It was late 2022 when Apple launched Reside Actions — a function promised in the course of the June unveiling of iOS 16 that went reside in iOS 16.1. Apple’s first-party apps shortly embraced the function, as did many third-party builders … with one notable exception.
All the things from sports activities apps to Uber have been on board for almost a yr now, making use of the dynamically updating Lock Display notifications and Dynamic Island standing indicators that will help you maintain observe of your favourite group’s scores, when your experience share or meals supply is arriving, when your flight is touchdown, and extra.
Apple Maps naturally supported Reside Actions from the start, permitting you to get up-to-date navigation data within the Dynamic Island, though it was arguably much less needed for the Lock Display, the place Apple has all the time allowed its navigation show to take over the complete display screen.
Whereas that’s a home-field benefit Apple reserves for Apple Maps, Reside Actions would have a minimum of allowed Google Maps to shut the hole a bit by offering turn-by-turn instructions and a live-updating ETA on the lock display screen — besides, it appears Google doesn’t actually care that a lot.
We’re on the cusp of seeing iOS 17.3, and Reside Actions stays conspicuously lacking in Google Maps. That’s to not say that the corporate isn’t engaged on it, however it’s clear that it isn’t an enormous precedence.
To be truthful, Google has all the time lagged effectively behind most different main builders in relation to embracing new iOS options. It took almost a yr after iOS 13 was launched earlier than darkish mode got here to Gmail, and darkish mode didn’t arrive in Google Maps till shortly earlier than iOS 15 was launched.
Issues have been even stranger on the iPad and Apple Watch entrance. It took over 5 years for cut up view in Gmail and picture-in-picture in YouTube to reach — each capabilities that Apple added in iOS 9 that didn’t present up within the respective Google apps till iOS/iPadOS 14. Equally, Google Maps vanished from the Apple Watch in 2017, presumably as a prelude to a redesigned native watchOS app that took till 2020 to reach.
So, it ought to actually shock nobody that Google has been equally sluggish to embrace Reside Actions in Google Maps.
That’s not for an entire lack of intent on Google’s half. Final February, the corporate introduced that new “glanceable instructions” coming to Google Maps would additionally usher in assist for Reside Actions:
These glanceable instructions begin rolling out globally on Android and iOS within the coming months, and also will be appropriate with Reside Actions on iOS 16.1.
Nevertheless, this assist has but to materialize. In August, the parents at MacRumors discovered proof that Google was engaged on the function, speculating that it might need been planning to roll it out in time for the iPhone 15 lineup, which introduced the Dynamic Island to the usual iPhone fashions.
That clearly didn’t occur, however Google is outwardly nonetheless engaged on it. MacRumors shared this week that new belongings have been discovered within the newest model of Google Maps that recommend the function might be switched on any day now.
Whether or not that can are available in a brand new model of the Google Maps app on the App Retailer or just seem at some point on account of a change on Google’s servers is tough to say. Nevertheless, the search large sometimes opts for the latter method — and sometimes performs a gradual rollout the place not all people could have the function seem on the similar time.
That may get annoying when your pals have a functionality that you just don’t — with Gmail’s darkish mode, it bought downright loopy since Google paused the rollout, leaving some customers with out darkish mode on their Gmail accounts months after others had already acquired the function. Hopefully Reside Actions in Google Maps doesn’t observe an identical sample, however we’ll have to attend and see.