Google Maps will now show your area's air quality on Android and iOS

To enable the air quality index, you have to tap on the layer settings where options such as Public transit, traffic, 3D, and Street View are available.

Google Maps will now show how good or bad the air quality of your area is. It will work just like it does on Nest Hubs and Pixel phones. The AQI of your area will be shown on both Android and iOS apps of Google Maps, so no matter what device you have.

To enable the air quality index, you have to tap on the layer settings where options such as Public transit, traffic, 3D, and Street View are available. You will see Air Quality as an option in these settings and tapping on it will enable AQI data for your locality.

The moment you tap on the Air Quality option, Google Maps will zoom out your current view to show pins all over the area displayed on your screen. These pins are usually of the largest locations in your area. The colour of these pins will change according to how good or bad the air quality is and tapping on one will show specific data for that location. You will also get to see additional information in the bottom sheet that will pop up after tapping on a location. This sheet will show you descriptions as to what could be the impact of the given AQI.

“You’ll see Air Quality Index (AQI), a measure of how healthy (or unhealthy) the air is, along with guidance for outdoor activities, when the information was last updated, and links to learn more,” said Google.

Google is using the US Air Quality Index that ranges between 0 and 400+ for all locations in the US, wherein 0 represents the cleanest air while anything beyond 400 falls under the critical category. In India, Google is sourcing data from the Central Pollution Control Board, as well as State Pollution Control Board. The data is updated by the National AQI, which is provided by the aforementioned government agencies. The Indian AQI range starts from 0 and goes up to 500+.

When a government monitoring station is unable to provide data for a location or does not operate in a certain area, Google sources data from what it calls non-regulatory partners. According to Google, these are not official government monitoring stations, but they provide sensor measurements to the company allowing it to calculate a weighted average using the NowCast algorithm. Then, Google applies the US Environmental Protection Agency’s correction factor to that average to find the AQI of that area.

According to Google, the data can be influenced by factors such as wind speed and direction, terrain, smoke plumes, and other sources that emit fine particle pollution (known as SPM).