Today Google Maps turns 15 years old, and to celebrate it's getting a brand new look.
First up, Google Maps will now feature five tabs in the navigation bar at the bottom of its screen: Explore, Commute, Saved, Contribute, and Updates. The Explore tab will help you find info, ratings, and reviews on spots around you when you just want to grab a bite to eat or find something nearby to do.
The Commute tab will show you traffic around you whether you're traveling by car or public transit, and it'll get you real-time traffic updates and travel times for your daily commute. Saved will let you save places you're interested in for easy reference later.
In Contribute, you'll be able to share your local knowledge about roads and addresses, missing places, and business reviews. And then there's the Update tab, which will give you a feed of trending spots from local experts and publishers.
Google says this updated Google Maps is rolling out to Android and iOS devices starting today.
Also coming to the new-look Google Maps are improved transit features. New insights about public transportation will help you learn more about your ride before you get on, like the temperature, accessibility, availability of women's sections, the presence of security onboard, and in Japan, the number of carriages available.
Live View is getting better, too. Over the coming months, Google Maps' Live View will help you get oriented in the right direction by doing things like letting you point your phone's camera at your surroundings to determine how far away and in which direction a place is.
Finally, Google Maps is getting a fresh icon. It's just like the pin that Google Maps has become known for when letting you know where you destination is, but it features the green, blue, red, and yellow colors that in Google's logo.