Google Updates Google Maps For iOS And Google Drive: Voice Alerts In Navigation Mode About Congestion, Incidents On Your Route

Google has updated its Google Maps iOS app to version 4.12 to add support for spoken traffic alerts in navigation mode "about congestion and incidents on your route, and traffic descriptions give you a summary of traffic before you drive."

The search giant had rolled out voice alerts on the Android version of its popular mapping app, back in May.

Spoken traffic alerts mean that Google Maps will now alert users about upcoming traffic congestion and traffic incidents as they use the Navigation feature of the app. It does so via voice so that the user doesn't get distracted while driving, reported 9to5Mac.

The update (version 4.12.0) also adds the ability to "easily add new and missing businesses from the sidebar."

Google also recently updated Waze, the community-based traffic and navigation app that it bought for a reported $1.3 billion two years ago.

Google Maps version 4.12 is available as a free download from iTunes and is compatible with the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch running iOS 7.

In related news, the search giant has announced some new features for Google Drive which includes sharing notifications, requesting and granting file access on mobile, and previewing files without a Google account on Android, reported Android Police.

As part of the update, users of the iOS and Android apps will now receive notifications when anyone shares a file or folder with them.

"If a file/folder owner has notifications turned on and someone requests access to their content, the owner will be notified of the request instantly on their mobile device so they can quickly grant access," noted Google in an online report by Android Police.

Also, Drive Android users will now be able to request access to a file or folder with a single tap.

Finally, users won't require a Google Account to access shared files on their Android device. They will be able to do so without a Google Account just like on the web.

According to Google, some of the features mentioned are already available, while the rest will be rolled out in the coming weeks.