Google Maps is doing away with marker-shaped icons in favor of a more rounded design, a departure from what is now its own logo.
For a long time, Google Maps has been associated with the shape of this marker used by the Google service to indicate interesting places around you. So much so that this marker has become the very identity of Google Maps, which still uses it today as a logo for its application icon.
However, this does not prevent the Google Maps firm from regularly reinventing itself and gradually moving away from this iconic icon. As reported by the site 9to5GoogleGoogle has indeed updated its application to integrate new shapes into its interface.
More discreet and colorful icons
Exit the marker icon to indicate remarkable places, Google Maps now adopts a more rounded interface. The marker icons are thus replaced by colored circles integrated into more discreet markers. As indicated 9to5Googlethis design change seems to come closer to the icons already used by Google Maps for places marked with a star, flag or heart by the user.
Old Google Maps Icons
The new icons of Google Maps
Additionally, some icons have also undergone a color change, such as the museum icon, which went from cyan to purple.
While not as drastic as the color change for the base map deployed last year, this update to the Google Maps interface should nevertheless allow for better readability.
For now, the update is being rolled out to all users, both for the mobile app on Android or iOS and for the web version.