In recent weeks, Google has announced a slew of new Maps features, including immersive route views, more detailed navigation, and traffic filters. Google Maps now has a new color palette. For parks/nature, use a lighter green to contrast with the off-white to gray streets. This allows Google to use white to represent street intersections, which now appear in smaller layers. 

Dotted hiking trails are less eye-catching thanks to new colors. Buildings and structures remain gray or buff, depending on their importance. The highway is a dark gray with some blue undertones to ensure thematic consistency with the road. It's quite different from the tan we know, but is less noticeable in the water, where a lighter blue is used.

While orange dining room pins are less yellow, they are more eye-catching. Overall, the changes are definitely eye-catching and help make Google Maps appear more lively. Comparisons can certainly be made with Apple Maps. Google mentions that "updated colors across the map" will return in October, with testing starting in August.

The new palette has been available to some users for a few weeks, but it's now being rolled out more broadly across Android and iOS. If you haven't already, try force stopping or closing Google Maps for multitasking so the new colors can load. We haven't seen it on the internet yet.