Google Maps has become an eyesore • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#571

Post by izacus » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 4:08 PM UTC

JSavageOne wrote: post #521

Criticize Google Maps all you want, but it is easily one of the most useful apps to me, especially as someone who's been been living nomadically the last 5 years. It's kind of scary how dependent I am on this app. Anytime I need to find a restaurant, dentist, electronics store, etc. - I'm looking first on Google Maps and my life is basically dictated by the results. I have lists like "Places to Work" which is a list…

Critising products that serve billions of users every day as "useless" is a latest fun past time for a sect of contrarian HNers that can't think of the world outside their use-cases and bubble.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#572

Post by bluGill » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 4:11 PM UTC

urbandw311er wrote: post #377

WeylandYutani wrote: post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's funny Maps has become so crap that I paid 10 euro for OSM. But I think open street maps has a killer feature that Google doesn't have: the community.

Except of course that Google can just freely use the OSM data anyway.

Maybe. They have (or have as of 10 years ago when I signed up) a checkmark for I consider this public domain. If you don't check that OSM cannot freely use the data. I only edit OSM so that people can find my house, so I consider it a feature that google can freely use my changes, but not everyone agrees.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#573

Post by bluGill » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 4:13 PM UTC

ce4 wrote: post #382

runiq wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do that too (in Germany), and I just… ask them if I may enter their opening hours into OSM. I've never been refused. Sometimes an employee takes an interest and then I take the chance to explain a bit. It's a win-win for both sides, after all—the map users and the shop owners.

Why ask the owner in the first place. Its public information anyway. Google does not ask either.

Hopefully a few of them will realize it is easy and so start updating their own information as it changes. Everyone wins - their customers get up to date information and so come when they are open.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#574

Post by neya » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 4:13 PM UTC

"Get the latest from Fast Company Click Sign Up then Allow for Notifications"

A popup blocks, as I continue past the gazillion ads to read about an article that complains about ads.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#575

Post by izacus » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 4:15 PM UTC

memefrog wrote: post #92

Google Maps just isn't a map. I wonder if the people that work on it have ever looked at actual maps before. You have to zoom in almost to the maximum setting to see street names, and even then they often don't show up. Real maps show street names labeled on every street. But Google Maps developers are obviously more interested in it looking 'clean' and in showing little ads all over it than in it actually being usef…

Did you consider that maybe huge majority of users don't actually use Google Maps as a paper map and don't particularly care for using it that way?

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#576

Post by gpvos » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 4:17 PM UTC

behringer wrote: post #504

wredue wrote: post #429

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GeForce experience tracks every single window you have open, sending the title and window information, along with every single spot that you click on your screen to Nvidia, tied to your now mandatory account. That was a couple years back. Who knows how much more invasive it’s gotten since. Oh. And this data is considered to be “valuable debugging information”, so is not prevented by opting out of analytics.

I use glasswire firewall and I just checked nvidia's activity and it doesn't even amount to a megabyte (uploaded) in the last week. I'm thinking this is tinfoil hat stuff.

Sounds like a lot to me.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#577

Post by izacus » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 4:19 PM UTC

moomoo11 wrote: post #3

Love Apple Maps. It has progressively gotten so much better and awesome. I don’t think I ever use my iPhone and get frustrated. Leaving android in 2015 was the best decision I made.

Was there a need to make this comment thread iPhone ad? Is this some kind of submarine advertising thing?

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#578

Post by Contusion3532 » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 4:20 PM UTC

wredue wrote: post #558

Contusion3532 wrote: post #476

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe it, but do you have a source? I have a few friends I'd like to inform of this.

Funny, because I was wrong. Here’s the Nvidia privacy policy: https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/about-nvidia/privacy-policy/ How I was wrong is was in the “valuable debugging information”. Because you can actually disable the sending of debug and crash statistics, but you cannot disable the collection of tracking everything you do except for password boxes! The original source on the telemetry was a print magazine, Canard…

Wow. Thanks for the response. That's pretty bad.

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#579

Post by verteu » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 4:21 PM UTC

aembleton wrote: post #495

yankput wrote: post #421

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Compare the experience of adding stuff to OSM and to Google Maps. Much easier. OSM is for nerds. Very hard to add even basic info. Google Maps it’s trivial. Same as uploading photo to Google Maps is easier than adding it to WikiMedia Commons. Such is life. (Ironically one of the biggest sources of photos is commons is Panoramio; before Google merged it with Google Maps, the photos there defaulted to Creative Commons.…

How do I update stuff in Google Maps? For OSM, its a case of opening Street Complete and tapping on things. To add new features I have to use SCEE, which is more nerdy mainly because it involves using FDroid to install it. But I've no idea how to add, say a park bench to Google Maps.

Just tried it now and I found the experience incredibly easy:

On desktop, right click on the map and choose "Add a missing place." On mobile, long-press to drop a pin, then scroll down to "Add a missing place."

Does OSM require installing a parallel app store to add a park bench? Sounds like a UX-killer :/

Re: Google Maps has become an eyesore

#580

Post by thefringthing » Mon, Aug 07, 2023, 4:23 PM UTC

On work-from-home businesses that are not open to the public: you can report these, and it seems that if you have a good track record of submitting corrections to Google Maps, your reports are handled fairly swiftly.