10 ms·

Designing Google Maps for Motorbikes

117 points by dsr12 8y ago

keyle 8y ago
That's very cool. One time, I decided to just put the phone in my pocket and take my bike to a location. I had the ear buds in my ears, I thought, voice is enough... Oh my, was I wrong. I ended up missing most turn off in streets due to latency, some crossings made no sense over audio, a total disaster. So I got a stand to attach the phone to the handle bars... And that works great, for about 20 mins. I live in Australia and the heat of the sun on the phone + google maps using CPU will literally shut off the phone as it reaches 50C+... The phone just turns off on me as I approach the hard-part of the journey... Superb. So now I just research it before leaving, mentally map it in my mind, look up street view for turn offs... Then I Yolo it all the way. When I finally admit I'm lost, I pull up, bring out the phone and start google maps then...
- ensiferum 8y ago
  Hmm, I have found that where I live the voice only navigation is most of the time enough for me. It has the benefit that I can turn off the display which saves battery, the phone is protected in my jacket pocket and I have one less distraction in my cockpit to look at (really I just want to keep my eyes peeled at the traffic)
- constantlm 8y ago
  Experienced the heat issue when we did Vietnam South to North on a bike some months ago. Phone got so hot you couldn't touch it. Had to wing it in the end and stop every now and then to see how lost we were.
  - toomanybeersies 8y ago
    I thought that Vietnam, outside of the larger cities, was fairly easy to navigate. Conveniently for me it was raining the whole time, so overheating wasn't an issue. Rather, I had the opposite where I almost froze riding through the rain in Đà Lạt wearing only tshirt and shorts.
    - davewasthere 8y ago
      It is for the most part. I only had a little candy-bar SonyEricsson at the time which had really limited interweb capabilities. Other guys had iPhones, but for the most part, winging it was great and got you where you needed to go.
      - toomanybeersies 8y ago
        I found Vietnamese people were usually happy to help you out if you needed to find something. When I got a flat tyre, I just stopped near a local, pointed to my flat tyre, and they gestured directions to get to a mechanic (not that they're hard to find in Vietnam). I'd imagine it would be the same if you only had a paper map with your destination. Just show the map to a local and in no time they'd tell you where you are and the best way to get there. Outside of the touristic areas, Vietnamese people are generally really nice and helpful people, who don't try and rip you off. I needed to get the front shocks replaced on my bike. The mechanic next to the hostel wanted something like 800,000 dong to replace them, so I declined. Later, my shocks blew out in Da Nang and I actually had to get them replaced. The mechanic, who couldn't speak word of English, did them for me for 400,000 dong without even haggling. I'm fairly sure that's the local price, because I can't imagine it's possible to get two shocks, plus an hour of labour for under US$20, back home the same job would cost me probably $200 at least.
    - constantlm 8y ago
      Haha yes I was quite happy to go down the mountain after Đà Lạt. I didn't expect it to be that cold. But yes, once out in the rural areas it becomes a lot easier to get around.
- michaelt 8y ago
  I tried the same thing on my motorbike in London. I had a pretty cheap android phone at the time. The 'headphone hearing protection' would make the volume too quiet to hear over the engine any time you jiggled the headphone jack. Required a screen interaction to fix. Of course if you didn't hear the audio prompt or couldn't make it out precisely, you're on your own - no way to check it or get it to repeat if the phone's in your pocket. Cheap rain-proof phone holders have a zip around the outside - so you can connect wired headphones or a charger - but not both, as they poke out different ends of the phone. Wired headphones linking you to something linked to your bike make getting on and off complicated. Motorbikes don't have standard cigarette lighters to plug a standard charger into. You'd have to mess with the bike's wiring to add a phone charger, so I went without. The battery wasn't good enough to navigate a journey that was 60 minutes each way. Google Maps didn't offer any options like automatically turning off the screen on long straight roads. Once your phone's in a waterproof holder and you're wearing motorcycling gloves, your touchscreen won't work. So you can't quickly cancel navigation to save battery (or dismiss the hearing protection warning) while stopped at some street lights. All things considered, it was pretty clear the navigation experience wasn't designed for motorcycling.
  - barrkel 8y ago
    Use Bluetooth helmet speakers for audio. Most touring bikes, and many scooters have a cigarette lighter attachment point. My SH300 has one in the glove box. The 2016+ VFR800 has one. Etc. Many better quality gloves have conductive tips on their forefingers for capacitive touchscreen usage these days. My Alpinestars SP8 gloves do. I find Google Maps audio directions just barely acceptable for London navigation. I prefer my Garmin Zumo, but only use that if my destination is a long way off the big city-crossing roads I otherwise know reasonably well. It comes with my when I have planned routes, rather than destinations, though. Google Maps is dreadful for planning a route with waypoints - it needs constant interaction at every stage.
    - michaelt 8y ago
      Yes, many of my problems could have been at least partly solved by spending more money on a helmet with bluetooth, more money on a bike with a better battery and a phone power supply, more money on better gloves with special finger coating, more money on a phone with a better battery and better handlebar mounts available, and so on. Sadly, as a student on a £300 motorbike, I didn't have the money for such luxuries :)
- akerro 8y ago
  I use this [1] for attaching phone to handle bars, it's completely waterproof, has a small hole for cable, so you can charge your phone during a ride. I also had a lot of problems with Google Maps on a motorcycle and bike. I switched to OsmAnd [2] once you learn how to use it (it has 100s of settings and built-in profiles) it will be your only and best satnav you ever used. Just checkout their plugins and settings, thing like offline wikipedia for tourist attractions, mountain peaks are great features. OsmAnd combines GM and TravelAdvisor, but it's had to use at the beginning. [1] https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-Motorcycle-Holder-Handlebar-Mountable/dp/B009EPEU80 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-Motorcycle-Holder-Handlebar-... [2] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.osmand&hl=en_US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.osmand&hl=...
- Itsdijital 8y ago
  Years ago before a long motorcycle trip I made a nice setup to use google maps while riding for the trip. A custom mount, ran all the charging cables, NFC tag and tasker profile so it knows when it's mounted. I used it for 3 days before a guy told me to give old fashioned maps a try, and gave me a few state maps. My tank bag has a nice window slot for them, so why not use it in tandem? Within 2 hours I had totally stopped paying attention to the gps and just went off the map. The next day I didn't even use the gps at all, and ended up using just maps for next 3 weeks riding around the country. If the signage is good (in the US it's superb, people just don't pay attention to it/understand it) then I have found a regular old maps to be far superior. You can quickly see all info on the map (no dicking around with zoom/scrolling on the touchscreen) and you can adjust your route very easily on the fly. Seriously, I cannot recommend paper maps enough. Take some time to understand how to read the map (if you're not sure already) and pay attention to road signs. The two integrate beautifully and make getting around easy. If you have a place to put it on your bike, give it a try.
  - systemtest 8y ago
    I ride motorcycles in cross-Europe trips for fun but prefer the GPS. My GPS will look for small twisty mountain roads with lots of elevation changes and lots of corners. Roads that are only on highly detailed local maps, and I don't want to carry 30 maps on a month long road trip. Road signage is simply not a thing on these roads as they are only used by locals. I can disable highways, B-roads, toll, ferries and on my roadbikes I will disable gravel sections. It will tell me how many kilometers till the next gas-stations along the trip and warn me about speed traps. Not that I speed on purpose, but sometimes you are a couple of kms above the limit. Especially on sections where I have to change direction every 300 to 500 meters I don't want to deal with reading a map. Voice navigation in my headset and an occasional quick glance at the screen is much safer than fiddling with a paper map.
    - bambax 8y ago
      I too ride motorcycles in Europe; I bought a special GPS device for motorbikes but it's not very good -- it's a Tom Tom, did you go with Garmin?
- maaaats 8y ago
  I use a Garmin Edge 520 mounted on my bike (bicycle). It doubles as my fitness-logger so I'm not suggesting anyone buys it just for some maps, but I really like it. It's not as smooth as using a phone when it comes to maps, but for preplanned routes it works great. It has made 4-6 hour bike-rides on unknown roads much easier. No more stops at intersections to struggle with the phone to see where to go, can just keep the speed up looking at the display once in a while. The display is also very easy to read in sunlight.
  - piquadrat 8y ago
    The newly released Edge 520 Plus builds a bit on that, as it comes with maps for your region pre-loaded (region as in e.g. Europe, or US). This allows it to do point-to-point routing on the fly, as well as rerouting if you miss a turn. I bought it a few weeks ago and am super happy with it.
- toomanybeersies 8y ago
  I try to do the same even while driving. It's a good brain exercise and helps ensure that I'll actually remember the route.
- TeMPOraL 8y ago
  Oh yes, the heat. We're going to a friend's place in a different city, more than an hour away. My SO is driving, I'm navigating. Just as we're about to enter the city and start the most complex part of the drive, my phone dies. Turns out, the constant glare of the sun + rubber casing + the already absurd heat generated by Google's navigation overheated the phone. We had to stop for a moment, let it cool down, and only then could continue. My takeaway from that experience is that on long trips, I now only engage navigation in the important areas, and take off the rubber casing when driving in warm weather.
- yAnonymous 8y ago
  >I live in Australia and the heat of the sun on the phone + google maps using CPU will literally shut off the phone as it reaches 50C+ Get a better maps app, there's an abundance of them. Google Maps for mobile is just a resource hog with a shitty UI.
- gearhart 8y ago
  This. I've frequently been surprised by how useless the audio navigation is without being able to check the screen for clarity. There just needs to be a "no visuals" setting where you get given much more audio information. The worst experience I've had was riding in Slavic countries with just headphones in and realising after a few miles that GMaps couldn't pronounce the road names and so was just leaving a silence. I'd get "Turn left on to ''". I thought the roads were numbered and I was constantly turning onto highway 2.
  - hfdgiutdryg 8y ago
    I find Google's audio cues to be bizarrely mistimed. I wrote navigation software for the PocketPC way back in '02, and my cues were more adaptive to approach speed.
  - pro_zac 8y ago
    Agreed. I've tried several times to use google maps with bluetooth headphones on my bike in London. Unlike in the states, the roads are never straight for very long and there are lots of roundabouts. If you take a wrong exit, it will recalculate a new path, but without seeing the screen you don't know you messed up. I found myself wanting positive and negative feedback via audio. "Take the third exit at the round about." "Good job" or "Turned to soon. Recalculating"
- kokey 8y ago
  I went on holiday to an area I used to drive a lot before navigation devices, there I realised how much more relaxed I am if I didn't use it. So I tried to go back to studying routes before my drive and only having a device as a backup plan and discovered it generally makes me more relaxed especially when there are other people being distracting in the car.
- dan_hawkins 8y ago
  TomTom app for iPhone works wonderfully when you'd like to navigate just by voice commands. I've navigated through Paris during rush hours without single mistaken turn just by listening to the phone :D
- chris_overseas 8y ago
  I recently saw a pitch from a startup that have a gadget [1] designed to address exactly the problems you talk about and might be worth a look (disclaimer: I have no relationship with the company but I do cycle a lot and thought their product looked promising). The debate amongst the investors afterwards was interesting, once the startup had left the room. The investors who didn't cycle/motorbike were sceptical and couldn't understand why a mobile phone wasn't good enough for this whereas the investors who had some cycling experience were mostly positive about the product. [1] https://beeline.co/ https://beeline.co/
  - mavidser 8y ago
    This looks really cool. Especially liked the compass mode.
  - hfdgiutdryg 8y ago
    That's very interesting. One of my current peeves is watching for the next turnoff with various GPS apps. I have to rotate my whole head down to see, since my phone is currently mounted to my motorcycle handlebars[1], and the turn icons are usually small and vague. The reality is that I want detailed maps for route planning and local exploration, but very simple maps for the actual navigation part.
- djrogers 8y ago
  > So now I just research it before leaving, mentally map it in my mind, look up street view for turn offs... Then I Yolo it all the way. When I finally admit I'm lost, I pull up, bring out the phone and start google maps then... This is by far the best way I've found to use mapping apps while riding. Setting aside the heat issue, GPS apps require more concentration than I like to give them while riding. It's a lot easier to check other vehicles rear view mirrors, judge intent of drivers, and just generally keep your head on a swivel without a GPS to look at. I have found that for the occasional reminder, my Apple watch's taps work well (can't see my watch though, so you gotta remember which taps are which for left/right).
- davidzweig 8y ago
  I designed a device with an 8" e-ink display recently. I thought it wouldn't be too hard to repurpose it to have it display rendered maps tiles for your current location, using the built-in GPS module. If you could send the device a GPX/KML file over bluetooth, it could plot it over the tiles, and you'd have a simple, robust setup. Searching, entering text etc. are best done on a device with a good input mechanism and data connection, anyway.
- davewasthere 8y ago
  Yeah, I've avoided mounting a phone to bike here in Aus yet, but could see how easily heat and using gmaps would fry the phone to the point of shutdown. I've managed to drive/ride and just listen to voice which worked well enough for directions. Mostly though, I'd love gmaps to be optimised for finding me the 'fun' roads. Sort of a bestbikingroads algorithm that lets me find the few twisties in between where I am, and my destination, even if it's quite a detour.
thunfischbrot 8y ago
And no mention of a high-contrast display mode. Seems like such low-hanging fruit to have a black-and-white mode which would help make the map more legible in direct sunlight, with much larger navigation cues.
adityapurwa 8y ago
I remembered that Google invested in Go-Jek, so with this immersive trip and also with the data collected by Go-Jek drivers all around Indonesia, I think they will be able to provide reliable map service for motorbikes. I used Motorbikes everyday, while in my city it is quite helpful to have Google Maps, sometimes the map just didnt understand about the rules, that this road is one way, that only cars is allowed. One bad story that I had with Google Maps while riding a motorbike was, Google map decided to reroute itself without me knowing (phone is in my pocket, I only listened the navigation aid), I ended up circling the city back because Google Maps decided that it is the best way to get to my destination. I wasted an hour circling the city before I noticed I was heading back to the direction where I came fron and stopped to check the Google Maps app and noticed it routing me through another routes.
77ko 8y ago
What would be cool if there was a very simple low power display bluetooth which just displayed an left/right/upp arrow with a number counting down when to turn or stop. Phones don't really work mounted on a bike, but a simple display could do the job. Sort of how android watch displays an arrow, but using a low power screen.
- Halop 8y ago
  I feel you - I have tried attaching my android watch to the handlebars and functionality wise it's perfect UI for navigating. However it takes about 10 seconds for the screen to dim to the monochrome power saver mode and then it's impossible to see anything during daylight. Android wear does not support a permanently on screen all the time and I would totally buy a cheap device like that just for navigating.
  - joecool1029 8y ago
    >Android wear does not support a permanently on screen all the time and I would totally buy a cheap device like that just for navigating. Buy a Pebble? I have been using a Pebble 2 SE for over a year and one of the primary use cases is so I can navigate on motorcycle. I leave phone in my pocket. I set the route, maps sends a notification before turns and the watch picks it up. Works in full sunlight and I shake it at night to light it up. Gets 5-6 days of battery life, I think I paid $40 for mine.
  - modeless 8y ago
    How about a Pebble? Always on, sunlight visible, cheap. The company is gone but they still work. This is what you can get for navigation: https://apps.getpebble.com/en_US/application/530a8f36fc62a5e01100001c https://apps.getpebble.com/en_US/application/530a8f36fc62a5e...
    - joecool1029 8y ago
      Never saw that app for it. Thanks, I'll have to give it a whirl on mine. Edit: Oh well, android only.
ensiferum 8y ago
Will google maps route the bike riders through their already current de-facto routes such as pedestrian footpaths and other such lanes that are completely abused by motorcyclists? Slightly off tangent but having been to Jakarta (never again, what an absolutely disgusting slum of a city) the traffic in that city is probably the worst ever (maybe Indian traffic can have it beat) Even more off tangent but it's crazy how illogical some places can be (from my perspective). In Jakarta all addresses are more or less useless since the house/street numbers are in completely random order (the order they're built I guess) so you have no idea where some building with some particular number resides on a road/street relative to some other building. Finally a tip to a fellow traveller, if you're asking for a taxi and give them the address and the driver goes to the other drivers to ask about its location the chances are he doesn't have a clue but he'll be very happy to take you for random spin and ask you for money.
- paulie_a 8y ago
  My hierarchy of travel is uber, hitchhiking, and then if I am absolutely desperate taking a taxi.
AnnoyingSwede 8y ago
Riding in the Netherlands with google maps and a scalaG9x and a android phone in the pocket works pretty okey. The few issues i have is bluetooth not being on continuesly, so as the phone starts giving a new direction, i might miss the first few words, but as i get closer to the exit and the second or third remind goes off, i tend to hear the full message. I am using english phone settings and language settings, and this unfortuatly means that every streetname in Dutch are pronounced in English, which give it a comic tone that sometimes takes a second to wrap my brain around. Other than this, traffic redirects due to congestion works like a charm. I also own a Garmin Zumo 220 which i had mounted on next to the speedo, but since you have to pay for updated maps after a year, this device is now collecting dust in favor of Google.
- timmipetit 8y ago
  Yeah, having those Dutch street names pronounced in English is so confusing and funny! It would be perfect if you could use your phone in English, but use your local language for navigation. Still haven't found a way to achieve this on my Android phone though :(
  - ferongr 8y ago
    The App Settings xposed module allows you to change locale (among other settings) per app. I use it to keep Google Maps and Here Maps in Greek while my device locale is English.
Reason077 8y ago
Could Google Maps for Motorbikes be configured to route noisy motorbikes away from residential streets? Especially late at night when I’m trying to sleep!
- uitgewis 8y ago
  There's a common belief among motorcyclists that having loud exhausts help alert other car drivers of their presence, making them more visible on the roads. There are various arguments in favor and against that notion, but if it's getting you to notice them I guess it is better than nothing.
  - criddell 8y ago
    I never believed that. I was an avid motorcyclists for decades and spent lots of time around riders of loud pipe bikes. If safety was what drove them to straight pipes, then I would expect those concerns to carry through with the rest of their gear.
    - Reason077 8y ago
      I read somewhere that statistics actually suggest the opposite - that bikes with loud pipes are more likely to suffer a serious accidents and injury. I suspect that's because the type of bikers that have loud pipes are also the ones riding aggressively, overtaking frequently, weaving between traffic lanes, etc.
    - gascan 8y ago
      As a motorcyclist & car driver, what I've observed is in a car you can hear loud pipe bikes- but only when they are in front of you, i.e. with the tailpipe pointing at your face. Behind or beside you- in other words, in your blind spots- don't hear a thing.
  - UncleEntity 8y ago
    I used to have a ZX-10 with super loud exhaust (apparently a previously owner amateur raced it) and other drivers would definitely know when I was around them. People don't always see motorcycles but if they hear you they tend not to pull right out in front of you in my experience. It also worked a lot better than the horn to get people's attention, little beep vs. loud roar. Not that I'm advocating for loud motorcycles, mufflers exist for a reason...that bike would set off car alarms while just idling past in parking lots which was kind of annoying.
rcMgD2BwE72F 8y ago
The public transportation and cycling options will become even more hidden in the app with this addition. How can Google Maps continue defaulting to car and Uber when asks for directions in ultra-dense cities with great public and cycling infrastructure (like Paris), while Google pretends helping the environment? Even when the subway directions are 10x cheaper and faster, Google Maps keeps highlighting car directions. Maybe the referral fee that Google gets from Uber (and other "partners") explains it.
- davewasthere 8y ago
  Actually, Gmaps seems normally fairly decent for cycling, which was my main method of transport. Only thing is, there are tons of cool cycle routes around, and I'd like to say I prefer those. It needs some safety/effort-based preferences for routing. Like, I'd prefer to ride 2 or 3km more, if it's on a dedicated bike path, rather than ride direct to my destination on busy traffic roads.
  - namibj 8y ago
    Especially because momentum is not nearly as free on a bike than on something with a somewhat powerful motor. You can go faster if you don't need to accelerate as much (due to breaking or inclination). I would like a sort of flywheel or so, something able to store energy for a few minutes and dump it about as fast as the traction allows. Even if it has to be manually switched between slow and fast acceleration based on whether conditions with a tool, that'd be fine. And then just give me something for my thumb to work or so that either uses the same setting to decide the breaking force, or allow full control over it. It shouldn't be too hard to do. And no, an electric motor won't cut it, due to power density. I don't want it to be limited to 500 W or so, I want it to have more than that. And mechanics have much more power density than electromagnetics.
chewz 8y ago
I had been riding a lot in mountains in North of Thailand and generally in SE Asia. Mostly small country roads. Google Maps and also Apple Maps is impossible to use in bright sun when you just stop to check the map and have your rainbans on. The road is beige on dark yellow - the color palette is just wrong and impossible to adjust.
bungie4 8y ago
In North America and Europe, it's common for motorcyclists to quickly layout routes when touring using google maps. They (google) have made a UX that makes it ridiculously easy (as compared to something like Garmins Basecamp -which should be used as shiny example of how not to design an UX) The issue is that you cannot directly save the maps in GPX format to upload to your GPS. So thiers a world of work arounds, some easy, some not, to get a KML file into your GPS. If it supported GPX natively, you would likely capture the entire North American and European touring market in one fell swoop. I'm guessing you (google) never asked which kind of goes against the entire point of this article
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
bg0 8y ago
When do I get to use this?! At the moment I'm just "avoiding highways" on my scooter in Austin. Would be cool to see how this translates in the US
wickberg 8y ago
I use it on my motorcycle in the US, but there are some major pain points. I have a Bluetooth headset in my helmet, so I can hear the directions... which are usually close enough. But you still do get some occasionally confusing voice prompts that - without the screen to glance at - may lead you to a wrong turn. I do have a handlebar mount I've resorted to on a few occasions, but as others have noted (a) the phone can overheat, (b) subjecting a $500 device to the vibration and chance of falling is not ideal, and (c) I've had the acceleratorometer actions kick in unexpectedly, leading to the phone battery dying faster since it turned the LED flashlight mode on. That said, I have only one serious complain - the opt-out-of-route-change that they've made the default is a huge issue, and I really wish there was a setting to disable that. If I've gone in and picked between a few potential routes, having it decide a different one is faster and that I'll need to press a button on screen to stay on my preferred heading ends up leaving me off course and/or on the side of the road digging my phone back out. (And before someone suggests voice commands to fix it... that's not a workable solution. While the helmet cuts down noise, it doesn't eliminate it, and I have enough problems with voice recognition that I leave it permanently disabled.)
- johnbrodie 8y ago
  I have a lot of the same issues. Bluetooth headset turned up to almost max + foam earplugs works reasonably well, as long as I already have a good idea of where I'm going. Handlebar mounts work fairly well, but putting the phone in the sun in Arizona during the summer often leads to it turning off. There's also quite a few reports of phones either flying off mounts or camera lens/focus dying due to the vibration. In the end, I normally leave the phone in my pocket, make due with voice alerts, and leave a few minutes early so I can safely miss an exit without panic. The last thing you need on a highway filled with texting drivers (completely legal in AZ) is to be distracted and making multi-lane changes at the last second.
gmuessig 8y ago
Who at Google is doing this work for manual and motorized wheelchairs and mobility scooters? Those all require different way finding I hear Brett Heising of brettapproved may be available..
cweagans 8y ago
IMO, this is one of the applications where AR really shines. Having a HUD in your helmet to show this kind of information would be absolutely amazing. There have been attempts, I know, but it doesn't seem like there's anything really consumer-oriented at this point (Skully, for example, was ridiculously expensive - over $1k for a helmet, IIRC. That's plainly out of the realm of a normal helmet purchase).
- jedimastert 8y ago
  I'm betting there's a fairly easy way to adapt full head helmets for AR.
  - cweagans 8y ago
    I've looked into it a bit. I don't think "easy" is the right word here. :)

117 points by dsr12 8y ago

That's very cool. One time, I decided to just put the phone in my pocket and take my bike to a location. I had the ear buds in my ears, I thought, voice is enough... Oh my, was I wrong. I ended up missing most turn off in streets due to latency, some crossings made no sense over audio, a total disaster. So I got a stand to attach the phone to the handle bars... And that works great, for about 20 mins. I live in Australia and the heat of the sun on the phone + google maps using CPU will literally shut off the phone as it reaches 50C+... The phone just turns off on me as I approach the hard-part of the journey... Superb. So now I just research it before leaving, mentally map it in my mind, look up street view for turn offs... Then I Yolo it all the way. When I finally admit I'm lost, I pull up, bring out the phone and start google maps then...

ensiferum 8y ago
Hmm, I have found that where I live the voice only navigation is most of the time enough for me. It has the benefit that I can turn off the display which saves battery, the phone is protected in my jacket pocket and I have one less distraction in my cockpit to look at (really I just want to keep my eyes peeled at the traffic)
constantlm 8y ago
Experienced the heat issue when we did Vietnam South to North on a bike some months ago. Phone got so hot you couldn't touch it. Had to wing it in the end and stop every now and then to see how lost we were.
- toomanybeersies 8y ago
  I thought that Vietnam, outside of the larger cities, was fairly easy to navigate. Conveniently for me it was raining the whole time, so overheating wasn't an issue. Rather, I had the opposite where I almost froze riding through the rain in Đà Lạt wearing only tshirt and shorts.
  - davewasthere 8y ago
    It is for the most part. I only had a little candy-bar SonyEricsson at the time which had really limited interweb capabilities. Other guys had iPhones, but for the most part, winging it was great and got you where you needed to go.
    - toomanybeersies 8y ago
      I found Vietnamese people were usually happy to help you out if you needed to find something. When I got a flat tyre, I just stopped near a local, pointed to my flat tyre, and they gestured directions to get to a mechanic (not that they're hard to find in Vietnam). I'd imagine it would be the same if you only had a paper map with your destination. Just show the map to a local and in no time they'd tell you where you are and the best way to get there. Outside of the touristic areas, Vietnamese people are generally really nice and helpful people, who don't try and rip you off. I needed to get the front shocks replaced on my bike. The mechanic next to the hostel wanted something like 800,000 dong to replace them, so I declined. Later, my shocks blew out in Da Nang and I actually had to get them replaced. The mechanic, who couldn't speak word of English, did them for me for 400,000 dong without even haggling. I'm fairly sure that's the local price, because I can't imagine it's possible to get two shocks, plus an hour of labour for under US$20, back home the same job would cost me probably $200 at least.
  - constantlm 8y ago
    Haha yes I was quite happy to go down the mountain after Đà Lạt. I didn't expect it to be that cold. But yes, once out in the rural areas it becomes a lot easier to get around.
michaelt 8y ago
I tried the same thing on my motorbike in London. I had a pretty cheap android phone at the time. The 'headphone hearing protection' would make the volume too quiet to hear over the engine any time you jiggled the headphone jack. Required a screen interaction to fix. Of course if you didn't hear the audio prompt or couldn't make it out precisely, you're on your own - no way to check it or get it to repeat if the phone's in your pocket. Cheap rain-proof phone holders have a zip around the outside - so you can connect wired headphones or a charger - but not both, as they poke out different ends of the phone. Wired headphones linking you to something linked to your bike make getting on and off complicated. Motorbikes don't have standard cigarette lighters to plug a standard charger into. You'd have to mess with the bike's wiring to add a phone charger, so I went without. The battery wasn't good enough to navigate a journey that was 60 minutes each way. Google Maps didn't offer any options like automatically turning off the screen on long straight roads. Once your phone's in a waterproof holder and you're wearing motorcycling gloves, your touchscreen won't work. So you can't quickly cancel navigation to save battery (or dismiss the hearing protection warning) while stopped at some street lights. All things considered, it was pretty clear the navigation experience wasn't designed for motorcycling.
- barrkel 8y ago
  Use Bluetooth helmet speakers for audio. Most touring bikes, and many scooters have a cigarette lighter attachment point. My SH300 has one in the glove box. The 2016+ VFR800 has one. Etc. Many better quality gloves have conductive tips on their forefingers for capacitive touchscreen usage these days. My Alpinestars SP8 gloves do. I find Google Maps audio directions just barely acceptable for London navigation. I prefer my Garmin Zumo, but only use that if my destination is a long way off the big city-crossing roads I otherwise know reasonably well. It comes with my when I have planned routes, rather than destinations, though. Google Maps is dreadful for planning a route with waypoints - it needs constant interaction at every stage.
  - michaelt 8y ago
    Yes, many of my problems could have been at least partly solved by spending more money on a helmet with bluetooth, more money on a bike with a better battery and a phone power supply, more money on better gloves with special finger coating, more money on a phone with a better battery and better handlebar mounts available, and so on. Sadly, as a student on a £300 motorbike, I didn't have the money for such luxuries :)
akerro 8y ago
I use this [1] for attaching phone to handle bars, it's completely waterproof, has a small hole for cable, so you can charge your phone during a ride. I also had a lot of problems with Google Maps on a motorcycle and bike. I switched to OsmAnd [2] once you learn how to use it (it has 100s of settings and built-in profiles) it will be your only and best satnav you ever used. Just checkout their plugins and settings, thing like offline wikipedia for tourist attractions, mountain peaks are great features. OsmAnd combines GM and TravelAdvisor, but it's had to use at the beginning. [1] https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-Motorcycle-Holder-Handlebar-Mountable/dp/B009EPEU80 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-Motorcycle-Holder-Handlebar-... [2] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.osmand&hl=en_US https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.osmand&hl=...
Itsdijital 8y ago
Years ago before a long motorcycle trip I made a nice setup to use google maps while riding for the trip. A custom mount, ran all the charging cables, NFC tag and tasker profile so it knows when it's mounted. I used it for 3 days before a guy told me to give old fashioned maps a try, and gave me a few state maps. My tank bag has a nice window slot for them, so why not use it in tandem? Within 2 hours I had totally stopped paying attention to the gps and just went off the map. The next day I didn't even use the gps at all, and ended up using just maps for next 3 weeks riding around the country. If the signage is good (in the US it's superb, people just don't pay attention to it/understand it) then I have found a regular old maps to be far superior. You can quickly see all info on the map (no dicking around with zoom/scrolling on the touchscreen) and you can adjust your route very easily on the fly. Seriously, I cannot recommend paper maps enough. Take some time to understand how to read the map (if you're not sure already) and pay attention to road signs. The two integrate beautifully and make getting around easy. If you have a place to put it on your bike, give it a try.
- systemtest 8y ago
  I ride motorcycles in cross-Europe trips for fun but prefer the GPS. My GPS will look for small twisty mountain roads with lots of elevation changes and lots of corners. Roads that are only on highly detailed local maps, and I don't want to carry 30 maps on a month long road trip. Road signage is simply not a thing on these roads as they are only used by locals. I can disable highways, B-roads, toll, ferries and on my roadbikes I will disable gravel sections. It will tell me how many kilometers till the next gas-stations along the trip and warn me about speed traps. Not that I speed on purpose, but sometimes you are a couple of kms above the limit. Especially on sections where I have to change direction every 300 to 500 meters I don't want to deal with reading a map. Voice navigation in my headset and an occasional quick glance at the screen is much safer than fiddling with a paper map.
  - bambax 8y ago
    I too ride motorcycles in Europe; I bought a special GPS device for motorbikes but it's not very good -- it's a Tom Tom, did you go with Garmin?
maaaats 8y ago
I use a Garmin Edge 520 mounted on my bike (bicycle). It doubles as my fitness-logger so I'm not suggesting anyone buys it just for some maps, but I really like it. It's not as smooth as using a phone when it comes to maps, but for preplanned routes it works great. It has made 4-6 hour bike-rides on unknown roads much easier. No more stops at intersections to struggle with the phone to see where to go, can just keep the speed up looking at the display once in a while. The display is also very easy to read in sunlight.
- piquadrat 8y ago
  The newly released Edge 520 Plus builds a bit on that, as it comes with maps for your region pre-loaded (region as in e.g. Europe, or US). This allows it to do point-to-point routing on the fly, as well as rerouting if you miss a turn. I bought it a few weeks ago and am super happy with it.
toomanybeersies 8y ago
I try to do the same even while driving. It's a good brain exercise and helps ensure that I'll actually remember the route.
TeMPOraL 8y ago
Oh yes, the heat. We're going to a friend's place in a different city, more than an hour away. My SO is driving, I'm navigating. Just as we're about to enter the city and start the most complex part of the drive, my phone dies. Turns out, the constant glare of the sun + rubber casing + the already absurd heat generated by Google's navigation overheated the phone. We had to stop for a moment, let it cool down, and only then could continue. My takeaway from that experience is that on long trips, I now only engage navigation in the important areas, and take off the rubber casing when driving in warm weather.
yAnonymous 8y ago
>I live in Australia and the heat of the sun on the phone + google maps using CPU will literally shut off the phone as it reaches 50C+ Get a better maps app, there's an abundance of them. Google Maps for mobile is just a resource hog with a shitty UI.
gearhart 8y ago
This. I've frequently been surprised by how useless the audio navigation is without being able to check the screen for clarity. There just needs to be a "no visuals" setting where you get given much more audio information. The worst experience I've had was riding in Slavic countries with just headphones in and realising after a few miles that GMaps couldn't pronounce the road names and so was just leaving a silence. I'd get "Turn left on to ''". I thought the roads were numbered and I was constantly turning onto highway 2.
- hfdgiutdryg 8y ago
  I find Google's audio cues to be bizarrely mistimed. I wrote navigation software for the PocketPC way back in '02, and my cues were more adaptive to approach speed.
- pro_zac 8y ago
  Agreed. I've tried several times to use google maps with bluetooth headphones on my bike in London. Unlike in the states, the roads are never straight for very long and there are lots of roundabouts. If you take a wrong exit, it will recalculate a new path, but without seeing the screen you don't know you messed up. I found myself wanting positive and negative feedback via audio. "Take the third exit at the round about." "Good job" or "Turned to soon. Recalculating"
kokey 8y ago
I went on holiday to an area I used to drive a lot before navigation devices, there I realised how much more relaxed I am if I didn't use it. So I tried to go back to studying routes before my drive and only having a device as a backup plan and discovered it generally makes me more relaxed especially when there are other people being distracting in the car.
dan_hawkins 8y ago
TomTom app for iPhone works wonderfully when you'd like to navigate just by voice commands. I've navigated through Paris during rush hours without single mistaken turn just by listening to the phone :D
chris_overseas 8y ago
I recently saw a pitch from a startup that have a gadget [1] designed to address exactly the problems you talk about and might be worth a look (disclaimer: I have no relationship with the company but I do cycle a lot and thought their product looked promising). The debate amongst the investors afterwards was interesting, once the startup had left the room. The investors who didn't cycle/motorbike were sceptical and couldn't understand why a mobile phone wasn't good enough for this whereas the investors who had some cycling experience were mostly positive about the product. [1] https://beeline.co/ https://beeline.co/
- mavidser 8y ago
  This looks really cool. Especially liked the compass mode.
- hfdgiutdryg 8y ago
  That's very interesting. One of my current peeves is watching for the next turnoff with various GPS apps. I have to rotate my whole head down to see, since my phone is currently mounted to my motorcycle handlebars[1], and the turn icons are usually small and vague. The reality is that I want detailed maps for route planning and local exploration, but very simple maps for the actual navigation part.
djrogers 8y ago
> So now I just research it before leaving, mentally map it in my mind, look up street view for turn offs... Then I Yolo it all the way. When I finally admit I'm lost, I pull up, bring out the phone and start google maps then... This is by far the best way I've found to use mapping apps while riding. Setting aside the heat issue, GPS apps require more concentration than I like to give them while riding. It's a lot easier to check other vehicles rear view mirrors, judge intent of drivers, and just generally keep your head on a swivel without a GPS to look at. I have found that for the occasional reminder, my Apple watch's taps work well (can't see my watch though, so you gotta remember which taps are which for left/right).
davidzweig 8y ago
I designed a device with an 8" e-ink display recently. I thought it wouldn't be too hard to repurpose it to have it display rendered maps tiles for your current location, using the built-in GPS module. If you could send the device a GPX/KML file over bluetooth, it could plot it over the tiles, and you'd have a simple, robust setup. Searching, entering text etc. are best done on a device with a good input mechanism and data connection, anyway.
davewasthere 8y ago
Yeah, I've avoided mounting a phone to bike here in Aus yet, but could see how easily heat and using gmaps would fry the phone to the point of shutdown. I've managed to drive/ride and just listen to voice which worked well enough for directions. Mostly though, I'd love gmaps to be optimised for finding me the 'fun' roads. Sort of a bestbikingroads algorithm that lets me find the few twisties in between where I am, and my destination, even if it's quite a detour.

thunfischbrot 8y ago

And no mention of a high-contrast display mode. Seems like such low-hanging fruit to have a black-and-white mode which would help make the map more legible in direct sunlight, with much larger navigation cues.

adityapurwa 8y ago

I remembered that Google invested in Go-Jek, so with this immersive trip and also with the data collected by Go-Jek drivers all around Indonesia, I think they will be able to provide reliable map service for motorbikes. I used Motorbikes everyday, while in my city it is quite helpful to have Google Maps, sometimes the map just didnt understand about the rules, that this road is one way, that only cars is allowed. One bad story that I had with Google Maps while riding a motorbike was, Google map decided to reroute itself without me knowing (phone is in my pocket, I only listened the navigation aid), I ended up circling the city back because Google Maps decided that it is the best way to get to my destination. I wasted an hour circling the city before I noticed I was heading back to the direction where I came fron and stopped to check the Google Maps app and noticed it routing me through another routes.

77ko 8y ago

What would be cool if there was a very simple low power display bluetooth which just displayed an left/right/upp arrow with a number counting down when to turn or stop. Phones don't really work mounted on a bike, but a simple display could do the job. Sort of how android watch displays an arrow, but using a low power screen.

Halop 8y ago
I feel you - I have tried attaching my android watch to the handlebars and functionality wise it's perfect UI for navigating. However it takes about 10 seconds for the screen to dim to the monochrome power saver mode and then it's impossible to see anything during daylight. Android wear does not support a permanently on screen all the time and I would totally buy a cheap device like that just for navigating.
- joecool1029 8y ago
  >Android wear does not support a permanently on screen all the time and I would totally buy a cheap device like that just for navigating. Buy a Pebble? I have been using a Pebble 2 SE for over a year and one of the primary use cases is so I can navigate on motorcycle. I leave phone in my pocket. I set the route, maps sends a notification before turns and the watch picks it up. Works in full sunlight and I shake it at night to light it up. Gets 5-6 days of battery life, I think I paid $40 for mine.
- modeless 8y ago
  How about a Pebble? Always on, sunlight visible, cheap. The company is gone but they still work. This is what you can get for navigation: https://apps.getpebble.com/en_US/application/530a8f36fc62a5e01100001c https://apps.getpebble.com/en_US/application/530a8f36fc62a5e...
  - joecool1029 8y ago
    Never saw that app for it. Thanks, I'll have to give it a whirl on mine. Edit: Oh well, android only.

ensiferum 8y ago

Will google maps route the bike riders through their already current de-facto routes such as pedestrian footpaths and other such lanes that are completely abused by motorcyclists? Slightly off tangent but having been to Jakarta (never again, what an absolutely disgusting slum of a city) the traffic in that city is probably the worst ever (maybe Indian traffic can have it beat) Even more off tangent but it's crazy how illogical some places can be (from my perspective). In Jakarta all addresses are more or less useless since the house/street numbers are in completely random order (the order they're built I guess) so you have no idea where some building with some particular number resides on a road/street relative to some other building. Finally a tip to a fellow traveller, if you're asking for a taxi and give them the address and the driver goes to the other drivers to ask about its location the chances are he doesn't have a clue but he'll be very happy to take you for random spin and ask you for money.

paulie_a 8y ago
My hierarchy of travel is uber, hitchhiking, and then if I am absolutely desperate taking a taxi.

AnnoyingSwede 8y ago

Riding in the Netherlands with google maps and a scalaG9x and a android phone in the pocket works pretty okey. The few issues i have is bluetooth not being on continuesly, so as the phone starts giving a new direction, i might miss the first few words, but as i get closer to the exit and the second or third remind goes off, i tend to hear the full message. I am using english phone settings and language settings, and this unfortuatly means that every streetname in Dutch are pronounced in English, which give it a comic tone that sometimes takes a second to wrap my brain around. Other than this, traffic redirects due to congestion works like a charm. I also own a Garmin Zumo 220 which i had mounted on next to the speedo, but since you have to pay for updated maps after a year, this device is now collecting dust in favor of Google.

timmipetit 8y ago
Yeah, having those Dutch street names pronounced in English is so confusing and funny! It would be perfect if you could use your phone in English, but use your local language for navigation. Still haven't found a way to achieve this on my Android phone though :(
- ferongr 8y ago
  The App Settings xposed module allows you to change locale (among other settings) per app. I use it to keep Google Maps and Here Maps in Greek while my device locale is English.

Reason077 8y ago

Could Google Maps for Motorbikes be configured to route noisy motorbikes away from residential streets? Especially late at night when I’m trying to sleep!

uitgewis 8y ago
There's a common belief among motorcyclists that having loud exhausts help alert other car drivers of their presence, making them more visible on the roads. There are various arguments in favor and against that notion, but if it's getting you to notice them I guess it is better than nothing.
- criddell 8y ago
  I never believed that. I was an avid motorcyclists for decades and spent lots of time around riders of loud pipe bikes. If safety was what drove them to straight pipes, then I would expect those concerns to carry through with the rest of their gear.
  - Reason077 8y ago
    I read somewhere that statistics actually suggest the opposite - that bikes with loud pipes are more likely to suffer a serious accidents and injury. I suspect that's because the type of bikers that have loud pipes are also the ones riding aggressively, overtaking frequently, weaving between traffic lanes, etc.
  - gascan 8y ago
    As a motorcyclist & car driver, what I've observed is in a car you can hear loud pipe bikes- but only when they are in front of you, i.e. with the tailpipe pointing at your face. Behind or beside you- in other words, in your blind spots- don't hear a thing.
- UncleEntity 8y ago
  I used to have a ZX-10 with super loud exhaust (apparently a previously owner amateur raced it) and other drivers would definitely know when I was around them. People don't always see motorcycles but if they hear you they tend not to pull right out in front of you in my experience. It also worked a lot better than the horn to get people's attention, little beep vs. loud roar. Not that I'm advocating for loud motorcycles, mufflers exist for a reason...that bike would set off car alarms while just idling past in parking lots which was kind of annoying.

rcMgD2BwE72F 8y ago

The public transportation and cycling options will become even more hidden in the app with this addition. How can Google Maps continue defaulting to car and Uber when asks for directions in ultra-dense cities with great public and cycling infrastructure (like Paris), while Google pretends helping the environment? Even when the subway directions are 10x cheaper and faster, Google Maps keeps highlighting car directions. Maybe the referral fee that Google gets from Uber (and other "partners") explains it.

davewasthere 8y ago
Actually, Gmaps seems normally fairly decent for cycling, which was my main method of transport. Only thing is, there are tons of cool cycle routes around, and I'd like to say I prefer those. It needs some safety/effort-based preferences for routing. Like, I'd prefer to ride 2 or 3km more, if it's on a dedicated bike path, rather than ride direct to my destination on busy traffic roads.
- namibj 8y ago
  Especially because momentum is not nearly as free on a bike than on something with a somewhat powerful motor. You can go faster if you don't need to accelerate as much (due to breaking or inclination). I would like a sort of flywheel or so, something able to store energy for a few minutes and dump it about as fast as the traction allows. Even if it has to be manually switched between slow and fast acceleration based on whether conditions with a tool, that'd be fine. And then just give me something for my thumb to work or so that either uses the same setting to decide the breaking force, or allow full control over it. It shouldn't be too hard to do. And no, an electric motor won't cut it, due to power density. I don't want it to be limited to 500 W or so, I want it to have more than that. And mechanics have much more power density than electromagnetics.

chewz 8y ago

I had been riding a lot in mountains in North of Thailand and generally in SE Asia. Mostly small country roads. Google Maps and also Apple Maps is impossible to use in bright sun when you just stop to check the map and have your rainbans on. The road is beige on dark yellow - the color palette is just wrong and impossible to adjust.

bungie4 8y ago

In North America and Europe, it's common for motorcyclists to quickly layout routes when touring using google maps. They (google) have made a UX that makes it ridiculously easy (as compared to something like Garmins Basecamp -which should be used as shiny example of how not to design an UX) The issue is that you cannot directly save the maps in GPX format to upload to your GPS. So thiers a world of work arounds, some easy, some not, to get a KML file into your GPS. If it supported GPX natively, you would likely capture the entire North American and European touring market in one fell swoop. I'm guessing you (google) never asked which kind of goes against the entire point of this article

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

bg0 8y ago

When do I get to use this?! At the moment I'm just "avoiding highways" on my scooter in Austin. Would be cool to see how this translates in the US

wickberg 8y ago

I use it on my motorcycle in the US, but there are some major pain points. I have a Bluetooth headset in my helmet, so I can hear the directions... which are usually close enough. But you still do get some occasionally confusing voice prompts that - without the screen to glance at - may lead you to a wrong turn. I do have a handlebar mount I've resorted to on a few occasions, but as others have noted (a) the phone can overheat, (b) subjecting a $500 device to the vibration and chance of falling is not ideal, and (c) I've had the acceleratorometer actions kick in unexpectedly, leading to the phone battery dying faster since it turned the LED flashlight mode on. That said, I have only one serious complain - the opt-out-of-route-change that they've made the default is a huge issue, and I really wish there was a setting to disable that. If I've gone in and picked between a few potential routes, having it decide a different one is faster and that I'll need to press a button on screen to stay on my preferred heading ends up leaving me off course and/or on the side of the road digging my phone back out. (And before someone suggests voice commands to fix it... that's not a workable solution. While the helmet cuts down noise, it doesn't eliminate it, and I have enough problems with voice recognition that I leave it permanently disabled.)

johnbrodie 8y ago
I have a lot of the same issues. Bluetooth headset turned up to almost max + foam earplugs works reasonably well, as long as I already have a good idea of where I'm going. Handlebar mounts work fairly well, but putting the phone in the sun in Arizona during the summer often leads to it turning off. There's also quite a few reports of phones either flying off mounts or camera lens/focus dying due to the vibration. In the end, I normally leave the phone in my pocket, make due with voice alerts, and leave a few minutes early so I can safely miss an exit without panic. The last thing you need on a highway filled with texting drivers (completely legal in AZ) is to be distracted and making multi-lane changes at the last second.

gmuessig 8y ago

Who at Google is doing this work for manual and motorized wheelchairs and mobility scooters? Those all require different way finding I hear Brett Heising of brettapproved may be available..

cweagans 8y ago

IMO, this is one of the applications where AR really shines. Having a HUD in your helmet to show this kind of information would be absolutely amazing. There have been attempts, I know, but it doesn't seem like there's anything really consumer-oriented at this point (Skully, for example, was ridiculously expensive - over $1k for a helmet, IIRC. That's plainly out of the realm of a normal helmet purchase).

jedimastert 8y ago
I'm betting there's a fairly easy way to adapt full head helmets for AR.
- cweagans 8y ago
  I've looked into it a bit. I don't think "easy" is the right word here. :)