- Google Maps could soon let you order food in the app
- This could work as an extension of the Ask Maps feature
- For now, it’s unclear how this might compete with apps like Uber Eats.
Google Maps may soon offer you the ability to order food from a restaurant ready for pickup, as well as direct you to that restaurant on the map, according to a hidden code found in the latest version of Google Maps for Android.
The code was found by the Android Authority team and includes text strings like “ask Maps to order food,” “say what you’re craving,” and “Maps will order for you, even when you’re on the go.”
This feature isn’t available yet, so it’s hard to say exactly how it would work, but it certainly looks like you could quickly request something on a restaurant’s menu and then pick it up yourself.
Presumably there could be the option to dine in or have your food delivered if you’re not traveling – so perhaps this will work in partnership with apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats rather than replacing them.
AI at your service
The “Ask Maps” feature mentioned in the code leak is Gemini’s recently introduced tool that allows you to have a natural conversation with Google Maps about whatever you’ve found or are looking for.
It appears that this same part of the interface is also where the food order will be placed, using Gemini’s agent capabilities to act on your behalf – although, as Android Authority points out, it’s unclear how autonomous the AI will be.
It might even be limited to certain phones, like the Magic Cue feature currently exclusive to the Pixel 10 series. However, it seems more likely that Google wants to make this as widely available as possible.
We’ll have to wait and see how this works, if it actually makes it to the app. Google’s next big announcements should accompany the launch of the Pixel 11, expected in August.
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