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I don't know if it's just me but Google Maps usability has declined a lot in the last two years. Before it was just so easy to look up something, set the route

I don't know if it's just me but Google Maps usability has declined a lot in the last two years. Before it was just so easy to look up something, set the route and go. Now it seems that there are a lot of unnecessary steps and information. Also there's a baffling bias toward showing directions instead of launching the live navigation view. They are trying so hard to make it look and work like Yelp that the overall "job to be done" of the application which is navigation has almost become a non first class citizen in the app. But even with all that, the thing that I hate the most about Google Maps these days is that somehow the "keep map up north" setting never stays off. I don't know what I'm doing but that setting gets enabled without me intervening. And that makes navigation in a car so hard and dangerous. I always have to open the settings in the middle of a trip to turn it off.

OnlyOneCannolo 6y ago
I actually like being shown the directions first. It's really helpful to have an overview and understanding of the route instead of just being spoon-fed surprise mystery directions at the last moment. Sometimes you need/want to deviate from your plans, and a little extra spacial awareness goes a long way.
- Spivak 6y ago
  And that's the point where you're supposed to tweak the route if you know better. I used maps to gauge traffic on my commute but there were times when I know they're wrong and haven't picked up on an accident yet.
  - OnlyOneCannolo 6y ago
    True! Also helps you realize if you're heading to the wrong destination.
Spivak 6y ago
To be fair I use Google Maps like I would Yelp to find local businesses so I think I'm part of the user-base that's ruining it for the rest of us. My workflow is something like searching "restaurants" panning around, looking at reviews, and then hitting the call button and it seems like they're catering to my use-case because it's monetizable.
davidy123 6y ago
There are some significant features that have changed. For example, it's become a lot harder to pick alternative routes, it used to be possible to finely edit them. Also, I don't think it's always been this way, but sometimes when I chose a route in Maps on Android for my own reasons, it will revert to its own idea spontaneously, putting me on the wrong route. Another feature they removed is it used to be possible to tap the current big green navigation step to have it read it out loud, which was really handy, now you have to drill several taps down into "directions." Combine it with the other annoyances, like it showing destinations and advertisements that have nothing to do with my search (including a persistent bug where they show up as results when they're not after a couple interactions), and not being able to chose a particular route and send it to someone (my carefully selected route gets ignored for its calculated route), along with the fact they can just change this under people's feet, and I'd be glad to switch to something based on open source/maps.
hiidrew 6y ago
Still exceptionally better than the default Apple Maps imo.

OnlyOneCannolo 6y ago

I actually like being shown the directions first. It's really helpful to have an overview and understanding of the route instead of just being spoon-fed surprise mystery directions at the last moment. Sometimes you need/want to deviate from your plans, and a little extra spacial awareness goes a long way.

Spivak 6y ago
And that's the point where you're supposed to tweak the route if you know better. I used maps to gauge traffic on my commute but there were times when I know they're wrong and haven't picked up on an accident yet.
- OnlyOneCannolo 6y ago
  True! Also helps you realize if you're heading to the wrong destination.

Spivak 6y ago

To be fair I use Google Maps like I would Yelp to find local businesses so I think I'm part of the user-base that's ruining it for the rest of us. My workflow is something like searching "restaurants" panning around, looking at reviews, and then hitting the call button and it seems like they're catering to my use-case because it's monetizable.

davidy123 6y ago

There are some significant features that have changed. For example, it's become a lot harder to pick alternative routes, it used to be possible to finely edit them. Also, I don't think it's always been this way, but sometimes when I chose a route in Maps on Android for my own reasons, it will revert to its own idea spontaneously, putting me on the wrong route. Another feature they removed is it used to be possible to tap the current big green navigation step to have it read it out loud, which was really handy, now you have to drill several taps down into "directions." Combine it with the other annoyances, like it showing destinations and advertisements that have nothing to do with my search (including a persistent bug where they show up as results when they're not after a couple interactions), and not being able to chose a particular route and send it to someone (my carefully selected route gets ignored for its calculated route), along with the fact they can just change this under people's feet, and I'd be glad to switch to something based on open source/maps.

hiidrew 6y ago

Still exceptionally better than the default Apple Maps imo.