Upcoming Smart Travel app by Google rolls out for beta testing

A hint about Google's future plans was given a while back when the search engine giant introduced the Destination feature via Google Search on smartphones. The simplistic feature was designed to help users while planning a vacation and apparently it was only a precursor to the Smart Travel application that the company is beta testing right now. Since it is not available on the Play Store yet, users will have to sign up for the Google Maps Local Guides Program to have access to it.

From what we know so far, the app will gather, store and organize all your travelling details such as hotels, dinner reservations, destinations and flights. Therefore, it will make every necessary detail accessible from the app itself, even without an active internet connection. Additionally, it will also offer suggestions based on the data it collects about your trips. Tap on a previously saved destination to see options like Saved places, Food & drink, Reservations, Things to do, Getting around and Need to know. Travellers and tourists will even see options for public transport in the area, as well as best travelling routes to the destination.

Even if you do not put in your travelling details manually from the FAB tab found at the bottom right corner of the app, it can do a lot on its own by collecting data automatically from your Gmail inbox. If you are not using Gmail as your primary e-mail service however, you will probably need to log in the data manually. In case you are interested in trying out the beta software, sign up for Local Guides and you might just get a chance to be a beta tester yourself!

Author: Saikat Kar (Tech-journalist and enthusiast)