Share your location and find car-charging stations near you

Google Maps has recently been updated with a few useful new features. These were introduced on the Android app ( www.snipca.com/29478) earlier this year, but the IOS app ( www. snipca.com/29479).

You can now share your current location, route and estimated time of arrival when you’re travelling to meet someone. And for the first time users can share their current location using third-party messenger apps, including Whatsapp Messenger and Facebook Messenger. Moreover, if you drive an electric vehicle you can now locate charging stations anywhere in the UK.

To share your travel progress, tap the three-line menu icon inside the search field at the top left of the app, then ‘Location sharing’, followed by Get Started. You can choose how long you want to share your real-time location for (see screenshot below left). The default is one hour, but you can change this using the ‘+’ and ‘-’ buttons. Previously, you could only share your live location using the Messages app. Tap the More button to see other alternatives.

To find charging stations for your electric vehicle, tap search bar at the top, then type ev charging stations then press the search icon on your keyboard. You’ll now see red icons on the map that represent charging stations nearby.

At the bottom, these are listed along with how far away they are and their opening hours. Tap the directions icon to find the quickest route. You can also use this feature to plan ahead for specific places you might be travelling to. For example, type ev charging stations liverpool to see a list of all charging stations in the city.