Google Maps gets Plus Codes support for Home Addresses in India

Google Maps will now let India users rely on 'Plus codes' when saving and sharing their Home addresses. Plus Codes include a set of 6 or 7 letters and numbers along with the name of the town or city for the particular address. They do not rely on street and locality names, and instead use latitudes and longitudes.

The Plus Codes feature was originally rolled out in India back in 2018. It has so far been extensively used by businesses, NGOs, etc, according to the company. The capability is now being extended to home addresses as well.

According to Google, the feature is rolling out to Android first, and iOS will get the capability later on. Now, when someone is saving a 'Home' location on Google Maps, they will see a prompt asking them to "Use current location". This will use their phone's location to generate a Plus Code, which they can then use as their Home address.

Google has also added a section at the top of the 'Saved' tab to make it easier to retrieve, copy, and share these home addresses.

Google has also listed the advantages of using Plus Codes in a few key pointers. For one, the company says these are open-source and easy to use. They are much shorter than traditional global coordinates, so they're easy to share as well.

Plus Codes work whether one is online or offline. An internet connection is not needed at all times when creating a code, which is another advantage in India where mobile connectivity can be patchy at times.

Further, Plus Codes are language independent. They do not include easily confused characters, are not case-sensitive, and they exclude vowels.