Google India updates its features on address and navigation enabling regional language

New Delhi, March 17: Internet has made things way to accessible for the people. Adding up to the many advantages available, Google India has updated its features on Maps. Making it easy for users to find addresses and navigate, Google India on Tuesday announced a swing of updates and features on Maps, including "Voice Navigation" in six additional regional languages.

 

According to Google, in India, it can be challenging to reach a given residential address. While some addresses are well defined by street names and house numbers that are easy to find, others can be long-winded and hard to locate.

The tech giant introduced "Plus Codes" represents a simple and consistent addressing system and works not only in India but globally. The feature zeroes in on an area based on the "Plus Code" which is provided by a user.

The code comprises of a "six-character + city" format that can be generated, shared and searched by anyone.

To use a "Plus Code", users need to simply enter it into the Search field on Google or Google Maps, mobile or desktop, which will instantly show a location. It can be used for a wide variety of reasons, including communicating the venue of a temporary event, guiding emergency services to afflicted locations and providing an identifiable location for complicated addresses.

"Plus Codes" depends on the concept that each place can be divided into grids. It is a free to use feature that even works when a person is offline. Creating a "Plus Code" of a place is simple and since its an open source solution, third-party apps or developers could also use it to pinpoint the areas that they want to reach.

In another step aimed at facilitating accurate and easy searching on Maps, Google introduced "Add an address" feature that would enable users to submit a missing address and the company would make sure the address is searchable in due course after verification. The feature was launched few days back and has got a great response as the users have been adding addresses to ease the process.

Google advised people not to include personal details or names while adding an address. Google has technology in place to discard the added address making the experience secure.

The search giant also made it simpler to search long and complicated addresses in India with "Smart Address Search".

If a user is unaware of the exact address and Maps does not understand the address precisely but he or she knows about the nearby landmarks or locality, "Smart Address Search" would use all the pieces of the information provided in the address and user could best identify the area.

Google also added "Voice Navigation" in six more languages: Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam.

The company had launched voice navigation in Hindi three years ago.