Google Maps Lets You Record Your Parking Location, Time Left At the Meter (techcrunch.com)

Google Maps has received a neat feature that will help users remember where they parked. "This appears as a new menu option when you tap the blue dot, and will place a 'P' icon on the map so you can find your way back to your spot," reports Ars Technica. From the report: Google had already introduced its own proactive parking saving feature via Google Now, but it had worked by tapping into your phone's sensors and making a determination that you had most likely parked at a given spot. Sometimes, you might see this information appear when it was unwarranted, however -- like if you got off a bus or exited a taxi, Google says. The new feature in Google Maps requires a manual entry, but this is actually a bit of an advantage over the guessing done by Google Now, because it allows you to input more information about your spot. Like Apple Maps, you can add notes about where you parked -- something that's helpful for jotting down cross streets or which floor of a garage you're on, for example. But Google Maps also supports adding multiple photos of your parking location -- a common way people often note the parking space number in the garage, and then, via a separate shot, the floor, row, aisle and/or color code for the garage level itself. In addition, Google's parking location saver will let you enter in how much time you have left at the spot. This is handy if you're in a temporary parking area (e.g. "two hour parking"), or at metered space. The time left is displayed on the map, and when it's due to expire, Google Maps will alert you via push notification.

Comments

Where I parked

[YrWrstNtmr]

A feature available on a $50 GPS unit from 5 years ago...weeeee
Bonus - With no added data sent to GooglePrime.

Re:Nice, but hardly new.

[drinkypoo]

Before you set out, create your route. Maps will ask you if you want to cache the route in case of communications problems, say yes. Leave mobile data turned off. You will still be able to navigate. When you get where you are going, you will still be able to drop a pin, and if you do a little math in your head you can also record the time at which you will have to feed the meter.

I will note that early on you could literally not drop a pin on google maps for Android, which is why there was an app called "Pin it!" I used to use that for this purpose. But you have long been able to.