4 ms·

I have to say that I've had completely the opposite experience from the author. GMaps almost always find what I'm looking for in a timely fashion, I find the of

by jxf 12y ago

I have to say that I've had completely the opposite experience from the author. GMaps almost always find what I'm looking for in a timely fashion, I find the offline maps useful when I'm traveling to a different city, and so on. One of my favorite use cases is having GMaps give me directions by public transit, especially if there's a metro, which is nice if you're in a new city and want to save a few bucks on taxis or Uber. That said, they've definitely made a few changes I haven't been a fan of. For example, offline maps must now be refreshed once every 30 days, and if you're offline when the timer runs out you won't be able to see the map. (Previously there was no time limit.)

etfb 12y ago
There's a new version of it now, which is an option when you go to maps.google.com. I tried it and gave up because it doesn't seem to work on Tasmanian ADSL - sits and spins, never loads, presumably because the new state government got into the state's internet infrastructure and shot one of the hamsters.
goostavos 12y ago
I agree. On the whole, maps is still awesome -- and with the google now functionality? Holy crap, I feel like Iron Man when I'm driving around and command my phone to navigate me to the closest Taco Bell. That said, I do absolutely, 100% think the everything-is-now-done-through-the-search-box approach is remarkably horrible and unintuitive. I honestly thought that you couldn't customize directions any more. Hell, there were so many little features -- simple things like Search Nearby -- that I thought went away entirely. The UX is that terrible. Want to customize the route your currently on? That's easy! Ok, so just close what your currently doing -- hey! Why are you looking in the settings? Why would settings be in Settings? Listen to what I'm saying! So, close out of the -- No! It's not in the Hamburger button. Settings aren't in the menu. Why would settings be in a menu? Pay attention! Exit navigation. Back out of the Directions screen, back out of the location screen. Now, see the single line search bar? Click on that -- but don't search for anything, there's a small button in the drop down. Click that! Congratulations! You've found the settings! I just want to know how that UX meeting went. Settings!? In a menu!? No, no, no. Makes no sense from a user experience perspective.
bwanab 12y ago
Agreed. Maybe some parts of the world aren't so well mapped as my part (Greater Boston area), but I'd think the SF Bay area would be one of the better ones. For kicks I just tried a number of map searches and every one came back with accurate results. As they say, YMMV, but I don't think Google is trying to forsake us.

by jxf 12y ago

etfb 12y ago

There's a new version of it now, which is an option when you go to maps.google.com. I tried it and gave up because it doesn't seem to work on Tasmanian ADSL - sits and spins, never loads, presumably because the new state government got into the state's internet infrastructure and shot one of the hamsters.

goostavos 12y ago

I agree. On the whole, maps is still awesome -- and with the google now functionality? Holy crap, I feel like Iron Man when I'm driving around and command my phone to navigate me to the closest Taco Bell. That said, I do absolutely, 100% think the everything-is-now-done-through-the-search-box approach is remarkably horrible and unintuitive. I honestly thought that you couldn't customize directions any more. Hell, there were so many little features -- simple things like Search Nearby -- that I thought went away entirely. The UX is that terrible. Want to customize the route your currently on? That's easy! Ok, so just close what your currently doing -- hey! Why are you looking in the settings? Why would settings be in Settings? Listen to what I'm saying! So, close out of the -- No! It's not in the Hamburger button. Settings aren't in the menu. Why would settings be in a menu? Pay attention! Exit navigation. Back out of the Directions screen, back out of the location screen. Now, see the single line search bar? Click on that -- but don't search for anything, there's a small button in the drop down. Click that! Congratulations! You've found the settings! I just want to know how that UX meeting went. Settings!? In a menu!? No, no, no. Makes no sense from a user experience perspective.

bwanab 12y ago

Agreed. Maybe some parts of the world aren't so well mapped as my part (Greater Boston area), but I'd think the SF Bay area would be one of the better ones. For kicks I just tried a number of map searches and every one came back with accurate results. As they say, YMMV, but I don't think Google is trying to forsake us.