Google Maps

[Standingupstandingout]

Head South East on blar blar road. I don't frigging know which way South East is - I forgot my trusty compass. The only place I'd know that for would be a place I knew really well and if I was there I wouldn't need Google Maps in the blinking first place. AIBU or is Google maps just shit?

Don't be so condescending

I use Waze as I cannot be doing with Google Maps and their east/west nonsense either.

But the Waze woman can really go on a bit. Yesterday i was trying to listen to a voice note as I was leaving, and I has to listen to it again as she blathered the whole time. This included telling me how much time I would be saving over going the other route as well as other random things.

Eh?

Surely you put the destination in before you set off and there's a big massive arrow telling which direction to go in? It will then instruct you further. You surely glance at the screen in the same way you glance at your mirrors, speedometer etc, it's not like being glued to the screen is it?

You seem to be making a simple task quite difficult

Still don't know why you can't work out which direction is when the sun is out. If you can see the sun and you know the time, it's not hard to work out what direction the sun is.

Oh give over. I bet tons of other people couldn't either.

It's not hard for you but you must know that most people dont start navigating by the sun when they have sat navs even if its a sunny day and they have the time to orient themselves and work it out, that's just not what people do
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I certainly couldn't. I Also can't read a map, even if I'm on it in the little icon. I'm missing the gene. I have many other skills, but not this.

I've always wondered if all US cops the ones on TV anyway have been taught or instinctively know which direction they are going at all times. Even with city grid layouts which I know make it a bit easier, they never even hesitate.

I'd love to but it's been either grey clouds, rain or fog here for weeks. Can barely tell there is a sun, let alone where it is in the sky!

You mean people don't have some vague consciousness of sun and direction, eg "I'm supposed to be going NE, but it's mid afternoon and the sun is in my eyes so there's something wrong?"

But I was replying to someone who said she could navigate by the sun but only at sunset or sunrise.

I usually ignore satnav instructions such as 'south east' because there's nearly always instructions about which way to turn.

I do use the sun if I'm walking and it's not too overcast to tell - glance at my watch and estimate. Apparently people can get quite confused if they move between northern and southern hemispheres because it can become quite instinctive.

But the worst thing was driving in the US before satnav. Their route system meant you could have the same road being both a national route north and a local route south, probably at that point actually running east-west.

There are loads of Waze voices to chose from, all with different ways of annoying you!

Absolutely I think they dont, how often does that type of situation even occur?

Is be amazed if that was the kind of thought that most people would have.

Because the sky is mostly grey in England! 🤷‍♀️

Not everyone spends time outside and particularly in the natural world. If you're a walker or sailor, a farmer or a gardener then you're more likely to have that sort of almost innate directional sense than someone who lives in a city working inside.

Some people can probably intuit what direction a suburban road runs by what's in the gardens either side.

Probably also helps if you're old enough to have learnt any navigational skills you have before the days of sat nav.

The biggest problem with Google Maps is that you pick your route and set off, lovely jubbly. Until Google Maps finds a faster route, so it switches you to that route - unless you click No to say you don’t want to be rerouted. And you’re not supposed to use your phone while driving, so clicking that button is really dangerous.

I’m autistic. Before I drive anywhere I have pre-driven the route on Street View and memorised it. I absolutely cannot be rerouted away from my rehearsed route. It’s dangerous because I get confused and I will have a panic attack. I don’t care if it takes longer - my priority is staying on my rehearsed route.

There is no way to stop Google Maps rerouting you. Several times I’ve had to pull over on the motorway to click No to being rerouted. Other times I’ve been unable to pull over and have had to take a risk by clicking the button while driving. It’s ridiculous.

I've never found that, if you carry on, Google map takes its cue from you and automatically re-routes! Never once have I ever had to pull over on a motorway to sort out Google Maps.

Many a time, I've gone against what the sat nav is telling me and it just re-routes. If it's not doing that, then maybe a lot of you need to take 5 minutes to check your settings.

I also find it so hard to believe that people can't quickly glance at a sat nav screen in the same way you glance at your mirrors.

I'm quite good with NESW etc.

What pisses me off on the satnavs is on a mega roundabout "turn left onto South Way". THERE ARE NO FUCKING READABLE STREET SIGNS!

My Google maps always says turn right, left or straight ahead.

Yes if I ignore the instructions then it reroutes. Again and again it tries to direct me off my planned route onto the faster route. I might have to ignore 5 or 6 directions before it reroutes me back onto my original route. One time it kept saying “make a u turn” for 15 whole minutes. In the meantime I have to guess where I’m supposed to be going based on what I can remember of the planned route. It’s not acceptable - I should be able to say I don’t want to be rerouted.

Yes, I get confused in the southern hemisphere because the sun goes the "wrong" way across the sky. When I've voiced that thought, people respond "It still goes east to west," which of course it does, but when I look at it, I expect it to move left to right and instead it goes right to left.

It affects things like preferring to sit in the shade, so choosing seats at an outdoor bar or restaurant I consider not just if it's shaded now, but will it stay shaded as the sun moves round? Because the sun goes the "wrong " way, I get caught out unless I really think about it.

I get so cross with the arrows and lanes on motorways. I've lost count of the number of times it tells me to stay to the right then within 3 mins I'm meant to have crossed 3 lanes of traffic to leave at the junction.

Waze is meant to be better. I haven't taken the plunge yet

When DH and I are travelling together, we usually have google maps on his phone connected to the Apple CarPlay, and I'll run Waze - can be useful to see if they agree on route and traffic. Sometimes one is better, sometimes the other.
(And if we're somewhere rural or there's a diversion whoever isn't driving will look at MemoryMap to check it's not taking us down a single track lane to save the odd minute ... I need to check settings to see if there's a way to stop them doing that)

I also find it so hard to believe that people can't quickly glance at a sat nav screen in the same way you glance at your mirrors.
Depends on whether you've got a proper integrated display (easy), a well-positioned phone mount (ok but small) ... or not. The last car we had didn't have anywhere good to mount a phone.

I don't drive but I work the phone to do the navigation for DH and the thing that pisses me off is when I'm suddenly re navigated from our normal route with no clue why.

If the road's closed for roadworks or there's a massive jam then yes, please reroute me. If the AI has decided that a weird route through Hyde Park Corner where DH doesn't know any of the junctions or which lane he needs to be in will be possibly thirty seconds faster, then screw that, we'll keep going our existing route. But give me the information to let me choose! It's annoying enough with a designated phone operator, must be infuriating for a lone driver.

Especially annoying at the beginning of trips we do frequently when I check at the beginning to see whether all is well, and our normal route has disappeared with no clue why.

I also want to be able to tell it to ignore ULEZ, which doesn't apply to us, while still keeping us out of the congestion zone, which does.