Find Your Location on the Map

If you’d like to find your current location on the map, tap the Location/Compass button in the Action menu (see Figure 11–2). You’ll see your location on the map as an arrow surrounded by a blue circle. You could be anywhere within that blue circle, so the smaller the circle, the more accurate the location information is.

If your tablet has a built-in compass, you can tap again to enter Compass mode. When you do this, the map tilts and stays oriented towards north, even when you tilt and move the tablet. This is handy for trying to get your bearings when you’re lost.

Getting Directions

You can find a new location by using the search function at the top of the screen. Once you find a location, you may want to figure out how to get there. You can also skip to the chase and find the location and directions at the same time. With either method, you start by tapping the Directions button on the Action menu at the top of the screen (see Figure 11–3).

Figure 11–3. Getting driving directions in the Maps app

You’ll see fields for My Location and End point (see Figure 11–3). The My Location field assumes that you want directions from your current location. If you want to use a different address, you’ll need to enter it into this field.

There’s also a handy Bookmark button right next to the My Location and End point fields. This lets you choose from your current location, a place you point to on the map, the address of one of your contacts, or any location you’ve starred.

You’ll also see a series of buttons below these fields that let you choose what mode of transportation you need. You can choose Car, Public transportation, Bicycle, and Walking directions. These options can be a lifesaver if you’re trying to get anywhere in a big city without a car.

Once you’ve settled on a start point, an end point, and a means of transportation, tap Go. You’ll see a text-based list of step-by-step directions (see Figure 11–4).

Figure 11–4. Directions listed

If you have walking, biking, or driving directions, you can also tap the Navigation button or select Navigation after pushing your phone’s Menu button to turn your tablet into a GPS navigation system. Google’s Navigation feature will give you turn-by-turn directions by voice and even attempt to help you avoid traffic jams.

Just like dedicated GPS navigation systems, Google’s Navigation feature will attempt to compensate if you take a wrong turn or choose to take an alternate road. It also has text-to-speech, which means you’ll hear “Turn left on West Highway 50” and not just “Turn left in 1000 feet.” As with any GPS navigation system, this feature works better for some roads than others. Sometimes, the Google Maps data will reflect a less commonly used name for a road, and sometimes the pronunciation will be off.

The Navigation feature displays map information for driving, the length of time it will take to reach your destination, and the direction of your next turn. As you near your destination, the Navigation feature will show you a street-level view, so you can glance (or better yet, have a passenger glance) to see where you’re headed. Unlike some commercial navigation systems, you cannot choose new voices or change the appearance of your “car” on the map.

Tap the Back button to exit the Navigation feature and get back to text-based directions. From here, you can also press the phone’s Menu button to get updated directions, reverse the directions for the trip back, or report a problem with the directions. You can also use the Route options to avoid toll roads or highways.