Google Maps will soon integrate Gemini to enable hands-free conversational navigation

Google Maps is adding Gemini integration on Android and iOS, enabling hands-free, conversational navigation. Users can speak naturally to manage routes, ask contextual questions such as finding nearby restaurants, and get details like parking or popular dishes. Gemini also supports voice commands to confirm destinations, report traffic incidents, or add events to Google Calendar when permissions are granted.

In the US, Maps directions now reference real-world landmarks rather than just distances, showing clear cues like “turn left after the Thai Siam Restaurant.” Gemini generates these directions by analyzing data from over 250 million mapped places and Google Street View imagery to select landmarks that are easy to recognize from the road. Android Auto users will also start receiving proactive notifications about traffic disruptions, closures, or heavy congestion even when they are not actively navigating.

The Maps app will soon introduce Google Lens with Gemini on both Android and iOS, letting users point their camera at a place to get information about it. All new features will roll out over the next few weeks in supported regions