Sharing your live location in Google Messages is useful, but the map you get is pretty basic. Google appears to be fixing that, as a new beta build adds map styles and live traffic to the location preview inside your chats.
The discovery comes from an APK teardown by Android Authority, which found the feature in Google Messages v20261013 beta. Google is also reworking the look of the Messages app right now, but unlike those visual tweaks, this one changes what the map can actually do.
Why does the current map feel so limited?
Today, any live location you send or receive in Google Messages appears on the standard Google Maps view, and you can’t change it. If you prefer the Satellite or Terrain view in the Google Maps app, you have no such luck in Messages.
In the beta, a new button sits in the upper-right corner of the map. Tapping it brings up the map type picker Google Maps users already know, with Default, Satellite, and Terrain options. There’s also a Map details toggle that paints live traffic conditions over the map.
What can you do with satellite view and traffic?
Picture meeting a friend outside a busy mall with several entrances. On the standard map, they are just a dot near a big gray block. With Satellite view, you can see the actual parking lot and entrance they are standing at. The traffic toggle is also useful. When a friend texts that they are running late, you can check the roads around their dot and see if they are crawling through heavy traffic.
Google hasn’t announced if or when the feature will roll out. Messages features tend to stay in testing for a while and usually reach a small group of users before everyone else gets them. We’ll share an update once the update starts rolling out or Google says more on the subject.
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