Use This New Google Maps Feature to Make Plans With Friends
Group text messages are often the standard way to make plans, but anyone in an overly active chat room knows how quickly they can become a headache. Incessant notifications, interrupted conversations, and missed messages sometimes make group chats a poor place for coordination. But a new feature in Google Maps offers an alternative that allows users to collaborate with others to make plans and decide on activities with less opportunity to go off map. Here’s how to use it.
How to Use Google Maps to Make Plans with a Group
In a November 15 blog post, Amanda Leicht Moore, director of product for Google Maps, shared some tips for using the app. While most highlight existing features like finding the cheapest gas and choosing routes without tolls, there’s an update to Google Maps’ list feature that lets multiple people collaborate on a shared list to make plans, rather than relying on group text .
To launch a shared list, select a starting point in Google Maps, then click Save to add it to the list. Select (+) New List , then give it a name (Saturday Journey), then click Invite Collaborators to share it with the group. Invited users will see a link to the collaboration list on their side, and by clicking on it, they can click Join to join.
Once on the list, anyone in the group can suggest events and places to visit by adding them to Google Maps. Each sentence shows who added it, and you can add a note if you want people to understand why you chose that location.
From here, other members can express their opinions on each location by voting using emojis. (Google suggests a heart for a particular place and a downvote for it.) If everything works as intended, you’ll end up with a solid plan that at least some people will be delighted with, all without a single group text.
The new and improved list feature is live now and will be available globally on iOS and Android over the next few weeks, Moore said.