Google has announced a new lane guidance feature on Google Maps for Android and iOS in India. The new feature allows users to see and hear voice-guided instructions signalling, which lane they should stay in or move to while in Navigation mode.
The Lane guidance feature is available for major roads across 20 cities in India – Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Mysore, Nagpur, Pune, Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, Vadodara and Visakhapatnam. Drivers will also be able to receive lane guidance on major Indian expressways, including the Mumbai-Pune expressway.
Moreover, Google has added Hindi support for turn-by-turn and voice-guided instructions. For Hindi, users can choose Hindi as their preferred language by selecting the Hindi option within the “Language and input” menu found in their phone’s Settings menu.
In addition to the English and Hindi voice guidance, users can also opt into the English (India) language preference on their phones to hear the voice-guided instructions spoken back to you in English in the Indian accent.
“Our goal is to continue making Google Maps for mobile into a handy travel companion for your daily commutes and trips around India, and we hope the new lane guidance will help make road travels easier to navigate for English and Hindi speaker across the country,” says Suren Ruhela, Director Product and Program Management, Google.
Last year, Google had optimised its services for the Indian accent. Google said the new feature will help improve search experience for Indian users and find answers on the web quickly and efficiently.
Later, Google also launched Google Maps in Hindi. “"in the hope that we can provide more useful and comprehensive maps for Hindi-speakers in India. This means that if you’re looking for a historical monument such as the Hawa Mahal in Jaipur, or the famous Lodhi Gardens in Delhi, you’ll be able to see the place’s name in both Hindi and English,” Google had said.