Not every location has a “street address”, some locations use other methods, some locations have no codified way of denoting the location. This can be a bigger issue internationally. To solve this need for hyper-accurate local way finding Google has launched Plus Codes.
Plus Codes provides a unique alphanumeric code along with general region description to provide anyone with a shareable, easily findable hyper-accurate location. Standing near a bin at the 3rd beach entry? There’s a Plus Code for that so your friends can find you.
Google has made it even easier to find and share your exact location. Simply tap on the blue dot in Google Maps and a new location card will pop up, from there you can now see you Plus Code at the top. Then just cut and paste to send to your friends.
It would have made a little more sense for Google to add a share intent button next to the Plus Code if they wanted to make sharing easier, but this is still nice. You can also find the Plus Code of any location on the map by long pressing to drop a pin and tapping on the pin.
At the top of that card you will see the Plus Code address. What can you do with a Plus Code if you get one? Google it of course. Both Google Maps and Google Search will return precise results when you share a Plus Code.
Plus Codes are an open standard available for anyone to use and implement in their apps and maps. Unfortunately they don’t seem to have been widely adopted just yet. Like so many standards, it’s just not standard. We already have the option to view Plus Codes, but as usual you may need to wait to see the new UI.
Who are these idiots at Google, obviously not everyone there is a sharp tool. You can’t even copy the code.
Perhaps it would have been good to include a link to the XKCD you used.
XKCD: Standards – https://xkcd.com/927/