IOS 6 Maps: No Nightmode + Small Text = really bad combo for night driving

[Anonemous]

So I tried the new Maps app for a spin around town. Overall it works but there are some glaring issues besides map details...

One thing that really stood out that I don't think was mentioned was no night mode for the Maps app. It lights up the entire car and is glaring when driving at night. (This can be solved by turning down overall brightness from settings but that is hard to do when driving) This should be fixed since it's a basic feature in gps'.

The other thing one was that the text for the upcoming turn/exit text was extremely small. The distance displayed for the upcoming turns was legible and big but the text displaying the upcoming turn or exit was really dinky. Normally there shouldn't be a problem but when there are multiple exits (east/west) or if you missed the audio cue it can be a problem if you need to reverify the turn/exit.

When you combine these two issues, you have a very hard to read GPS with a glaring screen at night which is distracting and dangerous to use at night.

 

[Printer Bandit]

does the screen always stay on when in maps for gps? or does it turn off due to auto-lock after a couple minutes?

 

[Anonemous]

does the screen always stay on when in maps for gps? or does it turn off due to auto-lock after a couple minutes?

The screen stays on throughout the drive.

 

[eelw]

But if you turn off the screen, it will come back on to show the next direction and turns off again.

 

[Aikouka]

Adaptive brightness should help with the brightness problem as your phone should be fairly dim at nighttime.

 

[TuxDave]

Technically, you're not really supposed to look at the screen for any in-car GPS (for safety). You should be able to go with pure audio cues. Fortunately, I had enough practice with my Garmin that when I do use the Apple navigation I plug in directions, turn off the screen and leave it on my side door (can't even see the screen).

But for everyone else, yeah a nighttime mode would've been nice. My Garmin does that.

 

[Anonemous]

Adaptive brightness should help with the brightness problem as your phone should be fairly dim at nighttime.

Hmmm, my adaptive brightness doesn't seem to be working. I guess I can always reboot the phone.

 

[HN]

Until they do add an actual nightmode, you can invert the colors of the display in general with a triple click of the home button (may need to set it in Settings -> General -> Accessibility -> assign triple click homebutton -> invert colors. Should work in a pinch.

 

[Printer Bandit]

Until they do add an actual nightmode, you can invert the colors of the display in general with a triple click of the home button (may need to set it in Settings -> General -> Accessibility -> assign triple click homebutton -> invert colors. Should work in a pinch.

 

[Anonemous]

Until they do add an actual nightmode, you can invert the colors of the display in general with a triple click of the home button (may need to set it in Settings -> General -> Accessibility -> assign triple click homebutton -> invert colors. Should work in a pinch.

Good tip!

I looked up the issue with the adaptive brightness not working and found a solution on the other mac forums. For the iphone 5, the adaptive brightness remembers the brightness setting for different light levels.

Basically you have to turn off adaptive brightness, go into a dark room, set the brightness to low, and turn on adaptive brightness so it 'remembers' that setting when it's dark. You can repeat the same thing when in a very bright setting (outside) or leave it alone since it will automatically brighten the screen when outside due to the light sensor.

 

[TuxDave]

Until they do add an actual nightmode, you can invert the colors of the display in general with a triple click of the home button (may need to set it in Settings -> General -> Accessibility -> assign triple click homebutton -> invert colors. Should work in a pinch.

Oh damn.

 

[ColdFusion718]

The turn by turn navigation also needs:

- speed limit for current road
- current driving speed
- ETA, distance to destination displayed while in fullscreen
- lane assist
- don't display turn left/right 9 miles away from the turn, instead, say go straight for 8.5 miles, then display the turn left/right while half a mile away.

 

[TheStu]

The turn by turn navigation also needs:

- speed limit for current road
- current driving speed
- ETA, distance to destination displayed while in fullscreen
- lane assist
- don't display turn left/right 9 miles away from the turn, instead, say go straight for 8.5 miles, then display the turn left/right while half a mile away.

Who does the last one? I have seen all the others on standalone GPSes

 

[Red Storm]

- don't display turn left/right 9 miles away from the turn, instead, say go straight for 8.5 miles, then display the turn left/right while half a mile away.

I like how Google Nav does it. It shows you what's next (right turn, left turn, etc.) and how far until you have to do that. Useful for when you want to know if you need to be in the right or left lane (which for me is always).

 

[Anonemous]

The turn by turn navigation also needs:

- speed limit for current road
- current driving speed
- ETA, distance to destination displayed while in fullscreen
- lane assist
- don't display turn left/right 9 miles away from the turn, instead, say go straight for 8.5 miles, then display the turn left/right while half a mile away.

Yea seconded. I was using Maps on my 1000 mile journey over the weekend. The directions just weren't as detailed as google maps. Like when the highway split into 3 different highways, there was no prompt given. Luckily I was paying attention to the road so I knew which lane to continue on but there was no prompt about keeping to the left or right.