Google Maps for Android is soon going to get a rather weird new power saving mode. This will work independently of your phone’s power saving options. It was discovered through a dive into the code of the latest beta release of Google Maps for Android.
It looks like you will activate the power saving mode by pressing your phone’s power button. That sounds strange at first, but perhaps the idea here is that this would replace you turning the screen off entirely in order to save power?
Anyway, once it’s on, the interface becomes monochrome, and extremely minimalistic, as you can see in the screenshots below. You don’t even get the name of the street you’re on, or the next one. Just the arrow, the ETA, how much time you still have to go, and the distance left.
Upcoming Google Maps power saving mode
Of course, this hasn’t launched yet, which means it’s probably still in development, which in turn means things could change before it makes its official debut.
The power saving mode will support walking, driving, and two-wheeler directions, but it’s unclear if it will also support public transit. It might not if it remains in the same state of extreme minimalism, since it wouldn’t even display your bus or train number, which would make it utterly useless.
It should however still feature audio output, so maybe the point is to have it on when you’re driving at night so that the UI is less distracting? Do let us know what you think in the comments – what would you use this for?
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