Google makes it easier for Indian users to get started with Maps

Google is making it easier for Indian customers to get started with Maps.

Google Maps users in India are getting a new home screen that will make it easier for them to get started with the service. The home screen will include a quick action bar at the bottom of the page that pulls up a direction pane with commonly used modes of transportation — driving, public transit, walking, and ride-sharing services. Users will also be able to switch between satellite imagery and real-time traffic info, and download a particular area for offline navigation.

Google is also optimizing Maps so that the data loads in the background, allowing those on spotty connections (a majority of the populace) to get access to directions faster. With the changes, Google is hoping that Maps is much more intuitive to use for Indian customers. Google Maps offers an incredible amount of features, and it can be daunting at first glance, especially for customers that are using the service for the first time.

India's smartphone industry is set to grow exponentially in the coming years, with millions of customers set to make their way online. Google has invested significant resources in localizing its services for the 400 million customers that are already online, and the company has rolled out neural machine translation to nine Indian languages. The search giant is also integrating automatic translations into Chrome, and adding 11 new Indic languages to Gboard. Then there's YouTube Go, a lightweight version of the streaming service that's designed to work on 2G connections. With its efforts, Google is looking to target the next billion users, which it believes will come from the subcontinent.