Google Maps joins the Now Bar party on One UI 7

iOS 16 introduced Live Activities in 2022 as a new form of ongoing rich notifications. Since then, we’ve seen several Android OEM skins also experiment with some form of active and ongoing rich notifications that differ from your standard notifications. Google announced Live Updates for Android 16, but Samsung beat it to the punch with Now Bar on One UI 7 (based on Android 15). Now, third-party apps are starting to bake in support for these ongoing notifications, and the latest entrant to the party is Google Maps.

As spotted by CID on X, Google Maps v25.05.01.719889437 supports the new Now Bar functionality on One UI 7.

The Google Maps version is slightly under contention, as Tarun Vats on X claims to have gotten live navigation in the Now Bar and Live Activities with Google Maps v25.04.01.717254420 on One UI 7.

Moreover, the feature works on the Galaxy S24 series, too, presuming you are on the One UI 7 beta, as Samsung hasn’t released the stable update for its now-older flagship.

Since the Now Bar can show up on the Always On Display, you can see these ongoing notifications on your phone without turning on the entire display. With customers just about to get their new Galaxy S25 series smartphones in their hands, we will see more apps join the Now Bar party with their ongoing notifications.