New Google Maps Updates Want to Make Your Trips and Travel Even Easier

Google Maps is and will be updating several key features to make navigating unfamiliar areas and planning your trips easier.

If you have any upcoming trips or expect to find yourself in a place you may not normally visit, Google is updating three of its Maps features for just such an occasion. Whether you're laying out an itinerary in Recents, want to find your way around with Immersive View, or want at-a-glance directions, you're covered.

The Recents feature in the desktop version of Maps, which was built to help with trip planning, is getting a handful of updates so that its intended function works more smoothly. Once the updates are live, Maps will remember the places you've highlighted even if the window is closed, so you won't have to try and locate them again later. You'll also have more control over removing places from your list, sharing the list with a friend, and getting directions to up to three different spots you can save for later.

Immersive View is also expanding with the addition of four new cities: Amsterdam, Dublin, Florence, and Venice. This expansion also brings Immersive View's total landmark count to over 500.

A brand new opt-in feature is also on the way as well. Glanceable directions aims to combine the detail normally found in Maps' more typical navigation mode with the automatic updates and tracking of GPS directions. The result, Google says, will provide up-to-date ETAs, warnings of upcoming turns, and path updates if you choose a different direction.

Immersive View rolls out to more cities starting today for Android and iOS, with Glanceable Directions expected to begin rolling out at an unspecified date later this month. Google's planned updates for Recents on desktop will go live globally starting next month.