Newsletter 
Summary:Some newly discovered code points to Google eventually letting you use your smart glasses with Google Maps. This was discovered within Android Auto, but there’s no telling if Google will actually launch the feature.
While they’re not entirely new, smart glasses are starting to make a pretty big splash in the tech industry. More people realize how having an operating system on their face can really change their lives. They allow you to summon AI assistants, take pictures, get quick answers about what you’re looking at, view notifications, and more without taking out your phone.
Some popular smart glasses on the market are the Meta Smart glasses, which the company made in collaboration with Ray-Ban. Meta managed to sell more than a million of these glasses last year, and it has sold more than 2 million since they launched.
You might be able to use your smart glasses with Google Maps
While this seems like a neat feature, you’ll want to take this news with a grain of salt. This news came from an APK deep dive (Version v14.2.151544 of Android Auto, via Android Authority). Companies put code for future features in their applications. This doesn’t guarantee that the company will launch the feature.
There are two interesting strings in the code that point to glasses. One of the strings simply points to a GLASSES modifier. The second string contains the text “Start navigation to launch Glasses“. Ostensibly, when the user starts the navigation in Google Maps, it will enable the “GLASSES” option. Then, the user will be able to use their glasses to navigate.
Since more glasses are starting to come out with some sort of screen, we’re sure that the user will see the navigation in front of their face. We don’t know, however, as this is extremely early information. Not only that, but we don’t know which smart glasses will be compatible with this, other than Google’s own upcoming glasses.
The thing is that there’s no unified smart glasses UI just yet. So, we’re not sure any of the smart glasses out now will be compatible with this feature when/if Google launches it.