Why you should use Google Maps when you know where you're going

Yeah no...

Google Maps is good without a doubt, but it should not always be used... I've experienced Google Maps drive me through ALL the suburbs in PMB rather than use the N3 and then take the offramp, because it had no idea the offramp existed (its been in place for a good long time)
 
ToxicBunny said:
Yeah no...

Google Maps is good without a doubt, but it should not always be used... I've experienced Google Maps drive me through ALL the suburbs in PMB rather than use the N3 and then take the offramp, because it had no idea the offramp existed (its been in place for a good long time)
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Allow Google Maps to recommend best route to Scarborough... at 20:30 in the evening. The mother *(&^)(&)& decided a via Noord Hoek mountain pass route would be the best..after that "fyn poepies" joy ride, discovering a bloody road that takes no more than 10 minutes from the main road. If that was not fun enough, indicates the AirBnb, we booked, to be at the top of a right angled gravel road... - getting to the top and calling the custodian , to be told,... we in the other street...the well tarred one...so yea...me and google maps have a trust deficit issue, we working on it.
 
Been doing this for a while. And most of the times I use Google Maps and Waze simultaneously.

Ps. Let's have a moment of silence for the satnav unit, it was good while it lasted.
 
I use it daily for commuting to Sandton, It integrates with my car radio through android auto, generally it feels like it routes better than waze, but it does have its flaws.

Some days it tries to route you over the Reya Vaya bridge to cross the M1, that bridge is closed so there isn't any chance crossing it, other days it reports off ramp delay times incorrectly as some people jump the queues and drive illegally to bypass the waits so it throws the algorithm off.

A big concern is that it also routes you through service delivery protests as their are less cars there, but you kinda know if your route is 15min faster and there is a ton of black smoke in front you are in for a wild ride

But I'll rather drive with it and all its flaws as it generally saves me time in traffic
 
Had been to a quick dash (7 countries) in Europe in April. Uber and Taxi drivers ALL use Google maps. You do NOT find Garmins/TomToms on average stuck to a windshield. Except for the nice pictures of the 3d buildings on the luxury cars incar satnav , google maps still have the upper hand imho.
 
Maybe I will give Google Maps a try again for my daily driving. Been using Waze only, but damn that thing chows battery ... and in summer it literally causes my Huawei P10 Lite to overheat where the phone gives a warning.
 
Bluran said:
I use it daily for commuting to Sandton, It integrates with my car radio through android auto, generally it feels like it routes better than waze, but it does have its flaws.

Some days it tries to route you over the Reya Vaya bridge to cross the M1, that bridge is closed so there isn't any chance crossing it, other days it reports off ramp delay times incorrectly as some people jump the queues and drive illegally to bypass the waits so it throws the algorithm off.

A big concern is that it also routes you through service delivery protests as their are less cars there, but you kinda know if your route is 15min faster and there is a ton of black smoke in front you are in for a wild ride

But I'll rather drive with it and all its flaws as it generally saves me time in traffic
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It does similar things down here in Durban...

So yes, its great to use it... but you should use your local knowledge of an area/trip to override it when it starts doing stupid shyte.
 
NOTHING replaces plain old fashioned common sense, a basic sense of direction which you will only develop WITHOUT all these fandangled gadgets, and a paper map.
The ONE and ONLY time I relied entirely on Google maps, it sent me on a song and dance only to find myself at the back of the premises I was looking for in a road that had NO access to the premises.

So, sure, for the lame and stupid, go on using google maps exclusively. Enjoy being led by the nose like a donkey on a rope following a carrot.
 
Geoff.D said:
NOTHING replaces plain old fashioned common sense, a basic sense of direction which you will only develop WITHOUT all these fandangled gadgets, and a paper map.
The ONE and ONLY time I relied entirely on Google maps, it sent me on a song and dance only to find myself at the back of the premises I was looking for in a road that had NO access to the premises.

So, sure, for the lame and stupid, go on using google maps exclusively. Enjoy being led by the nose like a donkey on a rope following a carrot.
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Moenie so bang wees vir tegnologie nie oom. Ons weet jy raak oud. Dit sal okay wees.
 
Beyond.Celsus said:
Moenie so bang wees vir tegnologie nie oom. Ons weet jy raak oud. Dit sal okay wees.
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A decent map plus a basic GPS is all I will ever need. And the bells and whistles they claim are working such as speed limits, alternative updates routings and speed are all already covered. I tried over the weekend with a simple trip between my place my daughter's to "see" if this "stuff" works, and it did not. No speed limits, no speedometer, and no camera warnings anywhere.

All I saw was a message saying "waiting for GPS" or something like that. The 35 minutes it took in both directions never saw the device ever finding out where it was. So, after not using Gmaps for more than a year, my basic opinion was just reinforced. It is all rubbish. Yet my plain old fashioned Garmin unit did perfectly well, as it has always done.

And that was on TWO Android devices, BOTH SS! One my own and one belonging to a friend who was out to prove to me that GMaps is better than my Garmin. Needless to say, he got very quiet after 10 minutes when his favourite useless toy still would not start navigating. he fiddled all the way there and back with both devices and could not get either to work. When pulled in to the driveways, FINALLY both devices showed a location, BUT it was very obvious that those, locations were based on the Mobile networks and nothing to do with GPS.
 
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I personally find Google Maps to be great for my daily work/home commutes.

As others have mentioned however, at night it may not be the safest routes, and for remote areas the paths could be questionable, but if you use your brains its easily fixed by going back to the old ways and using a few brain cells.

Having it on the Android Car radio makes it even better, no phone usage required.
 
Bobbin said:
How does it compare with Waze? Both are now Google AFAIK but do they share the same data? I normally use Waze.

EDIT: https://www.ridester.com/waze-vs-google-maps/
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Waze has gotten me in a few pickles where Google Maps easily got me out and back on track.

I prefer Waze by default for the traffic and speed information, but it's not always great in lesser known locations.
 
Tinuva said:
I personally find Google Maps to be great for my daily work/home commutes.

As others have mentioned however, at night it may not be the safest routes, and for remote areas the paths could be questionable, but if you use your brains its easily fixed by going back to the old ways and using a few brain cells.

Having it on the Android Car radio makes it even better, no phone usage required.
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EXACTLY.

This mapping software should be supplementary to your own knowledge, not replacing it and making you drive like a mindless robot.

Generally (unless there is crazy traffic) if it's taking you down a path that doesn't make sense...that's because it doesn't make sense.
 
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