Getting lost inside a large department store should now be a thing of the past, at least for owners of Android smartphones.
Google recently updated its Maps app for Android to include indoor maps for more than 40 locations in the UK, which include airports, exhibition spaces and galleries and department stores.
The update is available for smartphones running Android 2.2 or later and comes with Maps 6.0 from the Google Play store. The addition of locations in the UK means that over 10,000 indoor maps are now available for places around the world.
Using one of the indoor maps is simply a matter of zooming into the appropriate part of a map for one of these locations and the floor plan will then appear.
Maps for multiple floors are available via buttons on the right of the Maps screen, where applicable, and walking directions can be found. Building owners can upload their own floor maps to expand upon the service, too.
Sadly, there’s no internal Street View yet, but Google has added 360° images for a number of US National Parks. That means it’s now possible to take a virtual street-level tour most of California, visiting Yosemite, Redwood, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Death Valley and Joshua Tree along the way.
Here’s the full list of UK indoor locations so far covered by Google Maps:
- London City Airport
- London Stansted Airport
- London Luton Airport
- Manchester
- Edinburgh
- Glasgow
- Birmingham
- Barbican
- BFI Southbank
- British Museum
- Cabot Circus Shopping Centre
- Cannon Street Station
- Charing Cross Station
- Courtauld Gallery
- Debenhams
- Euston Station
- Fenchurch Street Station
- Harrods
- House of Fraser
- John Lewis
- Kings Cross Station
- Liverpool Street Station
- London Bridge Station
- Museum of London
- National Maritime Museum
- National Theatre
- Natural History Museum
- National Portrait Gallery
- O2 Arena
- One New Change Shopping Centre
- Paddington Station
- Peter Jones – Sloan Sq.
- Ricoh Arena
- Selfridges
- Somerset House
- St Pancras International Station
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Victoria Station
- Waterloo Station
- Wembley Stadium