Why Google Maps Asks for Permission to View Screenshots of Your IPhone
When you’re planning a trip with friends, chances are your group chat will be full of links and screenshots of places you want to visit or cafes you want to visit.
To help you keep track of it all, Google is now rolling out a new feature that lets you add multiple places to your Google Maps list using screenshots . This feature scans your phone and uses Gemini AI to identify the places mentioned in your screenshots. It’s launching on the iPhone first (which is odd for Google) and is only available in the US for now. However, Android and global releases are planned for the future.
How to Automatically Add Places to Google Maps Using Screenshots
Here’s how the new feature works. After updating the Google Maps app to the latest version, go to the You tab. Here you will see a new list at the top called Screenshots.
Click on it and Google Maps will ask for access to your photo library. Here you can give it full access to enable the automatic scanning feature or simply select the photos you want to scan manually. This feature works slightly differently depending on what you choose. I’ll start with instructions for auto scanning.
If you’re using Auto mode, just go about your life taking screenshots of places of interest to you as usual. They can include the name of the place, an address, or even a photo of the place. When you’re ready to add them to your Google Maps list, open the Google Maps app again. If the Maps app automatically recognizes a location, it will show a message letting you know there are new places you can view.
Click the View button and choose whether you want to save the image and places found by Google to your screenshot list or not. Once this is done, you can also add places to another list.
Here’s a detailed video on how this feature works:
How to Manually Add Places to Google Maps List Using Screenshots
Additionally, you can also manually add places to the Google Maps app using a list of screenshots for more privacy.
Go to the You tab and select the Screenshots list. Here, upload the screenshots you want to get the list from.
Google Maps will now analyze the images and return to you with an overview screen. Just browse the places found by Google Maps and add the ones you want to the Screenshots list.
Should you let AI look at your screenshots?
As useful as this feature is, the question remains: Should you give Gemini access to all the photos in your iPhone library just to save a couple of seconds searching for a location on Google Maps?
If this bothers you, be sure to deny Google Maps full access to your photo library, even if you don’t use the screenshot list feature regularly. It’s also a good idea to check photo permissions periodically, which you can learn more about here .