You seem to be shaking your phone in frustration. Would you like to submit a bug report?
That's an option in Google maps
It's also an amazing option on the Google app on the iPad.
Yeah sure, let me just shake my freaking massive tablet when I have feedback. What next, shake your 16" MacBook every time you find a bug? You'll have a better chance of quashing a physical bug than a digital bug at that point.
Adding “running” to the list of things that Google engineers apparently don’t do. Where it joins “walking”. Google Maps will suggest almost arbitrarily bonkers public transport directions to avoid walking. Personal favourite: the sensible way to get from my house to work, unless the weather is terrible, is six minutes on a train and a 15 min walk. Google Maps would, generally, prefer that I spend 15 mins on the train…
My favourite, while being stranded on a trail with a broken bike: teleport across a lake, drive fifteen minutes, then hop on a bus. Apparently you are SOL if you don't have a car. There are definitely better apps out there, unfortunately my area requires Maps for transit data.
Why only one app, and not several and choose the right one for the occasion? Mapy.com and OsmAnd are much better for trail use than Google Maps. Mapy has public transit info (depending on where you live, of course).
At risk of summoning an army of vibe coders, I wish map apps were more configurable and let you set "I'm happy to walk 20 min" or "someone can drive me a few miles and drop me off"
Not to mention “public transit but with a waypoint” which is too advanced for all mobile apps
What do you mean "but with a waypoint”? What happens if you route on public transit without a waypoint? Do you mean indirect spaghetti routings that seem ok to Google?
At risk of summoning an army of vibe coders, I wish map apps were more configurable and let you set "I'm happy to walk 20 min" or "someone can drive me a few miles and drop me off"
Transit (transitapp.com) supports setting your walking speed, which is essentially this by proxy, and it's a great app.
Yes. Transit App allows you configure both your walking and cycling speeds. Combine that with selecting which other methods you allow, and you get lots of options, and more accurate ETAs.
At risk of summoning an army of vibe coders, I wish map apps were more configurable and let you set "I'm happy to walk 20 min" or "someone can drive me a few miles and drop me off"
While we're asking for navigation features, I desperately want a "chill" toggle. I drive around the NY metropolitan area a lot. No, I don't want to take the route that saves a few minutes if it involves merging onto I95 at rush hour with 300 feet to cross 4 lanes of traffic for the next exit.
You can do this already. Leave the map up, but silence all direction corrections. Then try to make your own way. If you already have the time to chill, you can take a little more time to think ahead about the route you’ll try. Make a wrong turn or exit and the map will still point you in the right direction.
At risk of summoning an army of vibe coders, I wish map apps were more configurable and let you set "I'm happy to walk 20 min" or "someone can drive me a few miles and drop me off"
I wish I could add certain streets and routes to some sort of block list. There are certain roads I would be willing to spend an extra 10-30 minutes driving to avoid. (And certainly would not get on them on a bike!)
Conversely, as a cyclist, Google Maps infuriatingly will refuse to route you along an expressway, even when it's the shortest or only route without a huge detour. e.g. Lawrence Expressway where it crosses in an underpass under Central Expressway. This is a long-standing known issue with Google Maps routings for cycling mode.
Adding “running” to the list of things that Google engineers apparently don’t do. Where it joins “walking”. Google Maps will suggest almost arbitrarily bonkers public transport directions to avoid walking. Personal favourite: the sensible way to get from my house to work, unless the weather is terrible, is six minutes on a train and a 15 min walk. Google Maps would, generally, prefer that I spend 15 mins on the train…
This might just be realistic about the median American's tolerance for walking. Most Americans live in suburbs that are not walkable. At least, I know my own tolerance for walking is very abnormal for an American, and it's due to having lived in walking-oriented cities like Berkeley.
Transit App allows you configure both your walking and cycling speeds. Works great (will show you 15-20min walking), generates lots of options on how-to-get-there (e.g. bike-on-bus, Uber to train station), gives more accurate ETAs. Also instead of reducing "public transit" to a binary, it gives you much more granularity in enabling/disabling which bus/tram/light-rail/mass transit/train options, and even which specific bus route numbers to prefer.
All five of the ones named, yes - in fact Zürich is the biggest engineering center outside the US. The majority of Google sites do engineering work.
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In Sweden where I live you need to use the digital national ID whenever you make a credit card transaction via some app, for example when buying a bus ticket, so you need to have it with you at all times. But with the ID you can also take a quick loan and transfer all the money to a foreign bank basically ruining your life as the bank take no responsibility if the ID is used during the transaction.
Does the app not require authentication? At least MitID in Denmark requires a 6-digit PIN at the very minimum, or biometrics optionally.
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