One of the pieces of functionality that Google+ provides is the ability to share your location with your circles. It’s pretty handy when you’re using Google+ from a mobile device. The way that the location is displayed isn’t anything to write home about, so a former Google intern took it upon himself to write a Chrome extension that brings locations to life in Google+.
The intern, Martin Matysiak, has finished up at Google, but that didn’t stop him from moving his pet project forward. It’s called “Dynamic Maps for Google+” and it’s a quick install for those of you that use Google’s Chrome browser.
Here’s what Matysiak shared about the project:
One thing I was working on during my internship at Google was a beautiful new look for Checkins. The extension I now made* takes map images shown in such Checkins and replaces them by an actual map which you can zoom and drag around!
This extension is a result of me playing around and experimenting with code hosting on Google Code (which is pretty nice!). The extension is extremely lightweight and easy to use. Just hover the Checkin Map and a real map will be shown.
As it stands, when you view someone’s check-in on Google+, you’re shown a static map with no ability to zoom around to get a closer look. This extension solves that. Here’s a look at a Google+ location check-in with the extension installed:
People will use a feature if it gives them all of the functionality that they’re used to. I’m honestly surprised that this hasn’t been officially implemented by the Google+ team already, but hey, that’s the power of browser extensions for you. It’s very likely that someone over at the Googleplex will see this and get it in the product pipeline immediately.
Until then, give it an install.
[Image source: Flickr]