• Google Maps is getting a new setting that makes it easier to find wheelchair accessible places.
• The navigation app already offered information about places with wheelchair accessible facilities, but you can now choose to prioritise this in Maps.
• It’s one of several updates Google has made to Google Maps this year, following a big redesign in February.
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Google is making it easier to find places with wheelchair accessible entrances, parking, seating, and restrooms through Google Maps, the company announced on Thursday.

The search giant is rolling out an update to its Maps app that includes a new setting for prioritising such information. Google Maps has been offering wheelchair accessible information for years, but it’s only now adding the new setting to prioritise seeing this information within the app.

To do so, make sure your Google Maps app is up to date and tap your profile photo in the top right corner of the screen. Then, tap the “Settings” option and press the “Accessibility” category. From there, you should see a new option called “Accessible Places.”

The feature is available starting immediately in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Japan across iOS and Android devices.

Google will also be making it easier for iPhone users to contribute information to Google Maps about whether or not certain locations are wheelchair accessible.

The update comes after Google redesigned Maps earlier this year to coincide with the app’s 15th birthday. That overhaul made it easier to use Google Maps for tasks other than straightforward navigation – like finding points of interest.

Google’s new additions to Maps also come as Apple has been investing more heavily in Apple Maps over the past year. Apple’s iOS 13 update, which launched last fall, brought new features to Apple’s navigation app like Look Around – essentially the company’s answer to Google’s Street View – as well as easier access to frequently visited places.

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