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Give custom names to places in Google Maps

The latest version of Google Maps for Android lets you name unnamed spots and edit the names of already named places.

Matt Elliott Senior Editor
Matt Elliott is a senior editor at CNET with a focus on laptops and streaming services. Matt has more than 20 years of experience testing and reviewing laptops. He has worked for CNET in New York and San Francisco and now lives in New Hampshire. When he's not writing about laptops, Matt likes to play and watch sports. He loves to play tennis and hates the number of streaming services he has to subscribe to in order to watch the various sports he wants to watch.
Expertise Laptops, desktops, all-in-one PCs, streaming devices, streaming platforms
Matt Elliott

Watch this: Create custom names for places on your Google Maps

The latest update to Google Maps for Android give you a greater ability to customize your surroundings. You can name an unidentified spot on a map such as a particularly good spot for sledding in your neighborhood park. In addition, you can edit places that already have a name.

To give a unnamed spot a name, search for an address or drop a pin on the map. Tap the pin, then tap the triple-dot button in the upper-right corner and select Edit name. Your place will now have a name on your map -- and only your map; the name is private and visible -- and searchable -- only to you.

google-maps-edit-name.jpg
Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNET

You can also use the same Edit name button for places with existing names. Your custom name will push the official name of the place to parenthesis.

You can delete or further edit your privately named places by tapping the hamburger button in the upper-left corner of Google Maps and selecting Your Places, where you'll see a list of your named places.

g-maps-custom-name.png
Screenshot by Matt Elliott/CNEt

Elsewhere in Google Maps, you can learn how to stop Google from tracking you with the new Your Timeline feature.

(Via Google Operating System blog)