5 FANTASTIC Google Maps Features You Want To Know About

Google Maps Tips and Tricks
Google Maps does far more than just give us turn-by-turn directions.
With Google Maps you can measure distance, measure area, look back in time with street view history.
Google Maps integrates with Google Calendar and Gmail.
You can share your location with family and friends using location services.

This Video was Recorded and Edited using Techsmith Camtasia

Table of Contents:
00:00 Introduction
02:00 Measurements - distance
04:32 Measurements - area
06:18 Street View - history
09:53 Integration with Google Apps
13:41 Location Services

💻 Join us for Webinar Wednesday, every week:
🏄🏼 The Grey Wave, Baby Boomers Building Online Businesses
🗣 Hire Steve as a Speaker:
🧰 What We Use, Steve’s Toolkit:
🛒 Our Amazon Store:
🥰 Support Dotto Tech on Patreon:

🖥 Steve’s Website Links
→ Website:

😊 Steve’s Social Accounts
→ Twitter:
→ Facebook:
→ Instagram:

[johnlewisb]

When planning a trip, I find Street View so useful to be able to see what some road junction looks like as you approach and to be able to identify buildings or landmarks. When you make the journey, you’ve already rehearsed it! Brilliant feature.

[totallypluggedin]

The historical street view feature is really useful when considering buying real estate. It gives you an opportunity to gauge if the neighborhood appears to be getting better or getting worse as time progresses.

[kevinshea]

I take google vacations and use street view to travel in different countries. :-) I was in Venice Italy and I stumbled upon the fact that while in street view you can actually get on the gondolas. How cool is that?!?!

[khc]

One little known feature I use is multiple address lookup. I’ve created a single map showing all 1100 of my jobs around my metropolitan area. I update it every month and the number of pins keep growing. Then, for each new job, I can see right away if I had done a job nearby, when, for who and for how much. There are streets and parts of town where I’ve done several jobs nearby but spread over decades I can’t remember. Pretty cool feature. Requires upload of spreadsheet.

[kenhurley]

When measuring your roof, you need to compensate for the "pitch" of the roof. You can google the "pitch" and then use it as a multiplyer which will give you the amout of "squares" to buy or see what the roofing contractor is telling you. A 12/12 pitch requires more squares than a 5/12 pitch.

[ScalexCzech]

Another thing I use Streetview for is nostalgia. I often reminisce about the places where I lived, where I went to school or to different clubs, or I look back years later at places where I spent holidays with my family. I "walk" the streets and squares again and often remember not only the mood of the time, but even the tastes and smells.

[muzvid]

A favorite use of Google maps has been virtual touring. Their engineers made miniature versions of the 360 degree photo equipment they use for street view. They can be carried around like a backpack. They've taken these to quite a few tourist destinations, including down into the Grand Canyon. Many years ago, I spent the night at Phantom Ranch, at the bottom. I was able to relive my hikes down and back. Each step of the way I was able to look in all directions. It was like reconnecting with friends I hadn't seen in a long time. I suppose it wouldn't have the same impact for someone who's never been there, but for me it was a very emotional experience!

[Therealjohndooley]

The thing that I find most useful about maps is the timeline feature. I have to fill out a time sheet for work and list all the different jobs that I worked on for the week and sometimes I might go to two or three sites within a day and it helps me to not only remember exactly where I was but the exact times that I got there, my travel time, and everything. Some of the other guys struggle at this and for me, this just makes it really simple.

[ericstefko]

My father passed away about 4 years ago I used the street view history and was able to see him at the apartment getting stuff out of car. I was an emotional experience.

[gregwikle]

You should add the ability to create a custom map to your list of tips. If you have an alternate route to get from point A to point B beside the route Google maps suggests, you can draw it on maps (similar to your first tip in the video)) and then save it as a custom map and send it someone if you want. Last week, my daughter was coming to visit from 5 hours away. She wanted to know if I knew a shortcut as she did not want to take the interstate as Google Maps suggested. I knew of a short cut, so I drew it up on Maps and saved it as a custom map. This is a very useful function, I think.

[maker_jds]

I have YEARS of experience in Google maps as a hobby. I was a prolific contributor in the now defunct maps app Google Mapmaker. It was a crowd-source app that allowed you to Edit the maps and everything in it. There was a robust oversight mechanism that assured only quality edits were accepted. Even with this experience, your video taught me something! I am grateful for that, Thank you.
You can still edit details, to some degree, by right click on a feature or by exploring the fine print links at the bottom of the map window. I still correct incorrect details on the maps from time to time.

[la]

Offline maps is great too. We download to our phones map data for places we intend to travel to where we know we don’t have cell service. We can still get directions and not get lost without having any service. It’s great.

[mreventos]

One feature that I've found useful is offline maps. You can download a huge map of your area and if you don't have a Wi-Fi or cell signal you'll still have access to that map and if your GPS is still turned on it will still track you either by satellite or triangulation with Wi-Fi or cell towers

[DavidNelsonATX]

Nice video. Two additional thoughts.
1. You almost mentioned it - with mass transit, a feature I noticed while using the trains in Europe (Belgium specifically) was information about connections track and time. This was hugely beneficial.
2. Caveat on your roofing example. Remember geometry when calculating square footage or meters. A roof’s pitch can have a massive impact on the estimate.

[bilcarter]

Three friends and I hiked the Camino de Santiago across Spain a few years ago. I insisted that we all use location sharing. During a portion of the trip, we got separated for 3 days because one guy needed to visit a doctor in another city and another guy went with him, while the other two of us kept hiking. We all agreed to meet in another town that none of us had ever been before when the medical situation was over. We used location sharing and walking directions and we navigated right to the bar where the two guys were having a beer.

[SteMegManzaroli]

My husband is a truck driver and we use location sharing so I can always see how far he is from home and when he's coming back, it's a nice feature! We are in Italy and it works fine.
He also use his location timeline (you have to opt-in to for this feature of location tracking) so when he needs to go to a place where he's been before he checks the old road trip and doesn't get lost!

[ScalexCzech]

Streetview is an extremely useful tool. Every time I go somewhere I'm not familiar with, I can familiarize myself with the destination. What the place looks like. Where to park the car. Where there's a store or restaurant. What the building I'm going to looks like. Where the crosswalk is. Where the public transportation stop is. In short - when I have a meeting, an interview, a visit, or go to an office somewhere, I don't have to wander around on the spot. I have an exact idea of what the place looks like and when I arrive there, it saves me a lot of time and searching.

[noyopacific]

I have a feature to share. When I am navigating a long drive with Google Maps I'll often need to find a place to get fuel, a meal or hotel along my route. I go to the bottom of the map on my phone, swipe upward and I get a list of options. One of the options is: "Search along route." After selecting that, Google Maps then offers me several fixed options: "Gas stations, Restaurants, Coffee shops, Grocery stores, Rest Stops and Hotels." Alternatively I can search for something specific by typing it in. Google then shows me the options that are ahead on my route. I can select from the results and enter my choice as a stop along the way. Once the stop is completed I can resume navigating to my destination. I use this feature frequently on long trips. Thanks for the video Steve. It's great to meet a fellow map freak.

[Dirk]

When I was younger and we all used map books to plan a route, I thought it would be great to enhance these map books with with photos of complex intersections, so you could see in advance where to turn. Then google maps came along and they executed the idea 100 times better with a mobile app and street view.
I love the suggestion you gave for street view history. Great feature!

[ramirosabatini]

Nonno and nonna, loved that. My family is from Italy, called my grandparents just that way. 😊