With the veritable s*#t-storm currently surrounding Apple’s new iOS 6-induced Apple Maps update it is possibly the best time ever for Google to announce yet another update (albeit a small one) to their Google Maps software for Android.
The update is a link-up between your Google Desktop PC searches and your smartphone that will allow your phone to sync your Maps searches with your desktop and vice versa.
The new Google Maps feature adds the ability to sync Google Maps across devices, so as an example; if you’re logged into Google and search for a location before you leave the house, that location will be available on your Android phone when you are outside travelling.
A similar feature is available for users of the Google Nexus 7 Jelly Bean tablet, where a linked account on a computer would automatically send details of any regular Google searches to the tablet device. This came as a shock when a quick Maps route search to one of our not-so-local cinemas on a PC put the update on our new tablet in seconds.
For the service to work though, you will need to be logged in on the same Google account on both PC and smartphone to sync the data and have syncing settings turned on with your smartphone, but if you have that set then you can use any browser (Chrome is best of course!) and just search for your destination on Google Maps and it will sync with your phone automatically.
We know it’s hardly a life changing update, but with the Google Maps app consistently improving it’s a good addition (and one we have found ourselves needing in the past) to the service, and one we will inevitably use quite a lot.
So Apple, you still have a lot of work to do!
Let us know your thoughts on our comments below or via our @Gadget_Helpline Twitter page or Official Facebook group.