Stuff UK — June 2017

HANDY TRICKS KEEP ON TRACKING

QOne-handed zoom.
If you’re carrying a drink,
a bag, or something else,
zooming can be a tricky task.
Or it would, at least, with the
typical two-finger approach.
Use this shortcut instead:
tap anywhere twice and keep
holding down with the second
tap. You can then swipe up or
down to zoom in and out.

QUse keyboard shortcuts.
You can also make use of a few
nifty keyboard shortcuts to
get around Google Maps. Use
the arrow keys to move around
the map, for example, and hit
shift plus the ‘+’ or ‘–’ key to
zoom in or out respectively.

SIDEKIX

While Google Maps

tries to get you to your

destination as quickly

as possible, Sidekix goes

down another route. By

planning your journey

based on your interests,

you’ll be more likely to

find a quirky shop or bar

that will make your trip

more memorable.

£free / Android, iOS

WAZE

It’s all well and good if you

know the quickest route

on paper, but traffic plays

a big part in journey

times. Avoid the stress

and the hold-ups with

the community-driven

Waze. As well as giving

live traffic updates, it can

also help you find the

cheapest petrol.

£free / Android, iOS

GOOGLE TRIPS

Rather than focusing on

the journey like Google

Maps, Trips is all about

the destination. It lists

the fun things you can

do in one location, and

also pulls your hotel

reservations from your

Gmail account so it’s all

in one place.

£free / Android, iOS

BEYOND

MAPPING

Q Time (your) travel.

Google Maps can estimate

how long it will take you to

drive somewhere. On the

desktop site, select ‘Depart

at’ instead of ‘Leave now’ and

input a time and date. Maps will

give you an estimate based on

expected traffic at that time.

Q Label everything. You can

add a label to any location, be

it business or home, so you

can tag friends, mark fantastic

restaurants and leave yourself

searchable notes for next

time. You’ll find the ‘Label’

listing when you click any

location name or address.

Use it wisely and frequently.

Q Eat like the locals. Hit

‘Explore’ from the app’s menu

bar to find curated categories

of eateries and drinkeries

chosen by local residents

• everything from the best
  places for cheap beer to
  on-the-go breakfast choices.

Q Avoid costly tolls. Toll

roads can save you time, but

they certainly won’t save you

money. Luckily, Maps knows

how to keep your wallet as full

as possible. When teeing up

a trip for navigation on mobile,

just tap the three dots and hit

‘Route options’ for the ability

to skip any roads with tolls,

plus motorways or ferries.

Q Go Wi-Fi only. On Android,

there’s an option in Settings

to only use Wi-Fi for data,

so you won’t bleed out your

allowance – but the app warns

that “a small amount” of data

may still be used.

SAVE YOUR

PENNIES