This article was published on July 11, 2012

Google introduces walking directions in Maps for 44 countries in Africa


Google introduces walking directions in Maps for 44 countries in Africa

I’m a walker, so if I had a way of tallying which apps I use the most, it would be Google Maps for Android and Maps for iOS, since I carry both devices. I’ve always lived in major metropolitan cities so I’ve been pretty spoiled when it comes to walking directions.

Today, Google announced that this valuable feature is coming to 44 countries in Africa. Here’s what that Maps team had to say about it/a>:

In 2010, we announced the availability of driving directions on Google Maps in many African countries. This is a feature that allows users to get driving direction information from one location to another (e.g from Kotoka International Airport to Hotel Novotel in Victoria Borg, Accra in Ghana)

But of course not everyone drives or always needs to drive, so today we’re bringing walking directions for 44 African countries!

The same functionality is also available for the mobile version of Maps:

Google is able to get all of these directions thanks to cartographers on the ground in Africa. By “crowdsourcing” these efforts, the company can make this feature available wherever people really want it to be, which is pretty cool.

Are you a walker? Let us know what your experiences have been using walking directions from any app in the comments.

Get the TNW newsletter

Get the most important tech news in your inbox each week.

Also tagged with