Google Maps update to let you wipe out past searches and photos in one swoop

Date:
Thu, 14 Dec 2023 05:00:28 +0000

Description:
Later next year, Google Maps will offer a way to save your Timeline records onto your phone for safe keeping.

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Google Maps is getting a privacy update that gives users new ways to control their information on the platform.

First, the app will begin collecting your recent activity into one central location where you can view places youve been to in the past, the date you went there, and the amount of time you spent visiting. Youll be even able to delete your searches, directions and shares in the same hub.

Looking at Googles announcement , it appears you can delete each entry one
by one or the whole thing altogether. A window will pop up on the screen letting you know whats going to be thrown out. The data packet will include photos, reviews, feedback reports, saved lists, and more youve made about a location.

Tapping the blue dot on Google Maps will now bring up a settings menu for the Timeline and Location History features where you can see if either tool has been turned on as well as if the app has access to your devices location. Timeline, if youre not super familiar with it, uses data obtained from Location History to keep a record of all the places youve been to.

The deletion tool and the blue dot menu will start rolling out to Android and iOS phones over the coming weeks. Saving the timeline

There is another update; however, it wont come out until sometime next year. The upcoming feature allows people to save their Timeline recording directly onto their device instead of leaving it up on Googles cloud. You are, of course, able to delete a part or all of your information at once, if you dont want to leave a trace behind. Conversely, users can back up their data to the company servers at any time. Everything is encrypted, so no one, not even Google, can take a peek.

Location History is getting a small tweak. Its auto-delete function will be set to three months by default rather than 18 months as is currently the
case. After that time passes, all saved information will be deleted. If you want to go back to the longer period, you can adjust at any time.

Its unknown exactly when the Timeline changes will roll out to Android or iOS in 2024, although Google states you will receive an account notification when it eventually arrives.

Google Maps is full of neat little tricks that most people are unaware of. If you want to know what they are, check out TechRadar's list of the 10 things you didn't know Google Maps could do . You might also like Google Maps just made it a lot easier to plan holiday trips with better travel tools Google Maps could soon be getting its own AI chatbot Google Maps now looks more like Apple Maps and a lot of people arent happy



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/software/google-maps-update-to-let-you-wip e-out-past-searches-and-photos-in-one-swoop


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