What you need to know
- Google Maps may soon let you order food with Gemini, eliminating apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash.
- Code hidden in the latest Google Maps app points to an upcoming “Ask Maps to order food” feature, but it’s not available yet.
- The feature appears to build on Gemini’s Ask Maps experience, taking users from discovering a restaurant to placing an order in a single conversation.
Google Maps has long been the go-to app for finding a good place to eat. Soon, it could also be the app that orders your food before you even arrive.
The latest version of google maps (26.27.00.941319029) has strings of code that hint that the app could be used for more than just discovering restaurants and allowing users to order food through their Gemini-Powered Ask Maps experience, as observed by people at Android Authority. If it works as intended, users may not have to access apps like Uber Eats or DoorDash to place an order.
The strings refer to a feature called “Ask Maps to order food.” The feature isn’t available right now, but the wording offers one of the clearest glimpses yet of what Google is planning.
One of the promotional messages reads: “Tell us what you’re craving, find your local favorites and Maps will order for you, even when you’re on the go.” Other strings include a shortcut to “Order Food,” a “Try It” button, and an option to dismiss the message for later.
Gemini does the heavy lifting
The idea probably comes from Ask for mapsan artificial intelligence assistant that Google introduced earlier this year. Gemini already has a feature that allows users to find restaurants and attractions through natural language conversations, rather than traditional keyword searches. It seems that Google is not limited only to recommendations. Instead, it seems like the next logical step is to complete the order for you.
We still don’t know exactly how Google plans to do this. The big question is whether Gemini will be able to carry out the entire ordering process in the cloud or whether it will rely on the new artificial intelligence capabilities of the Google device.
Some of the features may also require newer hardware to work, such as the Agent AI features Google recently announced for the Pixel 10 series, which can do things like place orders, Android Authority notes. That said, Maps has always offered the same core experience across all Android devices, so it would be surprising if food ordering was limited to a few phones after all.
Then there’s the question of what kind of order Google has in mind. The app’s chains seem pickup-oriented, implying that Maps can order food while you drive.
If this feature sounds familiar, it’s because Google has tested in-app food ordering before. The company also rolled out restaurant ordering in Search, Assistant, and Maps years ago with partners like DoorDash and other delivery services. This time, it’s the AI level that’s different.
But for now there is no public interface to test and no timeline for release. As with any APK teardown, just because you see the code doesn’t mean the feature will ship. Google creates many things that never become stable versions.
Android Central’s opinion
I would be totally fine with that if it really helps me avoid having to jump between three different apps to order dinner. If Google Maps can suggest a restaurant, order my dish, and have it ready when I arrive, that’s a real improvement in my quality of life. But Google also tends to add more features to Maps every year, and some of them are not maintained. I’d rather see the company achieve a fast and reliable ordering experience than turn Maps into another bloated app that tries to do everything and does very little well.
