Trials have begun for Google’s new travel app for Android and iOS, Trips, which promises to not only collate and make all of your travel information accessible from one place, but give you access to it even without an internet connection.
As well as details of previous and upcoming flights and hotel reservations automatically added from your Gmail (like Google Now), Trips will show you local places to check out using Google Maps data — restaurants, attractions, nightlife — whatever is around that may be of interest. It will also show you how to get there.
If this sounds like a specialised Google Maps, that’s because it kind of is. And that’s not a bad thing. You’ve got a standalone app that is specific to your exact travel needs, focused on discoverability of surrounding attractions.
The app is currently available to Android-using “Local Guides” members, which you may remember as a platform that rewarded “heavy contributors” to Google Maps reviews and content with shiny personal profiles — and now early access to Trips. Trips has been confirmed for iOS as well.
There has been no confirmation on the launch date, but Trips is expected to hit Google Play soon.