When using Google Maps, sliding up on the top search bar will leave you with a full-screen map
So let’s recap. If you want to remove the top and bottom bars on Google Maps to leave a full-screen map, swipe up on the search bar at the top of the display. If you want to bring back the top and bottom bars, just tap on the screen. Yes, this is different than the method you might have used at an earlier time to leave yourself with a full-screen map, but this is what happens when you’re dealing with “progress.” Google started testing this earlier this year and it seems to have been rolled out to the iOS and Android versions of the app.
If Explore’s Latest in (your area) is on the bottom, you will have to swipe up on the search bar twice to get the full-screen map
There is the possibility that you might have to swipe on the search bar twice to get to the full-screen map. That would be only when the Explore tab’s “Latest in [the Area]” bar is showing at the bottom of the screen. In that case, you’ll swipe the top search bar once to remove the bottom bar and swipe again to remove the search bar.