heiwa4126 / Flickr, CC
The update adds spoken traffic alerts for the first time - so when you're in navigation mode, Google Maps can tell you about any congestion or incidents on your given route and give you a summary of what traffic is like before you drive, thus providing you with the best, fastest route available. And it's all hands-free, for safety's sake.
This feature is pretty similar to Waze, the GPS navigation app Google bought in 2013 for $1.1 billion. Google last month overhauled that app for the first time since the Waze acquisition, with similar improvements to the way you can report issues like accidents, road closures and incidents.
But Google Maps got another new feature this week: the ability to add new or missing businesses. This is a huge boon for small business owners that may not be so tech savvy, since there's now an easier way to get your business found in Google.
Google Maps needs all the help it can get on the iPhone, as Apple recently updated its own Maps software with the release of iOS 9. Apple Maps now finally offers public transit directions, and many people report loving the changes so far.
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