Google Maps Is Testing A New ‘Commute’ Tab for Mobile Users

• The latest version of Google Maps for Android comes with a new Commute tab instead of the usual Driving and Transit Tabs.
• The feature is available to a limited number of users running the latest v9.85.2 version of Google Maps for Android.
• The new user interface is streamlined and makes planning trips much easier.

Google Maps for Android v9.85.2 comes with a new Commute tab which replaces Driving and Transit but brings them together in a much cleaner user interface. The new tab is visible to limited users only which indicates that Google is performing a test run of the feature. It is likely that the new feature will go live for both Android and iOS users in the near future once the internal testing phase is over.

Image Courtesy of Android Police

Tapping on the new Commute tab brings up “To Work” and “To Home” options along with recommended routes for you to take on your way to work or on the head home. It also shows you alternate routes that you can take at the bottom which is quite handy if you are expecting heavy traffic. You also get access to a new overflow menu that allows you to quickly edit your commute settings and also share your location. A visual guide is present in the settings to manually enable various map layers like terrain, traffic, and satellite within Google Maps.

The work-in-progress Google Maps user interface feels a lot more streamlined, and the sliding button menu has been done away with. One of the features that have gone missing is the contextual driving menu which allows users to pick locations they often visit. The Start Driving and navigation statistics have also been removed. Since the Google Maps feature tweaks are simply part of a server-side test, we may receive yet more changes before the Commute tab is enabled for all users. Overall, the new changes make the user interface look cleaner and makes commuting simpler than ever before.

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