Google Maps will bring GPS accuracy improvements with a new Google Maps update on Android devices especially for cities where there are a lot of buildings. Due to the buildings and their interference, GPS marks places where we are meters away from or it even marks the opposite sidewalk sometimes. Google ensures that accuracy will be improved by up to 75% compared to the current situation.
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In more dense urban areas the GPS service has the peculiarity of losing part of its accuracy. The GPS has no direct contact with the receiving device, so the signals most of the time arrive by reflexes and are not direct. That results in a scenario in which the smartphone itself calculates the location by approximation.
Google Maps promises better GPS accuracy with a new update on Android
The solution proposed by Google is not new, in fact, it has been doing so for some time in the last Google Pixel. The technology used here is about using data about how and where the buildings are located in order to understand how a GPS signal is reflected, this way the information received will be able to tell where the smartphone is more precisely. The new version will reach other smartphones besides Pixel and it promises a GPS accuracy improvement of up to 75%.
To understand better how significant this improvement is, there is nothing better than the example shown by the company itself. On a tour of a street turning on both sidewalks, you can see how precise the improved GPS is.
Google indicates that the new accuracy improvement will come with an update through Google Play Services. Smartphones with Android 8 or higher will receive this update and it will not be limited to Pixel smartphones only. Also, developers will be able to make use of the API to improve the accuracy of the gPS also in their apps. We expect these changes in early 2021.
Google says that this GPS accuracy improvement will be available in all major cities in Europe, United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
