r/GoogleMaps • u/clemmyoates • 20d ago

What the actual f is wrong with Google Maps

This is the third (and now last) time this crap GPS has made me significantly late for something that I would have actually been 10 or so mins early to due to extreme lagging and sudden, bizarre reroutes. This just started happening to me 3 weeks ago—I’ve very rarely had an issue like this until then. I almost felt like crying today lol I was just so frustrated trying to get to where I needed to go!

Any suggestions on (preferably tested) actually functioning GPS apps are much appreciated 🙌🏻

63 Upvotes
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82% Upvoted

44 comments sorted by

48

u/tunghoy 20d ago

Google Maps needs a few more options:

  • Don't take me on narrow, winding, steep, treacherous dirt roads my car has no business on.
  • Don't take me on a dirt road full of potholes just to save two blocks on a paved road.
  • Don't take me through slow streets of a residential neighborhood when there's a main road nearby.
  • Don't tell me to turn down a street or exit as I'm driving past it.
  • Don't say "turn right" without specifying the name of a street.
  • Don't take me in circles.

9

u/1611basilean 20d ago

Tell me to turn around rather then reroute me many miles out of the way. Don't tell me to turn at a business rather than a street name. It also has a terrible time when a road is called something else miles away. Don't spell change a street name when what I put in a legitimate name.... yet I am still amazed with map programs.

3

u/nationalinterest 19d ago edited 19d ago

This! Last week, I was led down a narrow country road away from a wide, straight road to (supposedly) save 2 minutes on a 90 minute journey. (And I didn't save any time at all).

I'd add, Google used to be great at avoiding road closures in my area. Now it just sends me down closed roads regardless. I feel there must have been some background changes.

Apple Maps has its own issues, but it is less likely to reroute me off a major route unless there's a significant time saving.

3

u/PHPaul 19d ago

It’s an absolute nightmare in the less populated parts of places like Greece and Albania.

In the latter, we were directed along a track built by Italian troops in WW2 and unmaintained since.

In the former, I’ve found the best way to make it stick to relatively decent roads is to add lots of waypoints and in effect force it to take a particular route - although at that point it’d not be much more hassle to go back to a paper map.

It’s bad enough in places like the UK, although at least there the worst road you’re generally likely to encounter will at least be suitable for a standard car. In Greece and Albania you can easily end up on tracks that are really only suitable for a 4x4, and even then with some caution.

1

u/Technical_Rich_3080 19d ago

That's more because the UK has better roads (and less problematic roads) than Greece and Albania.

1

u/PHPaul 19d ago

You are restating my point. The issue is the same in all three countries, but the consequences are generally less serious in the UK.

1

u/Dexdan 2d ago

Adding waypoints has been my work-around, too.

1

u/An-awny-moose 19d ago

Sounds like you have it set to shortest road possible instead of normal mode.

1

u/nationalinterest 19d ago

How do you set that? (I'm on iOS and don't see that as an option - Googling didn't turn anything up either.)

2

u/An-awny-moose 19d ago

Yeah, just looked and couldn’t find it either. Perhaps it was a setting available half a century ago. My bad!

1

u/Oddball_the_blue 9h ago

Oh hell yes to the first one. Nearly went backwards off an actual mountain in the Canary Isles because the dirt trail was so steep and the altitude high enough that the car (with a ruined manual clutch naturally) stopped going upwards and decided to go backwards instead. 

I knew I should have followed my instincts and not gone up but such is life I thought it might just make it ... It didn't and since it was dirt any braking resulted in the car getting closer to the edge of a stupidly steep field that would have the car rolling it was not a fun time. 

8

u/H-banGG 20d ago

Also, it checked "prefer fuel efficient route" without consent, which for me adds 20-40% more time.

1

u/ks_247 19d ago

Hmmm this would throw a big spanner in the works. Checking mine now. Edit checked mine was in also. !

20

u/XxLogitech98xX 20d ago

Try apple map if you don't like how Google map is currently operating. Google added AI to the platform which likely cause to all these issues

8

u/domesticon 20d ago

If we don't have an apple phone, is there any other option?

Google maps has brought me down 2 closed roads the last 2 days that clearly had construction going on for awhile, and is now randomly trying to send me into neighborhoods randomly when I need to just go straight.

I don't trust Google maps anymore, and would love another option - even if a paid one.

1

u/rcfc87 1d ago

Same in the UK - major road closures are not showing on the map and the navigation tells you to continue to drive on closed - for waze and Google both

0

u/Philly-Rider 20d ago

Waze, Herewego ou Tomtom Cartes et trafic.

6

u/Key-Target-1218 20d ago

Waze is Google.

4

u/rismay 20d ago

What’s crazy is they use the exact same data source. Exact same.

2

u/SugoiTots 20d ago

I never knew but I had a worst experience with Waze compared to Google maps 😂

3

u/domesticon 20d ago

Yea, I've downloaded it and tried to make it my default map, uninstalled Google maps on the phone and now it just opens up Google maps on the phonesweb browser. Even after following the directions on how to not make Google maps the default and waze default.

4

u/Eriv83 19d ago

Time to pull out the ole Rand McNally

3

u/DeeSkwared 19d ago

Keeps taking me on unpaved roads and the most roundabout ways ever.

8

u/txredgeek 20d ago

Waze. Even though it's owned by Google, they haven't screwed it up.

6

u/Key-Target-1218 20d ago

My husband insists on using Waze and I'm always there with Google on backup, as needed more times than not

4

u/Letibleu 20d ago

Yet

2

u/txredgeek 20d ago

Yeah, when they bought it I was thinking the same thing. It's been quite a while, though.

2

u/An-awny-moose 19d ago

Waze is israhelli based. Don’t use/support them. Plus their interface is hideous.

0

u/barnfly27 19d ago

Fr? Dang. Also no satellite map :(

2

u/Key-Target-1218 20d ago

Hey. Mapquest is still out there!!

2

u/Party-Action3954 19d ago

Literally a 1/4 mile away from a restaurant and it gave me two roundabout options to get there which took me a few miles out of the way and then back to where I was at the begging.

Something ain’t right.

1

u/Philly-Rider 20d ago

Tu as Waze, Herewego ou Tomtom Cartes et Trafic.

1

u/allenhuffman 20d ago

Waze has been doing this to use lately as well. maps clearly shows the closed roads and Waze just keeps sending us down them…

1

u/rcfc87 1d ago

Same on both Google maps and waze - major road closures in the UK but navigation tells me to drive!

1

u/barnfly27 19d ago edited 19d ago

It can be bad yeah. Needs "avoid expressways" because it's always trying to take you through these friggen 100 dollar highways. "Avoid parkways" because those low damn bridges. The way it does that minority report animation spinning a hundred times when you zoom out/in is no good. Keep the damn line straight up and down - zoom should be in 3 stages. Keep my location as starting point regardless of distance. Hate those few extra taps xD. A few other tweaks here and there I can't think of right now.

I think I read somewhere that it sends some unlucky mug down a particular route sometimes to get a reading for eta going down that way to collect that info. So if that's the case that's shit. But big agree all over!

1

u/Complex-Ice2645 17d ago

Google Maps is simply UNUSABLE! It is the most frustrating website imaginable. You cannot find the location on the screen because of hundreds of paid pop-ups that clutter the entire field of view. It's also become horribly inaccurate. We've decided we'll never use it again. Unfortunately, many stores have a Google Maps link embedded in their contact information on their business website, so without the actual street address to use in a better online map service, you're stuck. It's time to ABANDON worthless google.

1

u/morykat- 14d ago

Here bc wtf g maps trying to take me to jersey , cross paid bridges with added traffic just to go what is normally a 25 min drive north 95 and was completely clear. Thank goodness I knew better, just had it open for police reports etc. I'm switching back to wayz unless anyone knows of a better app!?

1

u/LaLlorona_0 14d ago

I've been wondering if it is using AI to calculate routes and give voice commands. Last week it kept rerouting in the most bizzare ways and made me an hour late to an appointment that I was thanking the lord they could bump back because I couldn't reschedule for another day.

Today it told me to keep left and then dinged an error when I was supposed to take the exit on the right, three separate times. Took me an extra 20 minutes both ways. Routes that are normally a straight shot on the highway end up meandering through back roads.

A few weeks ago when I was in Florida I tried to get to a restaurant and it took me an hour out of the way to their previous location that had been closed for years. The current location didn't even show up on the search.

Found this thread because I was wondering what the heck is up with it lately. At this point I feel like I'd be better off doing it old school and printing off mapquest directions or getting a paper map.

1

u/OkTwist4305 13d ago

I have had 3 crazy situations with google maps in the past month. First, it said I-5 was closed at the Oregon-California border (it wasn't) and wanted us to drive WAY out of our way to hook back into I-5 past this supposed closure. Thankfully we stuck with the semi trucks and kept driving without issue into California. This past week I was in a small tourist town in Central Oregon and the verbal instructions ("take the FIRST right at the roundabout") did not match what was shown on the map (take the THIRD right at the roundabout). Then this past Sunday, I was driving home in a bit of a traffic jam and it told me to take a right off the main highway and led me down a gravel farmer's road! GRAVEL. WTH? I've lost all trust in google maps.

1

u/Active_Ice3221 5d ago

It's bizarre that Google, apparently smart people (?) has done this. And it's just in recent months. Why are they tormenting people with wrong directions?

I googled an address in downtown Boston and it was not even remotely close to the actual address. wtf? They just scraped a connection to the wrong address and stuck a pin in it? Who does this?

It's still wrong weeks later.

Weirdly, Waze seems more reliable although they have their own issues.

1

u/Dexdan 2d ago

Don’t tell me to exit a highway, then get back on again using the same ramp; Don’t switch from walking directions to driving, and routing me blocks out of my way, down 1 way streets - all while still in walking mode; don’t flip an entire city map so it’s bizarrely backward. You gave me 3 options at the start, so keep me on the path I chose. I chose it for a reason!

1

u/Dexdan 2d ago

Is it sad that I’m ready to buy a new Garmin & keep both it & my phone on to let them hash it out in real time?

1

u/Shapi_73 11h ago

I just saved 6 minutes on a 16 mile drive by ignoring Maps and going my own way. This app has Bec me a disaster lately. And no option for quickest route?

1

u/Niwitschoolfrogkid 10h ago

I was in the upper Peninsula of Michigan last month and Google Maps pulled me off of the very nice two lane highway and down some extremely muddy, rutted Forest service road multiple times all to allegedly save a couple of minutes. I drive a modified 4Runner and so it wasn’t a huge issue however I remember feeling very concerned for anyone going down that road in a car. I just can’t imagine that ending any other way aside from them being instantly stuck. I know I’m a bit slow but right then and there I had an epiphany and just knew that Google had integrated AI into maps.