When you’re visiting a new city or trying to research for an upcoming trip, it helps to know which are the major landmarks of that area. And while Google Maps does provide you with most of that information, sometimes it would be hard to spot the really important ones at a single glance, just because there are so many icons in that area. But an upcoming update to the navigation app will now make it easier for you as the icons for these city landmarks are now extra-large for your viewing convenience.
Some of you may scoff at visiting these landmarks since they are probably tourist traps, but if you’re in a city for the first time or a limited time only, then you probably should pass by even to just take a quick photo. If you’re visiting some of the world’s major cities like London, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, New York, you should now be able to see their most important locations with a bigger icon that will stand out amongst the blue, orange, and green icons.
According to Android Police, what we’re seeing so far are historically-significant places, most of them old. But that’s probably not the “hard-set rule”. They may be starting it out with the ancient landmarks then moving on to the newer ones. Washington doesn’t have the White House yet and Sydney’s Opera House is not featuring a large icon yet, so we may still be in the early stages of this sort-of redesign.
The icons, aside from being larger and popping out of the map, are also presented in a basic sketch of what the place is. For example, the landmarks in Rome are shown in the icons themselves, with the Pantheon, Colosseum, and the Basilica having tiny drawings so you have some idea of what to expect. It’s actually a nice little touch, aside from the convenience it will bring users.
You can see the landmark icons on version 10.28.2 of Google Maps, although it may also be server-side triggered. If you’re not seeing it yet, then just wait for a future update. It’s also not showing up on the web version just yet, so let’s just wait and see.