A more detailed, colorful map | Hacker News Reader

A more detailed, colorful map

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81 pointsdannyw23 comments

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.

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.

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.

True! Also helps you realize if you're heading to the wrong destination.

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.

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.

Still exceptionally better than the default Apple Maps imo.

So, are we losing the functionality to easily see what areas are parks (previously green) and what areas are not? Seems like a step back in usability.

Yeah, and does for example the white snowcap shown on Mt Rainier change with the seasons? How accurate is it at any given time, and if it's not accurate, what's the point?

In terms of usability, it's been said that Google Maps isn't about being a useful map application, but being a business directory with a map interface.

This was my reaction as well. It seems to be a fundamental shift from showing human boundaries (parks, etc.) to natural clime changes. Forget "more colorful"—that's a massive change in the intent of the data that seems to be glossed over.

Personally, I care much more about knowing where parks and public spaces are vs. whether the surrounding land is "arid, icy, forested, [or] mountainous".

At the moment I am constantly surprised by how hard to read the maps are. I very often cannot see the roads because they are white no a white background (on my phone).

Looks like a catchup feature to Apple Maps. Traffic signs must be next.

What a weird thing to say. Did you compare any of the examples with Apple Maps? All of Iceland is flat gray in Apple Maps, as is Morocco.

Apple Maps rolled out a v2 version in the US that was way more colorful, and changes shades a green and yellow depending on the vegetation. Just because it isn't global doesn't make it a weird thing to say

Apple updated Maps earlier this year to include more visual details. AFAICT it's still US-only.

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/01/apple-delivers-a-new-...

More like a catchup to Mapbox Streets [0]

[0]: https://api.mapbox.com/styles/v1/mapbox/streets-v11.html?tit...

Maybe but I hope they do it better than apple maps. I think the colors on apple maps can be misleading. For example, I live near the end of a bypass so there is a decent amount of grass around the on and off ramp. In Apple maps that is a dark green. When I see green in a map I think of parks. In fact, looking at the whole town I live in, I see most of the area is a shade of green. I guess the light green is farm land? but some of that light green as splotches of a medium green in it which I have no idea what that might be. Trees?

Still no traffic lights? "Turn right in 1.2 miles" will never be as easy to follow as "turn right at the third light" (or "turn right at the McDonalds").

This feature doesn't seem live in my web browser. Iceland still looks like the old version.

Not actually rolled out yet...

> This week, we’re rolling out new visual improvements

Google's releases are always so anticlimactic, since they are rolling out over a relatively long period of time.

It is, of course, the correct way of doing things, but readers will be disappointed when they try it themselves.

(I still have not gotten the noise-cancelling feature in Meet. Not sure what's up there)

I'm wondering when Google will start to show me based-location ads (with a, of course, "Skip" button) that interrupt me whenever I'm using their maps app

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