Many of us have been there. You’re walking home from a restaurant in the city or trying to find your hotel after a long day of traveling, and your phone is almost dead. You’re rushing, hoping that you don’t run out of battery, but Google Maps is just demolishing what little battery you have left. Well, Google has come up with a fix for this problem.
As part of the November Pixel Drop — which rolled out this week — Google has introduced a previously rumored power saving mode, which could extend battery life up to four hours when using Google Maps, the company claims. This no-frills version of the interface is activated with a single button press, and once enabled, it changes the usually bright, information-filled display in Google Maps to a simplified, black-and-white look with only the most pertinent information available on screen.
Sounds great, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, Google is only rolling it out to the Pixel 10 lineup right now, which means you’ll need one of the company’s newest devices to enjoy it.
Will other devices get this new feature?
Ultimately, it’s unclear whether Google will bring Power Saving mode to Google Maps other devices. However, the company has a history of expanding its Pixel Drop features to other devices over time, and some have even speculated the feature might be part of a larger focus toward battery life in Android 17. However, until Google starts sharing actual information about the next iteration of its operating system, we won’t know for certain.
What we do know right now is that this feature can easily be toggled to activate the simpler layout and that users with the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, Pixel 10 Pro XL, and Pixel 10 Pro Fold can make use of it as soon as they download the latest Pixel update, which is now available. Of course, this isn’t the only change that Google has brought to the Pixel this month. You can read up about all the latest Pixel Drop features for more information about what’s new and what’s coming for Pixel devices in the future.
