Ever tripped over a park bench while hunting for a lost phone and wished you could just see the trees instead of a flat street map? Google’s Find Hub is getting a small but genuinely useful upgrade to do exactly that.
What changed
A recent update to the Find Hub app on Android introduces map layers — the same basic options you’re used to in Google Maps. A new floating action button appears on the main map screen (under the account switcher) and opens a picker with Default, Satellite and Terrain map types, plus a traffic overlay. That lets you swap views when you’re looking for a missing phone, watch, tracker or a family member on the map.
The options are intentionally simple: switch to Satellite to spot landmarks like buildings, trails or tree lines; pick Terrain when elevation and contours matter; toggle Traffic to see congestion on the roads you might use to get to the device.
Where you’ll find it — and where you won’t
This layer picker shows up only on Find Hub’s main map (the Devices or People tab). If you tap into a specific device’s detail page, the individual-device view still uses the default map. The rollout is tied to version 3.1.485-2 of the Android app in the Play Store, but the new controls are gated by a server-side flip — some users will see it immediately, others will get it over the coming days.
That mixed rollout explains why early reports found the new FAB on just a handful of devices even after the APK became widely available.
Why it matters
On paper this is a modest quality-of-life change. In practice it moves Find Hub closer to being a one-stop tool for recovering gear. Satellite imagery can be a lifesaver if your device last pinged from a park, marina or large campus where roads are poor guides. Terrain helps if you’re hiking and want to avoid steep detours. Traffic data? Handy when you want to pick the fastest route to get there before a battery dies.
Google Maps has long been the backbone for location services across the company, and bringing more of its assets into Find Hub is a natural next step — especially as Maps itself grows smarter with features like conversational assistance and AI-integration. For a glimpse at Google’s broader direction for Maps, see how the app is being layered with an AI copilot for navigation Google Maps Gets Gemini: A Conversational AI Copilot for Navigation.
Wearables and ecosystem context
This change follows the debut of a dedicated Find Hub client for Wear OS earlier this month. The watch app mirrors the phone experience with a device list, last-seen timestamps, battery info, directions and basic actions like Play sound, Secure device and Factory reset. While the wrist client is handy for quick checks, the richer map controls live on phones for now.
Google’s push to make location tools more helpful isn’t happening in isolation — the company has been layering AI and agentic features into its services elsewhere too, which points to smarter, more context-aware experiences across apps Google’s AI Mode Adds Agentic Booking for Tickets, Salons and Wellness Appointments.
A small improvement that adds up
If you already rely on Find Hub, the new layers won’t reinvent the app — but they will shave minutes (and stress) off real-world searches. The update is a reminder that tiny interface and map choices can have outsized benefits when you’re trying to track down something important.
If you don’t see the FAB yet, update the app and give it a little time; the server-side rollout means it should arrive in the next few days for most users. And if you want to test how helpful Satellite or Terrain actually are, try switching views the next time a device shows up in a park or wooded area — it might save you a lot of walking.