the good news of the application arriving in Europe

Google Maps has some well-hidden options and one of them is enabling Bluetooth tunnel beacons. And this function, as long as they are available in the tunnel through which they pass, allows navigation to be precise so as not to lose location and Google Maps does not go crazy try to locate the car.

An example of this is cross the M30 tunnel in Madrid so that Google Maps loses the location of the vehicle when it crosses a tunnel which It is 7.8 km long full extension

. Thanks to geolocation services, it is quite difficult for Maps to work properly, although with its new option, an optimal experience can be offered provided that Bluetooth beacons are installed in the tunnel.

This new feature is available worldwide for tunnel beacons with Bluetooth compensate for the shortcomings of mobile GPS. An experience that Waze has already offered by supporting this technology in tunnels that have it, such as in New York, Chicago, Paris, Brussels and many other cities.

How to enable Bluetooth beacons

Finally, Google Maps added support to tags thanks to a new setting already available in Europe and other countries (you must go to the Google Play Store to update the application to its latest version). Its activation is done as follows:

• In Google Maps for Android (at the moment it is only available for this system), click settings.
• Now in the navigation settings, look for the Bluetooth Tunnel Beacons option under the driving options.
• The feature is disabled by default.

In fact, you can read its description: “Search for Bluetooth beacons to improve location accuracy in tunnels”

. Once enabled, the user will be asked for permission to scan nearby Bluetooth devices. Even just after giving permission for its use, if the Bluetooth connection is not active, it will also be asked to activate it.

A feature which according to 9to5Google is not yet available for Google Maps for iOS and will need to be check battery consumption searching for devices at any time while navigation is enabled to navigate to a destination that passes through a tunnel.

An interesting novelty for Google Maps and therefore crossing tunnels like the M30 in Madrid is not enough that we get lost by recommending the app to take the next detour when there is really no change of direction or anything, just “lost” because the GPS antenna is not able to receive the position when driving underground.

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