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Apple Maps vs. Google Maps vs. Waze

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Re: Apple Maps vs. Google Maps vs. Waze

#211

Post by moftz »

konschubert wrote: post #146
chrisweekly wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "Another feature wish for Waze: voice-activated incident reporting. It's hard to tag accidents/hazards/speed traps while driving by hand, not to mention dangerous and illegal." Yeah, I'm often struck by the irony of the "typing disabled unless you confirm you're a passenger" prompt, in light of the (prompt-less) 5(?) tap workflow to report a road hazard, while driving. And it truly sucks at telling you which way to…

So basically its killer feature is that it helps with going over the speed limit?

Pretty much

Re: Apple Maps vs. Google Maps vs. Waze

#212

Post by manuu80 »

sp00ls wrote: post #207

He totally missed the main reason most people use Waze. Crowd sourced speed trap locator.

I hate waze, but I hate even more to get speed fines. So, Radar warnings is the only reason it made me switch from my old garmin gps. Google maps, on the opposite, fills all the boxes that I like, but not the one that I need.

Re: Apple Maps vs. Google Maps vs. Waze

#213

Post by greedo »

cup-of-tea wrote: post #148
paulbeattie wrote: post #129

The one thing Google Maps is missing for me over the other two is speed limits. It's so handy to have an alert go off especially in larger cities where they can fluctuate frequently. Waze sometimes feels like it's taking you off the beaten path to improve data reliability and collection. I've had it take me off a quiet street onto a country lane only to emerge onto the same quiet street half a mile further along but…

That's something that concerns me. You're not supposed to use these things as a driving aid. You should be paying attention to the road ahead, not relying on your phone to tell you how fast you should be driving. It's bad enough with people driving cars that do more and more stuff for you. Pilots are required to do a certain number of manual operations to make sure they are still able to do it. It's worrying to think…

In my experience, the number of signs indicating the speed limit is inversely related to the number of law enforcement officers enforcing that limit.

Re: Apple Maps vs. Google Maps vs. Waze

#215

Post by Shivetya »

mwexler wrote: post #188

As much as I love these apps, I do worry about municipalities fighting back. For example, https://www.engadget.com/2017/12/25/new-jersey-town-will-clo... describes the efforts a town in NJ made to force these apps to not send cars into their streets to avoid jams.

well then drones will make up for it. of course that will lead to all new sorts of rules. finally it could come down to requiring towns to provide the maps and detail

Re: Apple Maps vs. Google Maps vs. Waze

#216

Post by Ambroos »

dx034 wrote: post #208
Ambroos wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google Maps does this to a certain extent (but it might need some learning period). At times you might notice the route it suggests you is labeled as "best", not as "fastest". Usually, for example, it sends me via the highway even if it is theoretically 2 minutes slower than the alternative via tons of small roads / intersections. Maps is also pretty smart in estimates in general, it takes intersections and the avera…

But Google also often uses "shortcuts" that send you through residential areas just to save 1 minute. Esp. in the US if there's no interstate anyway. Instead of keeping you on the large road, GMaps often sends you via small (gravel) roads.

Really? I don't see that happening very often here in Belgium. Unless traffic on the main roads is really really bad, I hardly ever get sent through residential areas.

(We have an incredibly dense road network though, so main roads are usually significantly faster anyway.)

Re: Apple Maps vs. Google Maps vs. Waze

#217

Post by snowwrestler »

barsonme wrote: post #127
snowwrestler wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason there aren't speed bumps every few miles is the same reason it's not illegal to tell each other where the speed traps are: there is tension between public support for the goal, and public annoyance at enforcement. This is also why it's not illegal to buy a car that can go 120 mph, even though there is not a single road in the U.S. with a speed limit that high.

> This is also why it's not illegal to buy a car that can go 120 mph That, and I can take my 120+ mph car to the track. (Also, I can think of a couple times having a car able to go 120 mph has helped me get out of the way of some accidents a slower car would've got caught up in.)

I'd love to hear about the times going 120 mph kept you safe from an accident.

Keep in mind I'm not talking about powerful acceleration; top speed can be electronically governed. You could have a car that goes 0-60 in under 4 seconds, but is governed to 75 mph top speed by law.

Re: Apple Maps vs. Google Maps vs. Waze

#218

Post by hartator »

fwilliams wrote: post #210

I think the conclusion in the article is too strong given the experiments and the data. Estimating average error over a small number trips is misleading. We don't know how the error distribution varies with time, destination, departure location, traffic conditions, etc... Also the 120 trips are definitely biased to the usual routes the author and his wife take regularly. It doesn't seem reasonable to draw general con…

Do you know a better benchmark?

Re: Apple Maps vs. Google Maps vs. Waze

#219

Post by JoshuaEddy »

more111 wrote: post #199

This article is taking the estimated arrival time into account, but not sudden external influences like accidents or traffic jams. I’ve used Waze in São Paulo, throughout the UK and Germany, and find it to be very creative concerning route finding. In the same situations, Google Or Apple maps seem much more conservative and consider “riding out” the traffic jams instead of taking nifty shortcuts. Especially in São Pa…

Was it really a time saver or did it just feel like a time saver? In the US I found Waze unrealistically optimistic that back-roads and alternative routes would save time -- my ETA started great, but slowly worsened until I was better off riding out the traffic.

Re: Apple Maps vs. Google Maps vs. Waze

#220

Post by dipppy »

forgotmypw wrote: post #203
maccard wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I really miss lane guidance, for instance Can I ask why? Having driven in both the US and europe and used GMaps in both places, I've found the lane guidance to be borderline useless. For the most part, lanes are intuitive (turning right - right lane), and when they're not, Google often gets them wrong.

Try driving around in New Jersey, especially close to New York. There are some exits, for example, where the exit is two lanes, but one of the lanes splits off from the main lane, but you better be in that left lane because you have to keep left right after you take that right exit... and then take another right after that. Lane guidance is very helpful in these situations.

Seriously. I can handle most NYC driving but I'd be absolutely ruined in Jersey or even Westchester without lane guidance.
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