Google Maps gets Assistant-powered voice-to-text search

Voice-to-text services in Google Maps are getting a little better for Pixel users. Maps has started replacing voice-to-text with what appears to be Assistant Voice Typing, the excellent voice-to-text feature that launched alongside the Pixel 6 series.

As spotted by the Google News Telegram channel, tapping the microphone icon in the Google Maps search bar brings up a new window highlighting “faster ways to search on Maps.” If users allow Maps to record audio, they can use the new speech service to “get directions and search for places with [their] voice.”

The feature replaces the Google Speech Service pop-up that handled voice-to-text functionality in Maps before. It’s worth noting that in my testing on non-Pixel phones, the Google Speech Service pop-up was still functional. However, on Pixel phones, you get the new pop-up with Google Assistant styling.

Along with Assistant-powered voice-to-text, the new pop-up includes a carousel of suggestions like ‘Restaurants’ and ‘Groceries.’

It’s not clear how widespread the change is, but it was available on both of my Pixel phones.

Assistant Voice Typing launched alongside the Pixel 6. Built into Google’s Gboard keyboard, Assistant Voice Typing improved on the existing voice-to-text system with some added smarts, like the ability to filter out voices in the background, add emojis, and more.

Source: Google News Telegram