But with a couple quick tweaks, you can make it even more useful by telling it to start up on its own whenever you connect to your vehicle's Bluetooth system - or even just whenever it detects that you're driving. Google Maps and Assistant now work together to give you a driving mode that puts common mid-trip functions front and center and makes 'em as easy as can be to activate whilst on the road.īy default, that mode pops up whenever you actively start a new Maps navigation. JRĪnd just a reminder: If you'd rather not have this info pulled over from other Google services into the Maps app, you can disable the feature or restrict how far back it goes by turning off or limiting Web & App Activity in your Google privacy settings. There, in that tucked-away spot no sane person would ever get around to finding, you'll see detailed info about any wanderings Google has compiled over the years. Want to look back on past adventures? You've got it: Just tap your profile picture in Maps' upper-right corner, then select 'Your Timeline' from the menu that comes up and look for the word 'Trips' on the bar at the top of the screen.

Tap that, and any flights, car rentals, restaurant reservations, or other travel-related plans you've got will show up in an organized list - culled directly from the confirmations in your Gmail inbox as well as your Google Calendar.

So here's the secret: Open up the Maps app on Android, tap the Saved tab at the bottom, and then scroll down and look for the circular Reservations button. You just practically need a map to find it. Fast-forward to today, and much of Trips' planning intelligence has quietly made its way into the main Maps app. After a few short years, the company killed off Trips and left those of us who'd come to rely on its smarts stranded, without any comparable replacement. Spectacular.īut then, well, Google Googled. Trips tapped into all the info already in your inbox and automatically created impressively organized, easy-to-manage bundles of plans from your incoming itineraries and confirmations. Way back in 2016, Google came out with an awesomely clever app called Trips.

Download google my trips