Google just updated Google Maps for Android to version 5.8, giving the app a bunch of new features related to Google Places, as well as the ability to upload photos of a Place from within the app.

In case you missed the news, Google is backing away from including information from sites like Yelp for Places search results, so it only makes sense that these updates to Google Maps include tools that allow you to help Google flesh-out its Places data. If a result is missing a photo, or you have a great one you’d like to add to those already available, you’ll now be able to upload it straight from Google Maps.

If you go to check-in to a location and find it missing, the app will now let you create a new entry for it that will be shared with other users, so next time someone tries to check-in, they’ll see your contribution.

In order to make Places search results more useful, they’ll now include a short list of search terms and relevant phrases for each of the results, giving you a quick way to learn just a little bit about a location before delving deeper. For ones you plan to revisit again and again, you can now bookmark them for inclusion in My Places.

The new Google Maps is in the Android Market now.

Source: Google