Google Play Books for iOS catches up to Android version with mapping info, user guide

Apple devices will finally get a Google Play Books update received by Android users back in September that packs a couple of useful new flourishes. The headliner is a geographical look-up feature that lets you see a description and Google Maps view of a location from a book just by tapping and holding on it in flowing text mode -- letting you supplement A Moveable Feast with details about Paris, for instance. Mountain View also added a user guide, support for fixed layout EPUB books plus Japanese vertical flowing text and the ever-popular "substantial improvements in performance and stability." Now that Maps is back in the Apple fold, hopefully similar location features will hit more of Google's iOS apps -- meanwhile, hit the source to grab today's update.