Google Maps Incognito Mode May Finally Be Rolling Out Really Soon Now

Google revealed many things at I/O 2019 last May but, as typical, not all of them have materialized just yet. Of course, those may still happen in due time, and it seems that Google is indeed taking its sweet time for others. It was still back in May when Google announced a privacy feature for Maps but it seems that it will still be quite a while before Google Maps' incognito mode rolls out to all.

Privacy mode, a.k.a. Incognito mode, has become a common feature in web browsers where an entire industry has sprung up around tracking users' activities. But that is mostly indirect tracking that may not be as scary as tracking your actual location in real-time.

That information is, of course, available these days thanks to apps and services like Google Maps. That's why Google has announced Incognito Mode coming to its Maps, just at a time when privacy was becoming a hot topic in tech circles, courtesy of Facebook, of course.

That was more than four months ago and it's still nowhere to be seen. According to anonymous members of the Google Maps Preview test group, it has finally rolled out to them. On Android Auto, a black bar will appear indicating an Incognito mode is enabled. During this period, the user's location and search history won't be recorded in your Google history.

Enabling Incognito Mode is as easy as tapping the user's profile in the Maps app and selecting Incognito mode. The standard location indicator will then turn from blue to light gray. It's already available on the preview version 10.26 but there's still no word on when it will actually roll out to the public.