Newsletter
Google has announced a new update to Google Maps which although small in principle, has the potential to impact on up to 1.25 billion people. This is due to Maps having now gained support for an additional 39 languages. Google did not specify how many languages Maps now supports in total, and simply stated the new languages are in addition to the already-existing level of language support offered by the navigation-based service.
The full list of newly-added languages can be viewed by heading over to the Google blog – The Keyword – or by checking out the image above which does pay tribute to each of the new language additions. To highlight a few examples, however, Google Maps now supports Bosnian, Croatian, Danish, Filipino, Hebrew, Indonesian, Latvian, Malay, Romanian, Swahili, Turkish, and Zulu. As well as Armenian which is shown in the Google-provided image below. While Google explained the total reach of the 39 languages equates to an estimated 1.25 billion people, the company also confirmed that number is fairly close to how many people actually use Google Maps to plan their routes or find new places – over one billion. A number which is likely to increase significantly considering how many users are now supported at the language level.
Besides new languages, Google did not state whether any other additional features are also becoming available with this update or in the near future. Although the company did announce some new features earlier in March, including better accessible route support and information when traveling by public transport in select cities. Likewise, Maps is not the only Google service/product that has gained additional language support lately, as towards the end of last month – during MWC 2018 – Google announced its Actions on Google was gaining support for seven additional languages. While not quite as impacting as the Maps language additions, Actions on Google is a much newer service/product compared with the navigation service. An aspect also highlighted in this latest announcement with Google pointing out fourteen years ago Maps was only available in English. The new language support is now live for those who access Maps via the Android app for smartphones.