Yes, Google Maps has new colors. No, you’re not the only one who hates 'em.

How dare they make the roads more gray!
 By 
Alex Perry
 on 
Google Maps
Google Maps has a new color change, and people don't like it. Credit: Google

Google committed one of the worst cardinal sins of app development and changed some colors around without telling anyone. The internet, of course, is furious.

First spotted by 9to5Google in late August as a limited test, Google Maps has a slightly altered color scheme that has since gone out to a wider audience, seemingly as of this week. One doesn't have to look far on either X (formerly Twitter) or Reddit to find people complaining about it.

Google Maps' new colors

To be more specific about the changes, the most noticeable one is probably that the blue color for bodies of water is now significantly lighter than before. It's almost teal at this point. Roads are gray (they used to be white) and forested areas are a darker green than before.

It's not a huge change, but if you're really used to the way Google Maps has looked for years, it can be pretty distracting at first.

Why did Google do this? Who knows! 9to5Google pointed out that it does look a bit more like Apple Maps, but given that Google Maps has always had a better reputation than Apple's equivalent (at least, among the people I talk to), that'd be an odd reason to shift aesthetics.

Maybe they just got bored and decided to make a change — like someone choosing to get a new hairstyle out of nowhere.

Topics Google

journalist alex perry looking at a smartphone
Alex Perry
Tech Reporter

Alex Perry is a tech reporter at Mashable who primarily covers video games and consumer tech. Alex has spent most of the last decade reviewing games, smartphones, headphones, and laptops, and he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. He is also a Pisces, a cat lover, and a Kansas City sports fan. Alex can be found on Bluesky at yelix.bsky.social.

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