Android plays catchup with iOS with new Live Updates feature in Google Maps
Android users are getting their first glimpse of a new operating system feature while using Google Maps, as the app is the first to make use of the Live Updates ability that was added for Android 16. The feature will give users updated information in their status bar so they can keep track of ongoing activity such as following directions using maps.
Similar to Apple's Live Activities system, the Android function can potentially be used by a range of apps but has first been seen in Google Maps. 'Live Updates are a new class of notifications that help users monitor and quickly access important ongoing activities,' Android developers explained in a post highlighting the feature when it was first announced.
Now, the use of Live Updates has been spotted in Android 16 Beta 2.1, as reported by Android Authority. When following directions using Google Maps, an indicator appears in the Android status bar with information on the time until the next turn is required and an estimated time of arrival. If you pull down the notification panel, you'll see a larger notification with live information from Maps as well.
The notifications appear prominently in the notification panel, below the media panel but above other notifications, which will be helpful for quickly checking directions without having to scroll through a bunch of other notification messages.
If you'd rather not have that live information in your notifications, then there's also an option to turn the feature off. In the notifications setting panels for Maps there's a 'Show live info' toggle, with a label explaining: 'Pinned notifications display live info from apps, and always appear on the status bar and lock screen.' That can be toggled off if you'd rather not use the feature.
For now this is only available in the beta version of Android 16. But you can expect to see more apps making use of the Live Updates function in the future, especially with the launch of the final version Android 16 which is expected to go live some time this summer.
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