Travel planning is supposed to be fun. But between the dozens of screenshots, forgotten tabs, and endless hotel comparisons, it can quickly spiral into a logistical mess. Google wants to change that. Its latest round of updates across Maps, Search, and Hotels makes AI travel planning more seamless, personalized, and—dare we say—stress-free.
Let’s start with Google Maps. The Verge reports that a new feature called the “screenshot list” is now rolling out to iOS users in the U.S. (with Android support on the way). Once activated, it uses Google’s Gemini AI to scan your device’s screenshots for place names mentioned in text. It can then map those locations and let you save them into a shareable list.
This should cut down on how easy it is to lose track of cool restaurants or must-see landmarks hidden deep in your camera roll. The downside, though, is that the AI system relies on visible text, not image recognition. As such, that photo of a handwritten note might still get lost in the shuffle. Still, it could help make AI travel planning a bit easier in the long run.
Meanwhile, Search is getting a major upgrade for building custom itineraries. You can now type prompts like “plan a family trip to New York City focused on food and museums,” and Google’s AI will generate a full itinerary—complete with maps, user reviews, photos, and suggested activities. You can then save those ideas to Maps or send them to Gmail or Docs.
It’s essentially like having a travel agent baked into your browser, and it’s rolling out now in the English language across mobile and desktop. For deal-hunters, Google is also expanding its price-tracking tools globally.
Hotel search results will now include a toggle that lets you monitor price drops for your selected dates and filters—whether you’re looking for beachfront views or a five-star resort. Alerts will be delivered straight to your inbox, which should help you snag the best deals without constantly refreshing tabs. Finally, The Verge says Google is planning to release multilingual support for AI Overviews in Google Lens with support for six more languages, including Japanese, Spanish, and Portuguese, rolling out soon.
These updates mark a big push forward for Google in AI travel planning, nudging the experience closer to effortless on your part. This is just the latest push Google has made to put Gemini in Maps, and it’s likely we’ll see more features coming out in the months to follow, too.
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