons present under the search bar, the one containing the filters to search for places in various categories starting from “Restaurants“.
Tapping this new button will show a pop-up sheet from the bottom where you can type a request to ask Gemini. Dragging this sheet upwards transforms its interface into something very similar to the Gemini app interface (via Android Authority).
At the top, next to the wording Ask Mapsthere will be a search button and a button to close the function. In the center, there will be a “greeting”. In the lower part, above the text input bar, there is a series of suggestions (predefined text prompts) for questions to ask the assistant integrated into Google Maps.
According to what the insider suggested, Ask Maps it is functional but is still in the development phase and this is evident from the responses that are not yet perfect: for example, the same response is proposed twice in a row in the same response message; there is also a discrepancy between the textual response and the references highlighted in the map.
It is not yet clear when this functionality can be developed for real implementation and, as often happens, we do not know when it will also be made available in Italy on Google Maps. Currently, Ask Maps it’s not even available to beta testers.
How to download or update the app
To avoid the risk of missing the latest news arriving on Google Maps just update (or download) the app via the Google Play Store, searching for the app or reaching the dedicated page by tapping on the badge below.
If you are interested in previewing the new features that will arrive in the app in the future, you can participate in the app’s Beta Program (reachable via this link) or, if the program is complete, proceed to download and manually install the APK files of the latest beta versions available from the portal APKMirror (page reachable at this link).
