How do I use voice input in Google Maps on a HTC Desire?

I have an HTC Desire phone running Android and I use the Google Maps application. I can search for locations using text entry but I would like to be able to use the voice entry feature which was added last year.

You can now search Google Maps for Android simply by speaking your query and Google Maps will search it for you.

I have the latest version of Google Maps from the Android Market but I don't see how to activate this voice search feature. I have tried opening Google maps, pressing the search key at the bottom-right of the phone, and then saying for example 'London' into the phone's microphone, but nothing happens.

How do I use the voice search in Google Maps for Android?

Updates

There is no microphone icon next to the search bar.

Version Information

  • Android Version: 2.1-update1
  • Google Maps version: 4.4.0 (#4414) gmm-android-htc

Topic voice-command htc-desire google-maps android

Category Android

1
answered at

Press the search key, this brings up a search bar you can type into, with a magnifying glass icon on the right. To the right of this icon is a microphone which activates voice search.

If you don't have that icon, check which version of Maps, and which version of the Android OS is installed. In the maps application, press menu, then choose "more", then "about". To find the phone version, go to settings, about phone, and see "firmware version".

1
answered at

I have a Samsung Galaxy S on T-Mobile, so YMMV.

To use voice entry, I start the Navigation application, not Maps; one of the menu options it displays is "Speak destination". Navigation wasn't available on the phone when I first got it; I first noticed it about a week ago (I noticed Latitude and Places arrived at the same time, so might all have been part of the same push).

EDIT: To get voice entry in Maps, press and hold the Search key, which gives you a general search. To search for a location, I use Menu > Search, then there's a microphone icon on the search bar. In Menu > Directions, you can focus on either the From or To input boxes, and again you'll get the search bar with a microphone icon. If I use Menu > Directions to speak a location, it works as if I'm doing a map search, so I have to go back and select the location again in the Directions input box.

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