This is because it’s not relying on GPS and a phone’s internal sensors to determine position and orientation, both of which can be affected in high-density areas by objects like cars and magnets, among other things.ĭespite this, I did encounter a few hiccups with the directions given. One of the main drawpoints of the feature is that by using the camera to identify buildings and landmarks, the directions are hypothetically more consistently correct. It seems that as long as it’s not completely pitch black outside yet, the algorithm might still be able to pick up where you are. It does warn you that you can’t use it in the dark, but I found that at dusk I still had some luck with the camera locating my position. I also had mixed results when using the service at night. Although a minor issue, it seems odd the directions had taken me to a path that it should have known it wouldn’t have been able to identify in AR, by virtue of it not being included in Street View.
The path was part of the navigation route, but I later realized it wasn’t included in Google Street View, which Google uses to locate you for the AR directions. There was one occasion, in the north of Melbourne along the Merri Creek, where the phone couldn’t pick up the walking path that I was on, as there were no significant structures around me. On the occasions where I strayed from a main street, or I was in a more grassy, barren area, the app struggled to detect where I was until I turned around and showed it more of my surroundings. If I was on a main street, or an area with lots of clear and defined structures, it would only take a second and I would barely have to move the phone. Upon starting the service, there’s a small period where the phone has to identify its surroundings before the directions are displayed on top of the camera, which I found ranged quite drastically in duration depending on where I was. When activated, you hold the phone up to your surroundings, and it will display directions overlaid onto the visuals from your phone’s camera. The feature is simply an additional option when you’re using the phone in navigation mode for walking directions. Google have yet to announce whether the feature will be coming to Google Maps on other phones that support AR, but as an owner of a Pixel 3XL, I was keen to try the feature out as soon as it dropped. Google recently announced that their flagship Pixel phones would be getting a new form of navigation that uses augmented reality to help users with walking directions in the Google Maps app.
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