Earlier this year at I/O 2018, Google announced that Assistant was coming to Google Maps. Specifically, a visually compact and less disruptive version would appear when getting directions. This navigation-optimized Google Assistant is now rolling out in Google Maps for Android.
Google Assistant in Google Maps was billed as having a lower visual profile allowing the user an eyes free experience. You can say the “Ok Google” command or tap the multi-colored microphone in the top-right corner to activate it.
This will slide up a compact bar that covers the panel noting your arrival time and distance estimate, as well as other navigation controls. During daylight hours, the Google Assistant icon and animation is displayed against a white backdrop, while the panel conforms to navigation’s usual night mode with a dark background.
Commands will run in the background, and keep users in Google Maps. Phone calls now just initiate without the dialer opening. Users can also issue commands like texting, playing music, and more from Assistant without having to leave navigation mode.
The feature is now rolling out to the current stable version (10.4.1) of Google Maps for Android and the Google app.
