What you need to know
- The new off-route feature will alert you when your driver goes more than 500m off course.
- So far the new feature has only been spotted being tested in India.
- Google Maps has added the option to see speed cameras and a speedometer recently as well.
Google is testing a new feature for Maps which could save you some money or even your life. The new feature works by alerting you to when your driver has gone off course by 500m or more.
Considering the popularity of ride-sharing services these days, this could be extremely useful when traveling to a new area. All you have to do is enter in your location and destination, tap "Stay safer" at the bottom, and then choose to get off-route alerts.
You can then leave the app or even place the phone in your pocket, and if Google Maps detects you going off course by more than 500m, an alert will pop up. By doing this, you'll know if the driver is trying to pull any funny business to run up the meter or take you someplace else.
Since the range is set to 500m, it should provide plenty of wiggle room in case the driver needs to take a detour to avoid traffic or a wreck without blowing your phone up with alerts. So far, the off-route feature appears to only be active in India and was first spotted over at XDA-Developers.
This latest feature is just one of many that Google has been working on lately. Recently, Maps received the new speedometer feature along with the ability to show the locations of speed cameras. Soon, Google will even show the paths of hurricanes and more using Google Maps, making the app much more useful than just finding how to get from point A to point B.
