This Google Maps app update might actually change some people’s lives

Google has pushed out a slew of updates, additions, and improvements to its signature mobile maps product since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Among the many Google Maps app updates over the past year, we got new features like being able to see the severity of COVID-19 outbreaks in a given area. And other Google Maps features like popular times and busyness are more relevant than ever. Data like that can help us avoid crowds, one of the most important public health measures of the COVID-19 era.

The economic devastation from the pandemic has been widespread -- catastrophic, even, in some areas and for some families. "The COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis that followed exacerbated hunger for millions of people," Google explains in a company blog post introducing the Maps app update. "Feeding America estimates that the number of those without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable food grew to 45 million people in 2020, including 15 million children. That equates to one in seven Americans and is a nearly 30% increase from 2019."