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Triple update for Google Maps for Android

Google adds three enhancements to its Maps app on Android smartphones, including help with public transportation, friends, and business reviews.

Jessica Dolcourt Senior Director, Commerce & Content Operations
Jessica Dolcourt is a passionate content strategist and veteran leader of CNET coverage. As Senior Director of Commerce & Content Operations, she leads a number of teams, including Commerce, How-To and Performance Optimization. Her CNET career began in 2006, testing desktop and mobile software for Download.com and CNET, including the first iPhone and Android apps and operating systems. She continued to review, report on and write a wide range of commentary and analysis on all things phones, with an emphasis on iPhone and Samsung. Jessica was one of the first people in the world to test, review and report on foldable phones and 5G wireless speeds. Jessica began leading CNET's How-To section for tips and FAQs in 2019, guiding coverage of topics ranging from personal finance to phones and home. She holds an MA with Distinction from the University of Warwick (UK).
Expertise Content strategy, team leadership, audience engagement, iPhone, Samsung, Android, iOS, tips and FAQs.
Jessica Dolcourt
A pair of tennis shoes
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There's a reason I commute in tennis shoes--the days I literally make a mad dash for the soon-to-be departing train or bus.

Sure, there are localized apps for getting schedules, but it's also convenient that public transportation scheduling is one of a handful of enhanced features in Google Maps for Android version 4.3, new on Tuesday.

Schedules toe their way into the public transit page that's invoked by tapping the icon of a station that's plotted on a map--as long as those details are available to Google, that is.

On the social front, Latitude, Google's social beacon for locating friends nearby, now suggests friends you could add to your network.

A train station on Google Maps for Android 4.3
Tap the station pop-up to get to schedules. Google

Open the Latitude module from the menu and you could see a list of names appear at the bottom of your list of Latitude friends list, followed by "+" or "x" icons. Tap to add or dismiss the request.

The most practical new feature adds snippets of a review for locations you search out on the map. After searching for a nearby restaurant, for instance, tap on the map pop-up and you'll see the first two lines of a review at the top of the results.

Get the Google Maps for Android 4.3 update from the Android Market for all countries and languages where Maps is currently available. Note that the update is not compatible on Android smartphones running an operating system earlier than 1.6.