# Google Maps Features I Want in 2026

It's 2026. Here are some Google Maps features I'd love to see:

- Every time I start a navigation route, the car icon bounces around the map at the very start. This confuses many users since they don't know which turn to make at the start. I understand that this is a fundamental GPS issue, but this can be easily solved by loading the True North map view for the first mile of the route and then switching to the car-POV map view.
- In case of extremely slow internet / GPS issues, I'd love to load the offline maps first without any traffic data, and then switch over to realtime maps once my cell service improves. Currently, in case of slow internet, I find that Maps tries to load the realtime maps. Offline maps are only loaded in case of zero cell service.
- To download offline maps, I still have to manually select a geographic area, instead of downloading maps for state / county boundaries, which is much more convenient and efficient.
  ![Google Maps offline map download area selection](/blog/google-maps-features/offline-map-download.jpg)
- Google Maps should acquire [AllTrails](https://www.alltrails.com/). Google Maps currently sucks for trails & hikes. I'm not smart enough / rich enough to advise acquiring a multibillion dollar company, but given the recent SaaSocalypse, it might be cheap now? And people seem to love AllTrails. For trails I'd love to see:
  - elevation gain & distance
  - time required by an avg human
  - ROI: is the trail worth it for the effort?
  - difficulty level
  - recent images of the trail
  - weather
  - offline trail / park / area downloads
  - 3D maps
  - wrong turn alerts
  - live tracking friends along the route
- Suggest different alternative routes to the user when the user enters a location:
  - route which is longer but has less traffic, and can be quicker if the currently clogged road gets even more clogged?
  - most scenic route
  - route with most free right turns, for smaller distances
  - route with the least ascents, for big vehicles
  
Fun fact: In China, maps can literally show how much of your walking route is covered by shade from trees and buildings. See [https://x.com/Cartidise/status/2026097878918406592](https://x.com/Cartidise/status/2026097878918406592)

  ![Map route options showing shade percentage along walking routes](/blog/google-maps-features/shaded-route-map.png)

  
- Gemini support for Google Maps. This is confirmed to be coming: [https://www.macrumors.com/2026/05/11/google-maps-carplay-gemini-ai/](https://www.macrumors.com/2026/05/11/google-maps-carplay-gemini-ai/). It's 2026, and still I cannot find the perfect cafe or pitstop by simply chatting with an AI.
- Gemini support for entering a destination / adding a stop: it's 2026 and I still have to dictate the location in a robotic, accent-free voice in the correct direction so that my car's microphone picks it up correctly and hope that the voice dictation model understands me. It's unsafe to type while driving, which is also a horrible UX, second to typing on my TV, so it's crazy that we still rely on old voice models to do the most important thing while using maps: add the destination. In addition, because the current dictation barely works for me for English names, for adding non-English names, I have to stop the car.