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Road trips just got easier to plan with Google Maps’ latest update

Google has brought its popular multi-stop feature over to iOS with the latest update to its Maps app.

The new functionality means that the navigation service no longer just tells you how to get from A to B, but can also pre-program detours through C, D and E if you wish. It’s a really neat way to plan a long trip with multiple stops in advance, meaning you get an accurate estimate of how long the journey will take and you don’t have to keep reprogramming the app after each stop.

GoogleMaps-multistop

Multiple stops makes advance planning so much easier

Users of Google Maps web-based service will have been familiar with multi-stop journeys for a long time, while Android users received this update back in June. Now iPhone users can get in on the action too, and here’s how:

  1. Open Google Maps and enter a destination into the search bar along the top of the screen. Tap the most relevant result so the location shows on the map.
  2. Tap the circular blue Directions button in the bottom right of the app. It will either have a picture of a car, a bus, a bike or a walking man on it, depending on the type of directions you last used.
  3. Change the transport type using the tab icons above the map if necessary. The map should now be showing you routes from your current location to your chosen destination.
  4. To add more stops to your journey, press the More button (three vertical dots) in the top right and then press the Add Stop button from the pop-up menu.
  5. Enter your second destination in the box labeled ‘B’. Once you’re in multi-stop mode, a spare destination box will always be available beneath your existing stops in case you want to add more.
  6. To rearrange the stops, press and hold the three horizontal bars to the left of each entry and drag into your preferred order.

These changes to the app can sometimes take a while to appear in the menus. If you don’t see the Add Stop option, fully closing and then reopening Google Maps is usually enough to refresh the app and show the new setting. Otherwise you may have to wait a day or two to see the changes.

It will be interesting to see whether Apple add this functionality to their own Maps app in due course to keep up with Google’s efforts. In the meantime, though, happy travels!