Google June 22 released Google Maps for Android 4.3 with a few features to help owners of Android 1.6 and later devices more quickly decide where to go and what to do.
First, Google boosted user reviews in the application by providing a snapshot of what consumers are saying about businesses on search result pages.
Users search for say, a restaurant, and see a color-coded bar to see an overview about how people perceive specific aspects of the restaurant, such as food, service, atmosphere or menu selection.
Users can then tap a bar to see more details about the restaurant in the actual review. This is similar to the reviews Google added to Place Pages for the desktop back in December.
Google Maps for Android 4.3 also sports upcoming schedules for transit station Webpages.
Users can tap any transit station icon from the map and open its Web page by tapping the window to see a short list of the next departure times for any subways, trains or buses that are leaving from that station. This is particularly useful for visitors from other states who want to maneuver about the city.
Finally, Google Latitude now lets users who have opted in to the friend-finding service share their location with friends, loved ones and others from Google Contacts right from the bottom of their friends list. Users can add suggested friends by tapping the + icon and sending them a sharing request.
The move is part of Google’s plan to boost membership and activity in the service, which just saw its API launched to developers in May.
Google Maps for Version 4.3 is available in all the countries and languages where Maps is currently available.