Google Maps will scan your screenshots to help you plan trips

Planning a vacation can become a real mess, with documents, recommendations, apps, and screenshots saved here and there. To try to simplify our lives, Google Maps has started testing a new feature that scans screenshots from our mobile. to help us with travel planning. Which makes it a better application for organizing trips.

The novelty, still in the initial launch phase, uses image recognition technology supported by artificial intelligence. This way you can identify locations present in the catches and group them into custom lists within the app, without having to do it manually.

From the chaos of images to organized itineraries

Most of us resort to screenshots when we find a promising restaurant on TikTok, an interesting monument in an online guide, or a recommendation on social media. The problem is that These images usually end up lost in the phone's camera roll, mixed with others without order or criteria., as well as the travel expenses with Google Trips.

To solve this situation, the new function of Google Maps will scan your photos, detect those that show specific locations, and offer you the ability to turn that information into a list within the app.Plus, with just a few steps, you can save, customize, or share these lists with your travel companions.

As detailed by the company, The tool can analyze sources as varied as blogs, news articles, or social networks.Whether you're inspired by Pinterest, Instagram, or a foodie article, if there's a recognizable location, AI will spot it.

Once the list is created, The identified locations will appear marked on the map with a special icon: a camera with a flashThis will allow you to easily locate saved sites while walking around the city or exploring your destination area.

Artificial intelligence at the service of your travels

This initiative is part of the increasingly widespread use of Gemini, Google's artificial intelligence model. Gemini has been progressively integrated into several of the company's products, and Now comes to Maps with a practical application which makes it easier for the user to organize plans more quickly and effortlessly.

The system can recognize image content, identify locations, and provide additional information such as schedules, routes to the site, or reviews from other visitors. It also allows you to save points of interest found in an individual or collaborative list.

The function is intended for those who prefer to store visual references instead of manually adding locations to the app. While it may not recognize all captures correctly for now, it is already in full development and its accuracy will improve thanks to machine learning.

At present, The tool is available in its first version only for iOS, in English, and requires manually enabling access to your photos. It won't be enabled by default, and it depends entirely on user consent to function, something to keep in mind if you want to view your travel history with Google Assistant.

Google has announced that it has plans to extend support to Android and other languages ​​in the coming months, which will allow it to reach a wider audience in a short time.

Privacy under the microscope

As with any tool that accesses personal data, Privacy concerns were not long in coming.At the moment, Google hasn't clearly specified whether it will apply filters to distinguish which images to analyze or whether it will scan the entire gallery content without distinction.

What the company has confirmed is that Access to images will be optional and dependent on the permissions granted by the user.. Therefore, those who prefer to keep their captures private can easily disable the feature from the settings.

However, technology experts and privacy advocacy organizations recommend paying special attention to these types of automated tools, since The analysis of personal images could pose a risk if not managed transparently.To protect your data, consider additional options such as those discussed when consulting Free roaming in these countries.

As the feature rolls out to more markets, it will be important to see how Google responds to these concerns and whether it introduces additional mechanisms to protect user data.

Beyond Captures: Complementary Features

The scanning feature isn't coming alone. Google has also announced other updates related to travel planning. Among them is a New tool to receive alerts when hotel prices drop on selected dates and destinations, and automatic route suggestions tailored to your interests.

Furthermore, Google Lens multilingual support has been expanded, which can now recognize texts in more languages, including Spanish. This facilitates the identification of places and contextual elements in images of all kinds, even outside the tourist sphere, for example, knowing How to find the nearest gas station to your location with Google Maps.

On the other hand, users will be able to use Gemini Gems, another AI feature that creates “virtual experts” specialized in specific tasks. In this case, one of these experts can help you create a complete itinerary for a vacation, considering personal interests, budget and available time.

Everything points to Google wants to unify its ecosystem around artificial intelligence., and that little by little we will see similar functions in more of the company's platforms.

With this new capture scanning system, Google Maps is consolidating as an even more comprehensive tool for those organizing getaways, vacations, or business trips.Its rollout is gradual and still limited, but it promises to mark a turning point in the way we plan our travels. We'll be closely monitoring its expansion and development in the coming months.