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You can no longer book an Uber through Google Maps

Not like you did anyway.

Google maps changes

Direct Uber bookings are no longer possible in Google Maps on Android. The functionality was removed for no apparent reason, according to Android Police.

For years, you could get pricing estimates and pickup wait times for ride-sharing apps such as Uber and Lyft from the Google Maps app. In January 2017, Google began offering the ability to book Uber rides right from the app. With this integration, you could enter a location, identify a route, then check Uber prices to request a trip.

According to Android Police:

We haven’t seen confirmation of Uber’s removal from Google, so we don’t know the reasoning behind it or exactly when it happened. It seems Uber integration was pulled from Google Maps for iOS last summer, but when we tore down the Maps version 9.72 APK for Android in February of this year, it was still there. On one Google Maps Help page, Google simply says “you can no longer book Uber rides directly in Google Maps.”

A similar feature was pulled from Google Maps on iOS in 2017.

Alphabet’s venture capital business made a significant investment in Lyft last October. At least for now, however, that doesn’t look like the reason for today’s change.

Android Police concludes:

The ability to book an Uber through Maps allowed users to avoid the official Uber app, which has previously been criticized for its aggressive location tracking. Uber would almost certainly prefer customers to use its own app anyway, so perhaps Uber, rather than Google, was behind the decision to block Maps integration.

Did you book an Uber through Google Maps? If so, are you unable by this news? Let us know below.

For more ridesharing news, see also: 

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Bryan considers himself a well-rounded techie, having written articles for MakeUseOf, KnowTechie, AppAdvice, iDownload Blog. When he's not writing, he's being a single dad and rooting for his alma mater, Penn State, or cheering on the Patriots.

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