Google Maps makes AR feature for walking directions much easier to use

Augmented Reality (AR) is one of those technologies that makes you think we’re living in the future. But apart from a few niche applications, it’s still not used very broadly in our day-to-day lives.

Maybe Apple’s infamous AR glasses will change that, but until they become a reality, we can make use of the AR functionality within Google Maps.

Google has been using AR to help pedestrians navigate the city streets by showing directions directly on the feed from your phone’s camera as you’re walking around.

Called Live View, the feature is very handy but somewhat unintuitive to activate. You have to activate walking directions and then tap on Live View to get the AR mode active.

Now, Google is making Live View an option you can select as soon as you choose your destination. This will help you quickly get an idea in which direction the target is and you can start walking without having to activate the turn-by-turn navigation, which can sometimes be annoying. If you still want that, however, you can start AR navigation from the Live View screen and be on your way.

The Live View change was mentioned in Google’s 15th Maps anniversary post but now it’s already live on some devices. Don’t worry, you won’t miss it, as soon as you select walking directions, there’s a small notification showing you the new button (unfortunately, it disappeared before we took the screenshot).

If you don’t have it yet, it should be coming with one of the next Google Maps updates, so keep an eye for it.