How to Activate Google Maps Bluetooth Beacons to Avoid Getting Lost in Tunnels

Thanks to Google Maps or to roamdriving has become a practice for which you no longer need to remember routes, routes, highways and addresses. You enter your route into the app and it will guide you thanks to Mobile coverage and GPS from your smartphone. However, what happens if your car has Waze or Google Maps enter the tunnels? In situations like this, where the connection is not the most suitable, our location on the map and we may have problems. Until now.

to roam A few years ago, the company introduced a feature that allows drivers to determine their location even if they drive their car underground and lose GPS signal. The system works through Bluetooth beacons which solve the problem of lack of communication. As Google explains, there is Waze Beacons V New York, Chicago, Paris, River, Brussels, Oslo, Sydney, Boston, Mexico City and others more. Using this link, governments and infrastructure operators can request the installation of beacons along their communication routes.

The fact is that from October Last year Google Maps launched use these beacons for your own applications kart. At least in the Android version. Interestingly, Google acquired Waze in 2013. Although both applications continue to be developed separately, sometimes both benefit from these types of projects and developments. Let’s see how you can enable this feature on your phone using Google Maps or Waze for a while. circulate through the tunnels.

Bluetooth beacons for Waze and Google Maps

Project Waze Beacons o Waze beacons involve installing Bluetooth signals that provide real-time location in tunnels and other places without GPS coverage. Available mainly in the US, but also in Europe and Latin America. When you reach a tunnel offering this service, a message is displayed, activate bluetooth from your phone or smart device and thus benefit from it when you will no longer have coverage.

As of this writing, Waze integrates this functionality into its mobile app for both Android and iOS (iPhone). If traveling using Google Maps in tunnels: For now, it only works on Android devices. We are waiting for it to be available for iPhone. Coverage for this service, no matter where you live, is also yet to be seen. We were unable to find a list of compatible locations.

Enable Bluetooth beacons in Google Maps for tunnels

If you’re using Google Maps on Android, you can now activate this feature. Where you live, you will never find tunnels with this type of beacon installed. But it doesn’t hurt to have it at your disposal. In case you are traveling with Google Maps through tunnels. The only requirement is to update the application and go to settings The same thing.

1. Open Google Maps
2. Click on your profile. It’s top right
3. Enter Settings
4. Swipe the screen until you find Navigation settings
5. Now go down until you find Driving options
6. Click on Bluetooth tunnel beacons
7. The first time, you’ll be asked if you want to give Google Maps permissions to “search for, connect to, and determine the relative position of nearby devices.”
8. Press Let accept these permissions
9. You’ve already enabled Bluetooth beacons in Google Maps when entering tunnels.

If you use Waze and do travel route passing through a tunnel When using Bluetooth beacons, you will see a pop-up warning you about it. So you don’t need to change anything in your application. You just have to activate bluetooth connection, as shown in the specified warning message. And when you go through the tunnels using Google Maps, you will have to activate this option manually, as we saw before.