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Google Maps now tells you if you’re wasting your time

Have you ever turned up at a restaurant only to find out that it closed twenty minutes earlier?

Well your stomach needn’t suffer the same disappointment ever again thanks to a clever new Google Maps feature.

The search engine giant has updated its Android app to tell users if they’re navigating to a location that’s closed.

What’s more, it can also work out if the location will be closed by the time you’re going to arrive.

For instance, let’s say your girlfriend just broke up with you. You want to make a woeful trip to Tesco and drown your sorrows in Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough, but the store closes in fifteen minutes.

If the journey takes twenty minutes, the new Google Maps will let you know that you’re about to make a wasted journey.

You still have the option to continue navigating if you want, however. Maybe if you bang on the shop windows, they might take pity and accommodate your late-night emotional breakdown.

Related: Best Android Apps 2015

The update has now live and available to download in the latest version of Google Maps on the Play Store.

We’d issue a word of warning, however – Google Maps is prone to retaining incorrect data about opening and closing times of shops, restaurants, and other locations.

If you have full and unwavering trust in Google that’s fine, but we’d suggest you double check on an outlet’s website before cancelling your next visit.

What new feature would you like to see on Google Maps? Let us know in the comments.

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