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Google Maps will soon give you better recommendations

techcrunch.com

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Re: Google Maps will soon give you better recommendations

#71

Post by magdadc »

lukeqsee wrote: post #69
magdadc wrote: post #61

Hi everyone! Less than happy to read this news, as my husband and I have been working on a similar solution for some time now. We've created an app https://maplog.it/ which allows you to create different lists, share them with others and give you better recommendations for places to go out. We are currently working on an iOS and Android apps. Do you think it makes any sense to continue or should we just drop the idea…

Hey magdadc, I founded a company competing with Google Maps on another level (map tiles & other geoservices), and I think it's super important to have competition in the mapping space (just look at how much it costs if you want to use Google's data anywhere!). Your site looks super polished. Keep up the good work! One thing I don't particularly like is having to sign in to see a map of things nearby. I'd love a main…

Thanks so much for the feedback and encouragement! Good point on 'nearby' being locked. All the best luck to you as well!

Re: Google Maps will soon give you better recommendations

#72

Post by colanderman »

Honestly I'd appreciate it if Maps stopped giving recommendations. They always pop up whenever I open the app, and I never want them. Unfortunately there's no way to turn them off, so every time I need to open Maps, I'm forced to wait for recommendations to load, and then swipe them away, before it's useful to me.

Terrible UX, thy name is Google.

Re: Google Maps will soon give you better recommendations

#73

Post by [deleted] »

solarkraft wrote: post #17
toomuchtodo wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I guess all the more reason to continue using Apple Maps. It is unfortunate that OpenStreetMap doesn't have the resources to create mapping apps at parity with Google Maps. I just want a map app. Not a recommendation app. Not FourSquare. Just comprehensive maps, routing, and possibly traffic data. OSM, please take my money for this! The only way for us to receive long term value from digital tooling is through part…

This should not be all that difficult to do. We have the open map data (OSM) and Valhalla for routing. There are tons of online OSM viewers, so I would guess it to be possible on a phone.

[deleted]

Re: Google Maps will soon give you better recommendations

#74

Post by mseebach »

magdadc wrote: post #61

Hi everyone! Less than happy to read this news, as my husband and I have been working on a similar solution for some time now. We've created an app https://maplog.it/ which allows you to create different lists, share them with others and give you better recommendations for places to go out. We are currently working on an iOS and Android apps. Do you think it makes any sense to continue or should we just drop the idea…

Actually making good, meaningful recommendations isn't a solved problem. Google has mass, and anything with more than ~4 stars generally isn't going to be awful, but it's a blunt instrument. Searching just slightly more specifically than that and the wheels come off.

I don't immediately see how your app solves the problem, it seems there are some lists of things, but it's an unqualified jumble. I am looking at the best bars in London list, and pretty much all my favourites are on there, but Gordon's, Duke's, Termini and Calooh Callay are very different places for different occasions (and, especially in the case of Duke's, different budgets), and there is nothing to help me decide.

Finding a bar, even a relatively good one, in London isn't a valuable problem, IMO, and certainly not one Google isn't going to beat you at -- finding a bar like Duke's in, say, Zürich is (for the particular subjective value of 'like' that I have in mind). A list of "that kind of bars" with a few options in every city might be a good answer, but I don't envy you the challenge of curating that sort of thing at scale.

Re: Google Maps will soon give you better recommendations

#75

Post by vmarsy »

magduf wrote: post #55
anothergoogler wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about excluding unpaved trails from bicycle directions? I've been screwed by that too many times. A gravel trail is not a bike route, for most bikes anyway.

Here's my suggestion for Google Maps: how about handling toll roads better? It's all-or-nothing. Why not put a little gray box saying "20 minutes shorter, $1.50", or "1 minute shorter, $29.50"? If you turn on toll roads, it'll happily always route you on a toll road or toll lane, even if it isn't any faster. And here in DC, toll roads can easily cost you $30-50 per trip. Maps already gives you route options to choose…

That's actually one of the suggestions I left them on the product.

I've the choice between toll-lanes or not on my way home, I'd love to know how much faster it'd take if I get on the toll lane...

But in that particular case, I'm not sure how that information is gathered in the first place, it might be hard for them to figure out which cars are on the toll-lane, and which cars are not since both the express lane and regular lane are next to each other.

Re: Google Maps will soon give you better recommendations

#76

Post by redcomplier »

davidw wrote: post #46

It'd be nice if it stopped harassing me to leave reviews and pictures for every place I stop these days.

Your definition of harassment seems to be one most people wouldn't agree with. There are setting to turn this off. Another solution is to go to a competitor like Apple or Bing Maps.

Re: Google Maps will soon give you better recommendations

#78

Post by toomuchtodo »

pronik wrote: post #20
toomuchtodo wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I guess all the more reason to continue using Apple Maps. It is unfortunate that OpenStreetMap doesn't have the resources to create mapping apps at parity with Google Maps. I just want a map app. Not a recommendation app. Not FourSquare. Just comprehensive maps, routing, and possibly traffic data. OSM, please take my money for this! The only way for us to receive long term value from digital tooling is through part…

maps.me ( https://maps.me/download/ ) might be just what you are looking for. Maps, routing and traffic, mostly usable mobile app.

This is brilliant! Thank you for sharing! It’s exactly what I was looking for.

Re: Google Maps will soon give you better recommendations

#79

Post by leeoniya »

puzzle wrote: post #32
leeoniya wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i have never used waze. google prefers to minimize distance rather than minimizing route complexity (for some minimal distance or time cost). my wife and i have an ongoing joke that google takes you on the most "scenic" drives through the most obscure neighborhoods.

Where in the world are you? If you think Maps has complex routes obsessed with shaving seconds, you should try Waze just for a day. :-)

> Where in the world are you?

Chicago

Re: Google Maps will soon give you better recommendations

#80

Post by batuhanicoz »

magduf wrote: post #53
nsp wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2 reasons. 1) they’ve only acknowledged doing this on iPhone 6 and later. 2) it’s slow as shit on my brand spanking new iPhone X as well. A slower phone def doesn’t help, but it’s not the primary issue here.

Whoa, really? I noticed Google Maps being slow as shit on my Galaxy S5 and thought it was just because it was an old phone. I guess getting a new phone isn't going to help then? (I've been meaning to upgrade to a new er phone, maybe an LG V10 or V20, soon for several reasons; the S5 has been great but it's now 4 years old. But I guess Google Maps being slow isn't a valid reason any more.)

On my iPhone 8 Plus, it's under a second and honestly, not that bad.

If it's open in the background it's nearly instant to switch to it, unlike some other apps.

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