Google Maps will now let India users rely on ‘Plus codes’ when saving and sharing their Home addresses. Plus Codes include a set of 6 or 7 letters, numbers along with the name of the town or city for the particular address. They do not rely on street and locality names, instead use latitudes and longitudes. The Plus Codes feature was originally rolled out in India back in 2018. It has so far been extensively used by businesses, NGOs, etc, according to the company. The capability is now being extended to home addresses as well.
“We piloted this feature in India a month ago, and are thrilled to share that over 300,000 users in India have already found their home address using Plus Codes. We are looking forward to expanding to more types of places, and are actively looking for opportunities to partner with e-commerce, logistics, and delivery companies, to scale up the experience to more people across the world,” said Amanda Bishop, Product Manager, Google Maps.
According to Google, the feature is rolling out to Android first, and iOS will get the capability later on. Now, when someone is saving a ‘Home’ location on Google Maps, they will see a prompt asking them to “Use current location”. This will use their phone’s location to generate a Plus Code, which they can then use as their Home address.
Google has also added a section at the top of the ‘Saved’ tab to make it easier to retrieve, copy, and share these home addresses.
How to identify Plus Codes
“With a Plus Code, people can receive deliveries, access emergency and social services, or just help other people find them,” Google explains on its website. Check out the video below to know more.
Advantages of Plus Codes
Google has also listed the advantages of using Plus Codes in a few key pointers. For one, the company says these are open-source and easy to use. They are much shorter than traditional global coordinates, so they’re easy to share as well. Plus Codes work whether one is online or offline. An internet connection is not needed at all times, which is another advantage in India where mobile connectivity can be patchy at times.
Since its launch in 2018, plus codes have been adopted at scale by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in India and governments.
"In addition to community-led efforts, we are also committed to empowering users to directly use 'plus code' addresses for their daily needs.
"We piloted this feature in India a month ago, and are thrilled to share that over three lakh users in India have already found their home's address using plus codes," Google Maps Product Manager Amanda Bishop said.
Bishop added that the company is actively looking for opportunities to partner with e-commerce, logistics and delivery companies to scale up the experience to more people across the world.
When saving a 'Home' location on Google Maps, users in India will see a new 'Use your current location' that uses their phone's location to generate a plus code (if the location precision meets minimum thresholds) that they can then use as their Home address.
There is also a new section at the top of the 'Saved' tab to make it easier to retrieve, copy and share these home addresses.
Currently, the feature is available on Android only with iOS to follow soon, the statement said.
You must be logged in to post a comment.