6 ms·

Google makes it trivial to download maps for offline use, I have multiple states downloaded in Maps. Google Maps experience with offline downloaded maps is 100

Google makes it trivial to download maps for offline use, I have multiple states downloaded in Maps. Google Maps experience with offline downloaded maps is 100% quality and absolutely not "sub-par" or "frustrating".

propogandist 8y ago
by trivial, you mean logged into a google account where all 'offline' activity is synced and mapped to your account once connectivity is restored. I also find it hard to believe that Google maps offline can't give voice navigation (reverts to beeps) and that requires constant data connectivity... the app is constantly phoning home too.
- brewrwe 8y ago
  Google Maps is pretty bad without fast, reliable data, I remember trying it on Sprint, no joy unless I could pull at least a megabit a second.
  - eigenvector 8y ago
    The problem is that there is no user-settable 'offline mode', so as soon as Google detects an Internet connection (even a very slow one) it starts trying to behave as if it's on a 100Mbps LTE connection. This makes many Google apps totally unusable on low-bandwidth networks. When you open apps like Hangouts, Google Maps, etc. on low-bandwidth connections, they immediately try to sync an onslaught of data before making the UI responsive based on the existing offline state. Data that could take hours to sync at 5kb/s. There's no reason I haven't have a text-only messaging conversation perfectly well on a 2G network. Except when Google tries to sync 50MB of pictures from a conversation I haven't even selected yet, and all of my 500 contacts' profile photos, before I can do anything else. Incidentally, this is why everyone outside of North America uses WhatsApp.
    - brewrwe 8y ago
      Heh, I'm an avid Signal User due to that, not terribly much message syncing going on as the message database is stored on your device :3
    - izacus 8y ago
      What are you talking about? There's literally a "WiFi only" toggle in Google Maps app.
      - eigenvector 8y ago
        How well do you suppose that would work on say, a satellite connection over wi-fi?
  - UncleEntity 8y ago
    I have used it all day, every day I that I've worked in the last seven years on Sprint and very rarely have a problem. One strange thing I've noticed over the years is there's a difference on Android vs Apple -- can't count the times I've gone to the wrong place following the Android tablet in the car only to have to pull up the address on the iPhone to get there. When they first put the tablets in the cars I was using the navigation and it took me into the alley between the houses and "you have arrived"...in their backyard. Not very helpful. Honestly, though, I rarely use navigation unless I'm feeling really lazy or going somewhere complicated enough that I can't figure out how to get there by just glancing at the map. 100% don't use navigation on the stupid tablet in the car.
    - mrep 8y ago
      I use mine anytime I have to go through high route traffic like interstates as their traffic data has saved me countless hours rerouting me through some accident. Totally worth it
avip 8y ago
Unless the place you need is "unavailable for download".
marcosdumay 8y ago
It may be trivial, but I have actually never found a way to mark them and assure myself the download was complete and the maps are available before a trip.
- criley2 8y ago
  The download included a persistent notification informing me of the entire download process, including percentage and a finish message. Perhaps you disabled notifications from the app.
  - marcosdumay 8y ago
    Ouch! Yes, I did disable it. That explains it, thanks. Google Maps keeps notifying me of "you are at X, would you like to review it?" So it can't make useful notification anymore either.
wtallis 8y ago
> Google Maps experience with offline downloaded maps is 100% quality and absolutely not "sub-par" or "frustrating". Selecting areas to download is more of a hassle than with OSMAnd, and the map data requires more storage space. I've also frequently experienced severe degradation in the detail of the voice prompts for turn by turn navigation when the phone doesn't have a data connection, where the phone only saying "in a quarter mile, turn right" without giving me a street name or exit number, let alone lane information.
puzzle 8y ago
At some point, there was also this undocumented feature where it fetches not just the directions, but a little extra data so it can reroute you on the device if you miss a turn and your phone has gone offline. It only works for small detours, does not take traffic into account, etc.
- lorenzhs 8y ago
  There's a paper on how this works from Microsoft Research and KIT (where all of the commonly used routing techniques were developed!): https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/corridor_alenex.pdf https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/...
  - puzzle 8y ago
    Yeah, Google hired Robert Geisberger...

propogandist 8y ago

by trivial, you mean logged into a google account where all 'offline' activity is synced and mapped to your account once connectivity is restored. I also find it hard to believe that Google maps offline can't give voice navigation (reverts to beeps) and that requires constant data connectivity... the app is constantly phoning home too.

brewrwe 8y ago
Google Maps is pretty bad without fast, reliable data, I remember trying it on Sprint, no joy unless I could pull at least a megabit a second.
- eigenvector 8y ago
  The problem is that there is no user-settable 'offline mode', so as soon as Google detects an Internet connection (even a very slow one) it starts trying to behave as if it's on a 100Mbps LTE connection. This makes many Google apps totally unusable on low-bandwidth networks. When you open apps like Hangouts, Google Maps, etc. on low-bandwidth connections, they immediately try to sync an onslaught of data before making the UI responsive based on the existing offline state. Data that could take hours to sync at 5kb/s. There's no reason I haven't have a text-only messaging conversation perfectly well on a 2G network. Except when Google tries to sync 50MB of pictures from a conversation I haven't even selected yet, and all of my 500 contacts' profile photos, before I can do anything else. Incidentally, this is why everyone outside of North America uses WhatsApp.
  - brewrwe 8y ago
    Heh, I'm an avid Signal User due to that, not terribly much message syncing going on as the message database is stored on your device :3
  - izacus 8y ago
    What are you talking about? There's literally a "WiFi only" toggle in Google Maps app.
    - eigenvector 8y ago
      How well do you suppose that would work on say, a satellite connection over wi-fi?
- UncleEntity 8y ago
  I have used it all day, every day I that I've worked in the last seven years on Sprint and very rarely have a problem. One strange thing I've noticed over the years is there's a difference on Android vs Apple -- can't count the times I've gone to the wrong place following the Android tablet in the car only to have to pull up the address on the iPhone to get there. When they first put the tablets in the cars I was using the navigation and it took me into the alley between the houses and "you have arrived"...in their backyard. Not very helpful. Honestly, though, I rarely use navigation unless I'm feeling really lazy or going somewhere complicated enough that I can't figure out how to get there by just glancing at the map. 100% don't use navigation on the stupid tablet in the car.
  - mrep 8y ago
    I use mine anytime I have to go through high route traffic like interstates as their traffic data has saved me countless hours rerouting me through some accident. Totally worth it

avip 8y ago

Unless the place you need is "unavailable for download".

marcosdumay 8y ago

It may be trivial, but I have actually never found a way to mark them and assure myself the download was complete and the maps are available before a trip.

criley2 8y ago
The download included a persistent notification informing me of the entire download process, including percentage and a finish message. Perhaps you disabled notifications from the app.
- marcosdumay 8y ago
  Ouch! Yes, I did disable it. That explains it, thanks. Google Maps keeps notifying me of "you are at X, would you like to review it?" So it can't make useful notification anymore either.

wtallis 8y ago

> Google Maps experience with offline downloaded maps is 100% quality and absolutely not "sub-par" or "frustrating". Selecting areas to download is more of a hassle than with OSMAnd, and the map data requires more storage space. I've also frequently experienced severe degradation in the detail of the voice prompts for turn by turn navigation when the phone doesn't have a data connection, where the phone only saying "in a quarter mile, turn right" without giving me a street name or exit number, let alone lane information.

puzzle 8y ago

At some point, there was also this undocumented feature where it fetches not just the directions, but a little extra data so it can reroute you on the device if you miss a turn and your phone has gone offline. It only works for small detours, does not take traffic into account, etc.

lorenzhs 8y ago
There's a paper on how this works from Microsoft Research and KIT (where all of the commonly used routing techniques were developed!): https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/corridor_alenex.pdf https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/wp-content/uploads/...
- puzzle 8y ago
  Yeah, Google hired Robert Geisberger...