Google Maps Is Testing A Change To Make Your Map View Less Crowded

Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority

Google Maps lets you save places to a list, which can be very convenient if you’re visiting a new city or want to visit a place in your own city. Things can quickly get crowded if you have loads of saved places in one city, but it looks like Google is testing a tweak.

9to5Google reports that Google is testing a UI change in beta versions of Maps (version 25.06.x). This sees the icons for your saved places turning into dots when you zoom out. Check out the outlet’s before (L) and after images below.

This would be a welcome addition as your Google Maps screen can look very crowded if you have many saved places, obscuring part of the map. So a switch to less obstructive dots would help clean things up. It’s also worth noting that some of the saved icons don’t change to dots, but I’m not sure about the criteria for this behavior (e.g. proximity to saved place). 

I’m not seeing this icon tweak in my beta version of Google Maps, suggesting a small-scale test or gradual release to beta users. The outlet also noted that Google previously tested this change in 2023 before reverting to the old icons. So don’t be surprised if this doesn’t come to the stable version of Maps.

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