Google Maps for Android Helps You Find the Right Place, Catch a Train, and Add Latitude Friends
Labels: android, google latitude, google maps for mobile, transit — Hot off the presses, Google Maps for Android version 4.3 has added a couple new features to help you quickly choose …
Context & Ripple Effects
This is the second Maps for Android feature drop in Google Mobile Blog's recent run: the March release added Search 'n Swipe and a Latitude widget, and version 4.3 keeps pulling more functions into the single app. The three additions split across Google's local, transit, and social ambitions — smarter place picking, train-catching information, and managing Latitude friendships without leaving Maps.
First-order effects
- Android users can now vet places and catch trains directly inside Maps for mobile, while Latitude friend management moves in-app rather than living in a separate destination.
Second-order effects
- Folding Latitude into Maps makes location sharing a feature of Google's highest-traffic mobile surface rather than a standalone product, deepening engagement with both at once; transit information likewise turns schedule data into a maps differentiator.
Third-order effects
- If the point-release pattern holds, Maps consolidates into Android's default layer for local search, navigation, and social location — with each release absorbing what might otherwise be its own app.
The trend: Google is iterating Maps for Android toward a single surface that combines local search, public transit guidance, and Latitude-based location sharing.