Adding Google Maps search to your address bar.
HashMaps lets you search for places and directions straight from the address bar.
HOW TO USE:
Once installed, in the address box, type in #, and press either Space or Tab. That's it! Now look for places or directions.
NEW: You can save commonly used addresses like 'Home' or 'Work', which would allow you to search something like "home to McGill University".
To save: Click on the Extension icon next to the address bar, and put in addresses.
Or, go to chrome://extensions, find HashMaps, and click on the Options button. Note that you don't need to do this if you've already saved your Home/Work addresses in your Google Account.
TO SEARCH FOR PLACES:
Simply type in the name of the place, and press Enter. Example: "McGill University". Screencast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGTYNvsGLgU
TO SEARCH FOR DIRECTIONS:
Type in the origin and the destination separated by a 'to', and press Enter. Example: "Montreal to New York". Screencast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPGPeumO-d4
MOTIVATION:
While travelling in India, I often want to look up directions and places on Google Maps. But given that internet speeds are still somewhat iffy, the process is a pain. To look up directions, I have to first load maps.google.com, then enter locations, and then search. That extra step of loading the landing page significantly slows things down.
But that's not why I wrote HashMaps.
Given Chrome's excellent address bar - Omnibox - I now no longer have to go to google.com to search for something; I can just search from the address bar (this is of course also true for Firefox, but it sometimes craps out when it sees a colon: it thinks you're supplying a port). The process feels much more natural. That was the idea behind this extension. I use Google Maps on a regular basis, and the extra step of going to maps.google.com seemed unnecessary. I should be able to search for directions using my address bar, just like I use it for searching for other things.
That, and I'm lazy.
ICON CREDITS:
http://www.flaticon.com/authors/freepik
WHAT'S NEW:
- Saving Home/Work addresses!
- New, snazzier icon, courtesy: Freepik
- Suggestions! Start typing and see suggested locations. Don't worry, your search history isn't saved at all: all suggestions are created dynamically when you type by smartly interacting with the Google Maps API.
