Google Maps is upgrading trip planning with a handy ETA

Google Maps packs an incredible amount of information onto our phones’ screens — and that’s true even when we’re not looking at the map itself. From layer options to trip settings, Google does a really solid job at making Maps info-dense while still keeping it usable at a glance — not overwhelming us with extraneous content, either. Now we’re learning about a brand-new change to Maps that manages to improve on things further by tweaking how trip details are displayed.

So far, when you’re entering in your destination and setting up navigation in Maps, the trip details at the bottom of the screen have been rendered with a pretty basic look, giving your travel time estimate and distance equal font emphasis. But now 9to5Google has spotted a new look for this corner of the app’s interface that freshens things up with some new weighting.

Following this change, travel time involving multiple units renders the primary one largest, tucking minutes away under hours. Distance traveled still gets displayed, but it’s now rendered much smaller. While that sounds like a negative, this extra room allows Google to fit in additional details, and the view now picks up an all-new estimated time of arrival. Previously, Maps wouldn’t generate an ETA until after you started navigation.

The new look impacts all the different travel types Map offers, and apparently has started appearing as of Google’s release of Maps version 25.13.06. While 9to5Google reports seeing the new interface widely deployed, we’re still waiting for it, so your mileage might vary as Google flips things on remotely.

While it takes a bit of an adjustment to get used to, looking back and forth at the old and new looks, we’re quickly coming around to Google’s refresh. Which is good, because we really don’t get much of a say, one way or the other.