If you are using Google Maps on your Android mobile phone, the application now includes one of the most useful options for to roam: tunnel navigation support. This allows you to continue to receive directions on your travel route even when your smartphone loses contact with GPS signals.
To continue working underground, Google Maps will use Bluetooth beacons installed in tunnels. This will allow you to connect to them and determine their relative location, just like Waze already does.
Of course, for this feature to work, you need to not only activate it in the Google Maps settings. The tunnels we are going to travel through must also have Bluetooth beacons installed, since otherwise we will continue to navigate “blindly” or without greater precision.
As mentioned on Google’s support page, Waze has its own beacon software installed in tunnels. They are available in Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Sydney, Brussels and many US cities, among other places. It even explains that cities wishing to join the program can do so for free and receive specialized help to set it up.
It’s unclear whether Google Maps will have tunnel navigation uses the same Waze Bluetooth beacons, although it would not be strange if this were so. After all, both platforms belong to the Mountain View giant.
How to enable tunnel navigation support in Google Maps
While some users started seeing this Google Maps option in the last quarter of 2023, it is already available to users around the world starting this year. Of course for now only works on android and it is unknown when it will be added to the iOS version of the app, if it ever does.
If you want to enable tunnel navigation support using Bluetooth beacons, you need to follow very simple steps. The first step is to log into Google Maps and tap on your profile photo in the top right corner of the screen. Then you choose Settings and you come in Navigation settings.
Once there, scroll through the menu until you reach the section. Driving options. There you will find the function Bluetooth beacons in tunnels, whose description mentions the following: “Search for Bluetooth beacons in tunnels to improve location accuracy in tunnels.” When you activate it, you will need to allow Google Maps to find nearby devices, connect to them, and determine their relative location.
By following these steps, you can continue to receive directions when driving through tunnels even if you lose your GPS signal. Without a doubt, a very interesting addition to the map application, which will be a great help when traveling on unknown roads. be safer. Especially when tracking events in real time on underground routes.
As we already mentioned, this option is currently only available in Google Maps for Android. The Californians have not yet mentioned whether they plan to transfer it to the iPhone version of the application. We will closely monitor the news.
Source: Hiper Textual
I’m Ben Stock, a highly experienced and passionate journalist with a career in the news industry spanning more than 10 years. I specialize in writing content for websites, including researching and interviewing sources to produce engaging articles. My current role is as an author at Gadget Onus, where I mainly cover the mobile section.
