Google has just announced on its official blog the content of an update planned for Google Maps that will allow you to have useful information to plan your movements in the open air: this is what it is.
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Update after update, Google Maps proves to be more and more useful for its users, who, not surprisingly, reward it with an ever wider user base. In the past few hours, after the various updates (e.g. time travel to see how places have evolved over time) to celebrate the 15 years of activity of the Street View function, two new improvements have been announced, which offer further opportunities to move better in a context, the summer one, in which people tend to spend much more time outdoors.
On the official blog, Google announced the launch, in the USA and India, both on Android and iOS, of a novelty that will allow you to better plan your travels knowing the quality of the outdoor air, expressed with a particular index known as AQI (air quality index). To take advantage of this novelty, just open Google Maps and go to the map types icon, at the top right, placed above the compass icon: at that point, next to the fire level, on the right, you will find the level , layer, which overlays the air quality information on the maps.
The latter are expressed by bubbles with the numerical indication of the air quality and a color symbol of the same: by touching one of these bubbles, a more detailed tab will open at the bottom, with an easy to understand description, a link to learn more more and a guide to outdoor activities. According to what is disclosed, this information is provided both by government bodies (Environmental Protection Agency) and by PurpleAir, a network of low-cost control units for monitoring air quality: in order to ensure that it is used by the largest possible number of users, this information will also be available on Nest displays and speakers.
The second news announced on its institutional blog by Google regarding the Google Maps navigation service concerns an already existing level, that of fires which, now, again in the USA, will also begin to provide information on the presence of smoke: the information, in this case, they will always be provided by reliable sources or, in the case of the States, by NOAA, or by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
At the moment, the precise plans for the distribution of these innovations on the Old Continent are not known but it is certain that, in that case, everything will take place by drawing on the databases of the various national authorities competent by sector.