Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application developed by Google. Get the latest version of the Google Maps app to use turn-by-turn voice navigation, download offline areas, and much more. Any partnerships or business relationships we may have with any transportation service providers do not influence the ranking of these services. In 2016, WhatsApp was accused of copying features from a then-unreleased version of iMessage. In May 2014, WhatsApp crossed 50 million monthly active users in India, which is also its largest country by the number of monthly active users, then 70 million in October 2014, making users in India 10% of WhatsApp’s total user base.

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On September 23, 2008, coinciding with the announcement of the first commercial Android device, Google announced that a Google Maps app had been released for its Android operating system. By triangulating the different signal strengths from cell transmitters and then using their location property (retrieved from the database), My Location determines the user’s current location. In 2006, to address slow download speeds on mobile devices, engineer Sanjay Mavinkurve developed a method to reduce the color depth of map tiles, which reduced load times by 20 percent. In October 2004, the company was acquired by Google Inc. where it transformed into the web application Google Maps. After additional acquisitions of a geospatial data visualization company and a real-time traffic analyzer, Google Maps was launched in February 2005. In October 2004, the company was acquired by Google, which converted it into a web application.

Incorrect location naming

Crowdsourcing is used to obtain the GPS-determined locations of a large number of cellphone users, from which live traffic maps are produced. On September 23, 2020, Google announced a COVID-19 Layer update for Google maps, which is designed to offer a seven-day average data of the total COVID-19-positive cases per 100,000 people in the area selected on the map. In 2016, the Government of South Korea offered Google conditional access to the country’s geographic database – access that already allows indigenous Korean mapping providers high-detail maps. In May 2017, it was reported that WhatsApp users spend over 340 million minutes on video calls each day on the app.

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Once again, the block was lifted following an appeal, after less than 24 hours. WhatsApp is owned by Meta, whose main social media service Facebook has been blocked in China since 2009. A message that promises to allow access to their WhatsApp friends’ conversations, or their contact lists, has become the most popular hit against anyone who uses the application in Brazil. In May 2022, the FBI stated that an ISIS sympathizer, who was plotting to assassinate George W. Bush, was arrested based on his WhatsApp data. In April 2017, nearly 300 WhatsApp groups with about 250 members each were reportedly being used to mobilize stone-pelters in Jammu and Kashmir to disrupt security forces’ operations at encounter sites. The messages involved discussing how to make an explosive device and a confession to the attack.

In March 2019, WhatsApp released a guide for users who had installed unofficial modified versions of WhatsApp and warned that it may ban those using unofficial clients. An integer overflow bug allowed a malicious user to take full control of the victim’s application once a video call between two WhatsApp users was established. This is reportedly not an pin up online casino isolated occurrence, as federal agencies can use the Electronic Communications Privacy Act to covertly track users without submitting any probable cause or linking a user’s number to their identity. In January 2022, an unsealed surveillance application revealed that WhatsApp started tracking seven users from China and Macau in November 2021, based on a request from US DEA investigators. Previously, users could opt-out of such data sharing, but the new policy removed this option.

  • After additional acquisitions of a geospatial data visualization company and a real-time traffic analyzer, Google Maps was launched in February 2005.
  • The company also reported that Windows Phone operating systems would no longer be supported after December 31, 2019.
  • Google has staff in India who check and correct listings remotely as well as support businesses with issues.citation needed Google also has teams on the ground in most countries that validate physical addresses in person.
  • In October 2004, the company was acquired by Google Inc. where it transformed into the web application Google Maps.
  • WhatsApp has increasingly drawn its innovation from competing services, such as a Telegram-inspired web version and features for groups.
  • The ban was prompted by concerns of US authorities potentially accessing user data for such apps because of the CLOUD Act.

On February 28, 2019, The New York Times reported that Facebook was “hoping to succeed where Bitcoin failed” by developing an in-house cryptocurrency that would be incorporated into WhatsApp. The service became generally available in India and Brazil, and in Singapore for WhatsApp Business transactions only. WhatsApp Payments (marketed as WhatsApp Pay) is a peer-to-peer money transfer feature. According to a white paper that was released along with the announcement, WhatsApp messages are encrypted with the Signal Protocol.

  • In May 2017, it was reported that WhatsApp users spend over 340 million minutes on video calls each day on the app.
  • WhatsApp is owned by Meta, whose main social media service Facebook has been blocked in China since 2009.
  • In May 2024, Google announced it would discontinue the chat feature in Google Business Profile.
  • Due to restrictions on geographic data in China, Google Maps must partner with a Chinese digital map provider in order to legally show Chinese map data.

In November 2016, Google announced the discontinuation of Google Map Maker as of March 2017. Some concerns were expressed about the privacy issues raised by the use of the service. The body of water was not labelled on the map; Iran said Google would see “serious damages” if the gulf was not named on the map. In 2012, BBC News reported that Google was facing potential legal action from Iran for its lack of a naming label for the Persian Gulf on Google Maps.

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This allows users to send messages between other messaging apps and WhatsApp while maintaining end-to-end encryption. In December 2019, WhatsApp announced that a new update would lock out any Apple users who had not updated to iOS 9 or higher and Samsung, Huawei, Sony and Google users who had not updated to version 4.0 by February 1, 2020. Providing a bundle of these free of charge to users will work like a gateway drug of sorts – users who may be able to afford data services and phones these days just don’t see the point of why they would pay for those data services. As of May 2025, the service had 3 billion monthly active users, making it the most used messenger app. The privacy change, an update to the Gmail iOS app that “now supports sign-in across Google iOS apps, including Maps, Drive, YouTube and Chrome”, meant that Google would be able to identify users’ actions across its different apps. Additionally, Quartz reported in April 2014 that a “sneaky new privacy change” would have an effect on the majority of iOS users.

Meta Quest

One day later, The Guardian reported that Google was preparing its own Google Maps app, which was released on December 12, 2012. However, at launch, Apple Maps received significant criticism from users due to inaccuracies, errors and bugs. A version specifically for Windows Mobile was released in February 2007 and the Symbian app was released in November 2007. The first mobile version of Google Maps (then known as Google Local for Mobile) was launched in beta in November 2005 for mobile platforms supporting J2ME. Google Maps is available as a mobile app for the Android and iOS mobile operating systems.

This meant a 1400% price raise for users on the basic plan, with only six weeks of notice. In September 2016, Google Maps acquired mapping analytics startup Urban Engines. On April 29, 2015, users of the classic Google Maps were forwarded to the new Google Maps with the option to be removed from the interface. However, as a result, Google disabled user moderation on Map Maker, and on May 12, disabled editing worldwide until it could devise a new policy for approving edits and avoiding vandalism.

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Both airlines had previously launched customer services on the Facebook Messenger platform. He explained his reasons for leaving in an interview with Forbes a year later. In September 2017, WhatsApp’s co-founder Brian Acton left the company to start a nonprofit group, later revealed as the Signal Foundation, which developed the WhatsApp competitor Signal. On May 18, 2017, the European Commission announced that it was fining Facebook €110 million for “providing misleading information about WhatsApp takeover” in 2014. (The word “telegram” appeared in WhatsApp’s code.) Some considered it an anti-competitive measure; WhatsApp offered no explanation. In April 2015, Forbes predicted that between 2012 and 2018, the telecommunications industry would lose $386 billion because of “over-the-top” services like WhatsApp and Skype.

Rudd publicly called for police and intelligence agencies to be given access to WhatsApp and other encrypted messaging services to prevent future terror attacks. In December 2015, it was reported that terrorist organization ISIS had been using WhatsApp to plot the November 2015 Paris attacks. The message reportedly contained a malicious file, the receipt of which resulted in Bezos’ phone being hacked.

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It allows users to send text messages, voice messages, and video messages, make voice and video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other content. WhatsApp (officially WhatsApp Messenger), owned by Meta Platforms, is an American social media, instant messaging (IM), and Voice over IP (VoIP) service accessible via desktop and mobile app. Google Maps Go, a version of the app designed for lower-end devices, was released in beta in January 2018. The Android version of the app surpassed five billion installations in March 2019.

By using the Google Maps API, it is possible to embed Google Maps into an external website, onto which site-specific data can be overlaid. Restrictions have been placed on Google Maps through the apparent censoring of locations deemed potential security threats. Street map overlays, in some areas, may not match up precisely with the corresponding satellite images.

In May 2016, some WhatsApp users were reported to have been tricked into downloading a third-party application called WhatsApp Gold, which was part of a scam that infected the users’ phones with malware. The app collected data on who the users contacted and how often, and when and how they were using the app. There were a series of incidents between 2017 and 2020, after which WhatsApp announced changes for Indian users of the platform that labels forwarded messages as such. In November 2017, WhatsApp implemented a feature giving users seven minutes to delete messages sent by mistake. WhatsApp Web is accessed through web.whatsapp.com and access is granted after the user scans their personal QR code through their mobile WhatsApp client. In November 2025, WhatsApp announced that they would update their About feature, which allows users to add a short message to explain what they are doing.