A Smart Upgrade for iOS Drivers

Highlights

• Google Maps adds Auto-Remember Parking on iOS, automatically saving your parking spot when you disconnect from your car.
• The feature shows a personalized car icon instead of the usual “P,” making it easier to spot your parking location.
• Auto-Remember Parking helps users quickly find their vehicle, reducing stress in large or crowded parking areas.

With a relatively small enhancement to its source navigation set (toolkit), Google Maps, which is only available on iOS devices as of now, has given users an additional convenience by automatically detecting parking locations and displaying them on a custom icon. In a post made by Rio Akasaka, Senior Product Manager for Google Maps, via LinkedIn (professional social network), it was stated that “this solution remembers where you parked without having you take a photo or hit save park location.”

How the Feature works

A user driving in a vehicle, connected to Google Maps via USB, Bluetooth, or CarPlay, can use the ‘Mark My Spot’ feature. After the end of their trip and when disconnected from Google Maps, the application automatically drops down to create a ‘pin’ at the user’s parking spot, which is visible for a maximum of 48 hours. The pin will either disappear if the user deletes it or if the user drives again.

This change marks the transformation of a previously manual activity into an automated function. Google Maps has always provided the “Save Your Parking” button for parking locations since its initial introduction, on both Android Auto and as part of its app. However, now that the automated saving feature has been added, it is far more convenient, at least for those who use iOS devices.

Moreover, instead of the standard representative “P” signifying “parking” within Google Maps, the new icon for that location will now be an image of the user’s personalised car (if they have a custom vehicle image selected). The feature of using a personalised image of the user’s car first became available in 2020 and has now been expanded to include the parking icon as well.

What this means for the users

This feature could be a time- and worry-saver for an iPhone user who often has a hard time finding their parked car (such as in large parking structures, busy city streets, or after a long drive). According to Akasaka, this is similar to having “a personal parking Maps valet,” because users do not need to keep track of where they parked their car. The two-day retention period allows users more than enough time to locate their vehicle, and the automatic deletion of expired pins makes sure there is no extra clutter in your map display.

At the present time, however, this feature is limited exclusively to iOS; Android users must tap on “Save my location” each time they want to store their parking spot, and as such, there have been no announcements about when Android users will have the benefit of automatically detecting parking spots.

Why Google may have prioritised iOS

Based on available information, the automatic parking save capability is dependent on connectivity to the vehicle using a USB, Bluetooth, or Apple CarPlay device, thus providing greater continuity of reliability when implemented in an iOS and Apple CarPlay environment.

As there are more hardware combinations, software variations between devices, and different levels of vehicle-to-phone integration, implementing a universal automatic parking solution that reliably works across most Android devices may be more challenging. It is yet unknown if the Android platform will receive this feature; however, it appears that Google is continuing to introduce new “improvements” to iPhone users only.

Additionally, Google is working on new products that will benefit users across all mobile devices, such as “Battery Mode,” providing “AI Navigation,” “User Controlled Icons,” and “User Controlled Maps.”

Conclusion

In today’s update to Google Maps, parking your vehicle will no longer need to be an uptight experience (if you use an iOS device). This feature automatically finds where you’ve parked, saves that location, and assigns a personalised vehicle icon, thereby alleviating yet another issue you must deal with in your everyday travels. This feature is extremely valuable for drivers who regularly or frequently lose track of where they have parked their vehicles. Presently, Android users will have to wait for Google to provide this feature to Android devices as well.