Google has added Location History to Google Latitude in its latest Maps 5.3 for Android application. Users may also check-in from home and leave tips via the Hotpot recommendation engine, says the company.

Google's penchant for refining its mobile strategy around the intersection of social and location technologies was on display April 4 in the refreshed Google Maps 5.3 app for Android.

The app, which received a major 3D makeover in November with version 5.0, now lets Google Latitude users check-in at home from their smartphone and access their Google Location History dashboard. Latitude is Google's friend-finding app to help users connect via desktops and smartphones using GPS services.

Google earned the wrath of privacy advocates in November 2009 when it added Location History for Latitude, allowing desktop users to access their location history in a personal dashboard. While Location History is opt-in and users can delete any of their location history from the app's dashboard on their computers, privacy buffs expressed concerns that law enforcement officials, the government, or civil litigants would use that info in crime solving and lawsuits.

Google has promised Latitude content will receive the same special protections as other communications content. Now Latitude Location History (pictured at left and above right) is portable on Android smartphones. Latitude's 10 million users can also see their dashboard on their phones by tapping View location history from their Latitude profile. 

Google is encouraging Latitude users who haven't already done so to enable Location History from their computer or from Latitude's Settings menu on their phones.

The search engine in February added check-in capability to Latitude, which has become Google's version of Foursquare, complete with game mechanics. Users attending the SXSW music festival in Austin, Texas, for example, can claim coupons by checking into local businesses from their mobile phone. Now Latitude users can check-in at home to let their friends know they're at home instead of out and about.

Users can check in from Latitude and tap "Home – Tap to set your location" at the bottom of the nearby places list. They may then pick the estimated current address or manually enter the home address.

When a user has checked-in at home once, "Home" will appear at the top of the list when checking in near there in the future. Users may also set Location History so that their "home" location is not searchable and only they can check in there.

Google Maps 5.3 for Android 5.3 also lets users add their own "aspects," or details about a place they visit after rating places on the go in the Maps app using Google Places with the Hotpot recommendation engine. Think of it as Google Hotpot's version of Foursquare's tip-leaving capabilities.

"Before, we'd automatically include aspects about places that were commonly mentioned in reviews," stated Kenneth Leftin, software engineer, for the Google Maps for mobile team in the blog announcement. "Now, you can add your own aspects for each place. So if you think a place has a beautiful view or great music, you can add it yourself and quickly share it with the world."

Availability

Google Maps 5.3 is available now on Android Market. More information may be found in Google's announcement of Maps 5.3.

Clint Boulton is a writer for our sister publication eWEEK.

This article was originally published on LinuxDevices.com and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.