OT, Google maps...what's going on..?

[DR]

Google maps on my Android phone has been my favorite app. Dependable and trustworthy to get me around in cities big and small. Until recently, that is. It's failed me three times now when I needed it.

Something has changed in the app. Previously when it gave a route if I decided to use a slightly different route it would reorient and guide me from my new route to my destination. No more, now it just quits responding when I deviate from its route, but still leaves the map of its recommended route on the screen. It does seem to be updating the distance to destination though. After a period it'll ask me to sign in to Google.

My first thought was maybe one of the Android updates included a new maps app and I just needed to adjust the app settings. There doesn't seem to be anything in the app's settings to correct my problem.

When I got home after today's failure I downloaded an update of the app. The maps app listing on Google play talks about all sort of new features which I don't care about. I just want it to work the way it used to.

Anybody else have problems... or suggestions? I will give it a try tomorrow to see if the updated version fixes the problem.

[Puckdropper]

Cell phones are kinda at 1990's era technology maturity. They get messed up and the only way to fix it is to reboot. Have you tried that?

[RichR]

Cell phones are kinda at 1990's era technology maturity. They get messed up and the only way to fix it is to reboot. Have you tried that?

I thought cell phone technology had moved beyond rebooting and advanced to first reinstall the operating system and then reinstall all
the applications.

[mattthegamer463]

I haven't had this issue, often the opposite; i got off an exit on a smaller rural highway. Looked like a small utility access road 300 metres before the real exit, right in the real exits lane and all. Rather than telling me to take a u-turn and get right back on, it wanted me to drive 8km the wrong way on a dirt road to get to the road I wanted, a mere 300m further down the highway. I had to u-turn myself and make it reorient back to the original plan. It added 20 minutes and 16km to my route without a thought so I watch it closely now and never let a mistake go uncorrected.

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

[754]

I think for 400 bux per year they will fix it for you.

[Noitoen]

I use Wase app which is a more interactive/real time way to use google maps and it works well.

[polaraligned]

My wife swears by the Waze app and doesn't use anything else.

[CCWKen]

Looks like Waze is made for kids to get home from school. Does it really have all those silly emojis plastered all over the screen?

[DR]

My wife swears by the Waze app and doesn't use anything else.

Funny thing ....my wife swears AT most anything digital. She was doing the route mapping with the phone on a trip, warning me to start gravitating to the far right lane for an upcoming off ramp, etc, that type stuff. She mistakenly hit the wrong button and lost the map for a short period. This prompted her usual string of obscenities at the female in the phone. The lady in the phone replied "that's not polite". We were both laughing and thinking "did that really happen?".

When you think about it , it'd be simple to program in that response to certain key words. I've mentioned this to others, several have had similar experiences. That was an older phone, we'll try experiments with our newer phones.

[mikegt4]

Google maps on my Android phone has been almost always a failure. If nothing else it often ignores the state and chooses a city with the same name somewhere else even in another country! Mapquest is my choice, I just use it from my "favorites" list.

[Mike Nash]

Google screwed up its maps several years ago. The the scumbag that did it crowed about leaving on his xth day, xth month, xth year, etc. Sad. Why would Google default to kM in the US? What happened to add a destination, drag to change route, quick updates rather than lockups? Lets not even talk about the truck stop Google claims was a Super Walmart.

WAZE, Stalled car on shoulder (must get points for that or something.)

[danlb]

We use google maps all the time. We just drove 1200 miles using it (along with the car's built in nav system) and did not have any problems. It's much more accurate and usable than the one built into the high end Toyota. Last month we did an 1100 mile trip to Las Vegas, and it did a great job of getting us from San Francisco to Sin City despite my spontaneous decision to detour through Bakersfield in search of lunch.

I commuted using it for many years and was always impressed that it can forecast the time that I will arrive despite driving through the worst traffic on the west coast.

I hear the complaints, but there is a lot of information missing; To start with, are you using IOS, Android or Windows?

If you are having problems, it's worth it to evaluate your entire setup. Do you have a recent phone? Is your GPS chip enabled? Is the phone's OS current or is it 5 years old? Are you using cell towers and wifi for location? Do you have decent cell phone connection?

As an example, the current phones are more capable. My Galaxy S6 gets GPS data from the USA and European GPS systems. I've even gotten a GPs fix on the second floor of a 4 story hospital.

A 5 year old phone may not support the newest features and sensors, so if you have an old phone you may have an old version of the google maps software.

If you have a lousy cell phone connection it's worthwhile to use Google Map's off line download feature. That's the one that downloads maps that can be used even if the cell phone network is dead.

Google maps has a feedback option built it. You can use that to report problems.

Dan

[CCWKen]

Google maps has a feedback option built it. You can use that to report problems.

I reported a problem with my location to Google Maps and MapQuest over 10 years ago and they never fixed it. It's still faulty. If you try to find my address with GPS, you better have a real map along.

[metalmagpie]

It's like I'm reading reports from Mars. My experience is nothing, NOTHING like what is reported here. No idea what Google Maps used to be like, but it works exactly like I expect and I love it. We drove all the way down to the tip of Baja last winter, much of the way with little or no cell service. But we had downloaded offline maps and Google never missed a beat.

Of course, I live walking distance from Google's R&D facility in Kirkland, Washington, so you would think they'd get the streets around here right.

metalmagpie

[Paul Alciatore]

I find Google Maps to be fairly good. But it is not perfect. I use it on my desk computer, not my cell phone.

After using it for many cross country trips, finding motels and restaurants along the way almost perfectly, I had a real bummer one day here at home. I was trying to find a tire store and it directed me about a half mile (four or five city blocks) the wrong way - on the wrong side of the interstate. I had to revert to just plain looking around.

Nothing's perfect.