Published on July 8th, 2017 | by Guest

How to use Google Maps in your home town and abroad [Infographic]

There are some stunning apps and digital tools around these days, with something available to help you deal with just about any problem or challenge in your life. The more commonplace ones have become part of the very fabric of our daily lives, from messaging and social media apps to those we use for transport and accommodation. And of course, whether you’re travelling around your home region or in new climes abroad, Google Maps has become a virtual extension of our natural orienteering faculties.

Yet many of these apps are so intuitive to use that we just load them up and start working with them, without taking pause to consider what they are truly capable of when used as intended. This is particularly true with Google Maps, which is quite easy to use to search, magnify, and to find directions. These, in fact, are just its most basic functions, and taking just a bit more time to learn about what you can do with the power of Google Maps can make getting about and sharing your plans a thousand times easier.

Related reading: Chad Kimball shows how you can drive sales by optimally placing listings on Google Maps.

For a start, googling ‘maps’ and just plowing ahead is fine if you’re looking for a familiar-sounding road in your neighborhood, but when you’re planning a proper trip you could do a lot better with your own modified, personalized and saved map. Instead of googling around, head straight to mymaps.google.com, sign in with your Google identity ,and you’re ready to start adding places, checking out ratings and popularity of local attractions, saving directions and all in all reconfiguring the virtual city to your needs. You can save the whole map, share it with friends or even with the public, and download it as a .kml file to use offline with a third party app when you’re out of data.

For precise directions on how to do this and a heck of a lot more, check out this brand new visual guide from Expedia.