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Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

money.cnn.com

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Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#191

Post by bleair »

It's really simple - how hard is the UX of my phone vs. the car's system. I've _never_ seen a builtin car version have a UX that wasn't ridiculously complex and frustrating to use.

There are two concrete, real examples, of a routing UX that anyone can just try out - just grab an android phone or an iphone and directly copy the experience. Just sit down and try the most basic goal of using a nav system - enter and address and start and do it on your car system and on either phone.

Oh, wait, differing goals. I, as a user, want a usable system. The maker of these awful nav systems have an entirely different goal. They are trying to sell an "option" upgrade to car makers who then include it in "option packages" with the car... usability is way way down the list after bells/whistles/marketing/subscription sales

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#192

Post by danpat »

pkaye wrote: post #179
bsder wrote: post #155

How about: "Can't set new route while car is in motion?" If you ever block me from doing something on a computer that I know it can do , I will hate you forever. You know, I might have a passenger who could work the nav system, but, oh, no, the car is moving so you can't enter a new destination. So many people disabled this "feature" on the Prius nav system that Toyota removed the ability to disable it . I kid you no…

I think some states have laws that restrict navigation control access when car is in motion.

Interestingly, according to this summary:

http://drivinglaws.aaa.com/tag/telematics/

there are exemptions of some kind for navigation systems in many places.

I've heard "it's not allowed by law" often, but I have yet to track down the actual law. Hopefully automakers aren't doing this based on hearsay....

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#193

Post by mtanski »

izacus wrote: post #180
mtanski wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a 2016 VW Sportswagen that I use with my iPhone all the time. Everything just works and in 10 the Maps app in Carplay has gotten better. About a month ago I was driving with a friend of mine in the passenger seat. Driving 45 minutes to some trails upstate. I asked him to put his Maps on (Android) so I don't need to get my phone out of my bad and fuck around with it while driving. He's got Galaxy 6 edge+ so I f…

How horrible, you had to install a single app and click "Next" a few times! The connectivity issues with VWs are a valid complaint, but not pushing bloat on everyones devices really isnt.

> How horrible, you had to install a single app and click "Next" a few times!

If you include the "guide" that you have the scroll through and then the 5 "Accept" popups for allowing the car to connect to the phone it's like about 9 clicks. Pretty crappy UX.

But really it's the whole process of getting setup. The Android phone didn't put up a prompt when plugged in to tell you you needed to download the Android Auto app. My friend had to Google how to make this thing work.

Compare that to the CarPlay experience. Connect, click accept once in car UI and accept in iPhone to allow the car to access it. From plugin to navigating on the dash about 30 seconds.

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#194

Post by sliken »

zeveb wrote: post #159
aeharding wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mazda Connect has worked very well for me. So weird that it came with a CD player, though. I thought those would have been gone by 2016...

A CD player's still convenient on a long road trip when one wants to listen to one's own music, not the radio or the satellite. A phone can only hold so much!

With 64GB MicroSD cards running for $20 or so are you really phone limited? How many CDs do you have? My note4 has 32GB (internal) and a 64GB microsd.

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#195

Post by lukaslalinsky »

pkaye wrote: post #179
bsder wrote: post #155

How about: "Can't set new route while car is in motion?" If you ever block me from doing something on a computer that I know it can do , I will hate you forever. You know, I might have a passenger who could work the nav system, but, oh, no, the car is moving so you can't enter a new destination. So many people disabled this "feature" on the Prius nav system that Toyota removed the ability to disable it . I kid you no…

I think some states have laws that restrict navigation control access when car is in motion.

Cars can generally go much faster than the maximum speed limit, so it wouldn't be the first time the car allows you to do something against the law.

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#196

Post by umeshunni »

maaaats wrote: post #174
gknoy wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I realize this isn't a perfect counter, but Google Maps (on Android, and probably iOS) allows you to download "offline areas", and you can store just about many of them as your phone has storage for. This means that as part of your trip preparation, you can download the maps and use them on your trip in the boonies. I don't know how well it _uses_ them, nor what amount of data connection it still wants, but it saved…

The offline areas are useless. They are basically just prefetching the map-tiles. You can't do anything while not online, not search in the offline area, map a route or anything like that. Here maps blows this out of the water in comparison.

> You can't do anything while not online, not search in the offline area, map a route or anything like that.

That's not true at all: https://support.google.com/maps/answer/6291838?co=GENIE.Plat...

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#197

Post by lukaslalinsky »

korethr wrote: post #144

As a counterpoint to the comments here bringing up the point that the maps on one's phone are always up to date, I'll bring up the point of offline access. Yes, often the maps are bad, out of date, and require one to go the dealer and pay money to get an update. However, once out of the city, and cellular data ceases to be a thing, Google maps and similar applications built with an assumption of an always-available I…

There are offline mobile navigation systems that are easier and cheaper to keep up to date than the one in your car. For example, Sygic provides free updates once you purchase the initial license.

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#198

Post by sliken »

Seems like the best advantage of in car navigation is the GPS. Seems like many car GPS are rock solid, lock quickly, and can handle short outages because they know the speed and compass direction.

Maybe car windows are tinted more often now? I often get a marginal signal in my car, seems worse than in my house.

Anyone had luck with a magnetic attached bluetooth GPS they can put on their car roof or similar to improve a smartphone's GPS signal inside a car?

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#199

Post by hx87 »

pkaye wrote: post #179
bsder wrote: post #155

How about: "Can't set new route while car is in motion?" If you ever block me from doing something on a computer that I know it can do , I will hate you forever. You know, I might have a passenger who could work the nav system, but, oh, no, the car is moving so you can't enter a new destination. So many people disabled this "feature" on the Prius nav system that Toyota removed the ability to disable it . I kid you no…

I think some states have laws that restrict navigation control access when car is in motion.

AFAIK, that's a restriction on the driver, not the car, so if anything happens as a result of access while moving, it's the responsibility of the driver.

Re: Most drivers who own cars with built-in GPS systems use phones for directions

#200

Post by hx87 »

seanp2k2 wrote: post #125
pwthornton wrote: post #106

Smartphone maps are so superior because they are always up to date, can provide real-time traffic data, can tell you to take an alternative route and can provide other data about places to eat, etc. While a lot of car GPSs have some of this, they are no where near what Google Maps or Apple Maps (or a targeted app like Waze) has. I bought a new car last year, and intentionally didn't get the GPS, even though my car ha…

Yeah, I'm not sure why car companies invested at all in attempting to build their own mapping software. It's a hard thing to do well, and I had been using GPS in the car since Windows 98 + Microsoft Streets + Garmin eMap + serial adapter running NEMA days. PC or smartphone navigation software has always been better than what is available in cars. Additionally, while the upgrade cycle for phones is yearly for some peo…

I've always wondered why it took manufacturers so long to put in a 3.5mm jack into head units--it would have saved us a lot of awful tape adapters in the 90s and CD changer emulators in the 2000s.
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