Google Maps is the world’s most popular navigation and mapping application, used by millions of people every day to get from one place to another or simply to explore their surroundings. Therefore, any changes made to it are of significance. Now, Google Maps is starting to resemble Apple Maps a bit with its new colors.
How will be the colors of new Google Maps?
While Google Maps is still considered the top mapping and navigation app for mobile devices, Apple Maps has made a strong comeback since its rocky launch during the initial release of iOS 6 in 2012. So much so that it appears Google is now testing new color options for Google Maps that align with some of the tones used by Apple Maps.
Google Maps is testing a lighter shade of blue to represent water, which is almost identical to the color tone used by Apple. It’s clear that subtle details like this can make the application appear more minimalist and user-friendly. On the other hand, Google seems to be moving away from Apple’s style by using a darker green color to denote areas like parks and forests.
Previously, both Google and Apple used a lighter shade of green to represent such areas. Additionally, Google Maps is testing gray instead of white for roads and dark gray to represent highways. All of these tested color changes align Google Maps more closely with the color scheme used by Apple Maps.
When you compare the dark themes of both applications, if you use dark mode in both, Google Maps’ dark theme appears to be darker than the dark theme in Apple Maps. The introduction of dark themes in mapping applications arose from complaints by some drivers that it’s more challenging to view maps in applications with darker backgrounds.
Additionally, Google Maps is refreshing the road directions that appear at the top of the screen with a darker green background color. However, to see how the darker color affects you, you’ll need to use it in real-world conditions. The updated version of Google Maps is reported to have been rolled out to Android users today.
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