Google Maps AR directions won’t come with a cute fox after all

Mr. Fox was apparently not fantastic enough.

Google Maps began rolling out Augmented Reality directions on Pixel Phones this week. This was a feature it promised at last year’s I/O developer conference, and one that Mashable got to try out this February. 

The feature is pretty nifty: When you’re unsure about your next move, you can hold your camera up to the street and your surroundings, and Google Maps will be able to provide you with a range of helpful specifics, like how many feet there are to your next destination, or whether to walk forward or back, or turn left or right.

However, there’s one cute, furry difference between what Google teased last year and what’s showing up in the actual AR features: a fox. 

At the 2018 demo, blue arrows directed Google Maps users where they wanted to go. The arrows had help from a lil’ animated AR fox that ran along your path just in front of you. According to CNET, the actual AR feature won’t feature the fox.

Awww.

That’s because the product designers found that the fox wasn’t exactly useful. People who tested the product apparently reported that they were expecting more use from the fox — for example, to show them fun things. Its capacity as merely a map guide was a letdown.

It seems that the fox was detracting from another thing, too: our collective attention. Google actively encourages people to make limited use of the AR feature, prompting them with a message to put the phone down and focus on their surroundings in the real world. Maybe the fox was just too darn cute. 

This might be a happy call for navigators and explorers, but it’s certainly a sad day for fox lovers.