Google Maps on Android is now crap

[Deeko]

Agreed, I hate it. They took away the one feature that caused me to use it over Nokia drive - the ability to get alternative routes mid route. Particularly if you're getting your destination via Google now, alternative routes are no longer an option at all. Sure, it's pretty, but at what cost?

 

[iahk]

I typed in Sheetz and the nearest one it brought up was 10 minutes away. My co-worker said, no there is one right down the street about a mile that way.

wtf google!?

I have no idea how their search feature works. It does this to me too. One time I typed in Best Buy and it pulled up one in New York as the top result, meanwhile, I'm in North Carolina.

 

[Joe1987]

I don't know what the hell they did, but it's bad, Sergey must have slept with the dude who does maps girlfriend or wife ...

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I have no idea how their search feature works. It does this to me too. One time I typed in Best Buy and it pulled up one in New York as the top result, meanwhile, I'm in North Carolina.

For restaurants I almost always use Yelp and then click on the address for navigation. Google's been bad for me with venues before, either pulling up invalid venues, closed locations, etc. There's a lot more mistakes in their database. But if you have the address, Google Maps is perfect.

 

[Demo24]

I dont mind the update so much. Only a couple issues I noticed with it when I used it to navigate me somewhere this weekend. First, gps did seem to take longer. Secondly, I had to leave the app open with the screen on. Anything else caused it to force close.

Otherwise on my gnex it seems to run fine. First gen n7 doesn't have any trouble either.

 

[Red Storm]

Agreed, I hate it. They took away the one feature that caused me to use it over Nokia drive - the ability to get alternative routes mid route. Particularly if you're getting your destination via Google now, alternative routes are no longer an option at all. Sure, it's pretty, but at what cost?

I don't know about doing it mid-route, but I know for a fact in Google Now when I head home I see both the main route and an alternate listed.

 

[Deeko]

I don't know about doing it mid-route, but I know for a fact in Google Now when I head home I see both the main route and an alternate listed.

Sometimes it will offer me one alternate, often I doesn't. But mid route there seems to be no way, short of exiting the navigation and restarting.

 

[MichaelBarg]

I have no idea how their search feature works. It does this to me too. One time I typed in Best Buy and it pulled up one in New York as the top result, meanwhile, I'm in North Carolina.

Maybe you're getting my search results. I can't find anything nearby in New York with Google Maps anymore. Last night I tried to find a parking garage and it wanted to send me to Ohio! A couple weeks ago I was looking for restaurants that, due to time limits, were it a very small area. Map always zoomed out and gave me no useful options. Somehow they totally borked the 'find X near me' feature, which used to be one of my major uses.

 

[Red Storm]

FYI from my own experience, if you have location history turned off you sometimes get weird results like things in other states and whatnot. When location history is turned on, it correctly searches for the nearest place every time.

 

[Brian Stirling]

FYI from my own experience, if you have location history turned off you sometimes get weird results like things in other states and whatnot. When location history is turned on, it correctly searches for the nearest place every time.

Yeah but they don't need location HISTORY to know where you are so it's more likely an intentional effort to get you to turn location history on because they want you to have history on for ad pushing etc.


Brian

 

[Red Storm]

Yeah but they don't need location HISTORY to know where you are so it's more likely an intentional effort to get you to turn location history on because they want you to have history on for ad pushing etc.


Brian

I agree they shouldn't need location history to have it working right, I'm just saying that's what I've experienced.

 

[gar655]

Seems they've hire the maps people Apple fired.

 

[ChronoReverse]

It's a much worse interface honestly. I hate the insidious influences that persuade UI designers that discoverability and the ability to perform actions _quickly_ aren't important features that shouldn't be completely sacrificed in the name of "simplicity"

 

[poofyhairguy]

I keep hitting the menu button.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

A couple things that strike me and I'm wondering if they got rid of it:

1. Where's the distance scale? Right now I have no idea how to estimate how far something is other than to actually plot the directions.

2. When it highlights a route, where are the little dots that tell you where to turn? I used to just tap on them and they would say "turn right on XYZ street" or whatever. I don't want to rely on voice navigation.

 

[Red Storm]

2. When it highlights a route, where are the little dots that tell you where to turn? I used to just tap on them and they would say "turn right on XYZ street" or whatever. I don't want to rely on voice navigation.

When you're at this screen:

Don't tap Start, instead tap the left side of that bottom pane, which will show you this:

Or, during voice navigation you will notice two little arrows on each side of the green pane on top, those will cycle through the steps.

 

[jhansman]

1. Where's the distance scale? Right now I have no idea how to estimate how far something is other than to actually plot the directions.

Pinch to zoom and it shows up in the lower right. Doesn't stay there, though. I'm OK with the fly-out menu and for my purposes, it works fine. If you need a GPS app, get one. Sygic and Copilot are both excellent; not free, but worth it if you need real turn-by-turn guidance.

 

[Brian Stirling]

I frequently drive in the emptier stretches of the desert southwest where cell/internet connections are few and far between so maybe you could recommend me a good alternative nav program that either includes a more-or-less complete street database of the country or easily permits you to select an area for download so that it's available offline.

I used to use my laptop with GPS puck with Delorme Street Atlas but that required having a PC fired up in the car -- doable but not preferable.


Brian

 

[WelshBloke]

I frequently drive in the emptier stretches of the desert southwest where cell/internet connections are few and far between so maybe you could recommend me a good alternative nav program that either includes a more-or-less complete street database of the country or easily permits you to select an area for download so that it's available offline.

I used to use my laptop with GPS puck with Delorme Street Atlas but that required having a PC fired up in the car -- doable but not preferable.


Brian

For Android?

CoPilot live premium has been excellent for me. I have, however, only used it pan Europe, hopefully the US version is as good.

 

[sweenish]

I typed in Sheetz and the nearest one it brought up was 10 minutes away. My co-worker said, no there is one right down the street about a mile that way.

wtf google!?

Not just Google. My Garmin tried telling me the nearest Huckleberry's was 530 miles away, when I knew there was one in my city.

No database is perfect.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

When you're at this screen:

Don't tap Start, instead tap the left side of that bottom pane, which will show you this:

Or, during voice navigation you will notice two little arrows on each side of the green pane on top, those will cycle through the steps.

I mean these white dots that are on the map screen itself:

 

[Red Storm]

I mean these white dots that are on the map screen itself:

Oh, yeah I guess those are gone.

Why exactly do you not want to use navigation? Nevermind the voice, you can always mute that, but navigation has the visual guide as well...

 

[WelshBloke]

I mean these white dots that are on the map screen itself:

That looks a horrible way to navigate while driving.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

That looks a horrible way to navigate while driving.

I prefer to navigate knowing my relation to everything else.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Oh, yeah I guess those are gone.

Why exactly do you not want to use navigation? Nevermind the voice, you can always mute that, but navigation has the visual guide as well...

Navigation also doesn't work when you have persistent GPS lock problems that can't pinpoint you. In that case you need the top down map view so you can see and guess where you are in relation to surrounding features like cross streets, and then you need to know exactly what street to turn onto - a colored line doesn't give you that while a white dot with pop up text does.