- Google Maps may soon let you order food within the app
- It could work as an extension of the Ask Maps feature.
- It’s unclear at this point how it would rival apps like Uber Eats.
Google Maps may soon offer you the option to order food from a restaurant ready for pickup, as well as direct you to that restaurant on the map, according to a hidden code found within the latest version of Google Maps for Android.
The code was found by the Android Authority team and includes text strings like “ask Maps to order food,” “say what you’re craving,” and “Maps will order for you, even while you’re on the move.”
This feature isn’t available yet, so it’s hard to say exactly how it would work, but it certainly sounds like you could quickly order something from a restaurant’s menu and then pick it up yourself.
Presumably there could be the option to dine in or have food delivered if you weren’t traveling, so perhaps this will work in partnership with apps like DoorDash and Uber Eats rather than replacing them.
AI working for you
The ‘Ask Maps’ feature referenced in the code leak is the recently introduced Gemini-powered tool that allows you to have a natural conversation with Google Maps about anything you’ve found or are looking for.
It appears that this same part of the interface is where food orders will also be placed, using Gemini’s agent capabilities to take action for you, although, as Android Authority points out, it’s unclear how much autonomy the AI would have.
It could even be restricted to certain phones, like the Magic Cue feature that is currently exclusive to the Pixel 10 series. However, it seems more likely that Google wants to make this as widely available as possible.
We’ll have to wait and see how this works, if it ever makes it to the app. Google’s next big announcements should arrive alongside the launch of the Pixel 11, which is expected in August.
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