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Update for Android’s Google Maps introduces new navigation UI

Dan Gendro | September 4, 2015

The latest version of this mobile app will be adding a range of new features that are meant to boost the experience.

Google has now released a couple of new updates to the Android version of its Google Maps app, which has provided a number of features that include everything from thumbnail previews of a Street View spot to added navigation UI for users.

These latest updates to the popular mobile app have been released over the last couple of weeks.

The latest version of Google Maps for users of Android based smartphones is rolling out already, but people who aren’t willing to wait can still download or sideload the APK file with the Google signature. The most recent edition of this mobile app is its version 9.14 and it is starting to hit various Google Play locations around the world. From the look of it, it can be assumed that the primary focus of the latest updates to the app has been to improve its overall navigation for a smoother and more convenient experience.

The navigation in the Android version of Google Maps has received a new settings interface for navigation.

Google Maps - Android It has also made it possible to see the thumbnail view in the mobile app, and the navigation search has been taken away with a larger image revealing the routes has replaced it. In the most recent of the updates, the maps on the app’s navigation page have zooming and scrolling features that cannot be used in the previous version of the app’s thumbnail view. Moreover, there has been a subtle shift in the position of the option to select the mode of transportation. It is now located under the start and destination fields.

Additional details have also been added to the route page with the latest update. These can be accessed by the user in order to learn more about areas in which there could be potential slowdowns in traffic along the recommended routes. Moreover, more information about the routes is provided than had been available in the previous version.

The newest version of Google Maps also gives the user the chance to touch to choose routes based on estimated ETA, which includes data with regards to road blocks or potential delays.

Most IT pros haven’t ever created mobile apps

Rebecca | August 31, 2015

The results of a recent survey have shown that even among those that do, they don’t develop many.

A recent survey conducted by a Progress company called Telerik has revealed that the majority of developers haven’t actually developed mobile apps, and among those who do, they usually produce only about one per year.

Among the issues standing in the way of these mobile app developers are UX and process constraints.

Over the last few years, there has been a common mindset that has caused people to believe that the only way ahead is through mobile apps. Another belief is that pretty much every person working in IT is desperately scrambling from the world of PC or traditional server applications in order to step into mobile applications. People seem to think that, unlike PC software, apps for smartphones and tablets can be slapped together in a matter of moments and can be issued as fast as the developer wants. However, the truth of the matter is quite unlike the common belief.

The survey asked 3,000 IT professionals about whether or not they have ever developed mobile apps.

Mobile Apps - App Developers The pros that do end up creating mobile applications are continually facing struggles such as delays from limited resource, stagnating progress, and even the ever changing and fad-focused demands of the market. The user experience (UX) has also become quite the issue, despite the fact that it is greatly misunderstood, and has become one of the primary struggles that are faced by developers.

The Telerik survey showed that 57 percent of all IT professionals have never taken part in the creation of a mobile app. This indicates that despite the fact that the common perception is that virtually all developers are running toward the mobile environment, that ecosystem remains one that is quite specialized.

From among the 43 percent of software developers who have actually taken a focus toward mobile apps, the average output of functional applications in a given year is one. Some of them reported that they hadn’t created any in quite some time. Progress – or the lack thereof – is one of the largest barriers to the ability of developers to create new applications, followed by ever changing tech and practices, a lack of time or tools, and limitations to the budget.