A before and after of the Mall of America in Minneapolis, with floor selector. (via Google)


Google Maps has put powerful GPS outdoor navigation in the hands of millions. And next up it plans to help you navigate indoors.  Whether it's a crowded airport a shopping mall or even a campus; Google 6.0 announced Tuesday plans to help you pinpoint where you want to go. The familiar blue dot tracks a user's location and auto updates as use switches floors.

“When you’re inside an airport, shopping mall or retail store, a common way to figure out where you are is to look for a freestanding map directory or ask an employee for help. With the release of Google Maps 6.0 for Android, that directory is brought to the palm of your hands, helping you determine where you are, what floor you’re on and where to go indoors.” via Google's Lat Log Blog.

Like many new features introduced by Google this one will take some time to roll out; as indoor mapping needs to be made available at different locations. This update is also only available to android users. 2.1+