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Google Maps Has Introduced So Many New Features and Design Changes in Recent Months That Getting Directions On It is Becoming an Increasingly Challenging Task (theverge.com) 160

Posted by msmash from the bloatware-in-apps dept.
Earlier this week, Google announced it is bringing business messaging to Maps, the latest in a myriad of features it has introduced to its mapping platform in recent months. A business that wants to participate will need to use Google's "My Business" verification system and its associated app to send and receive messages. While that could prove useful to a number of businesses and customers, it has raised a concern as well. From a report: But that leads me to my third feeling: what the heck is going on with Google Maps? It is becoming overburdened with so many features and design changes that it's becoming harder and harder to just get directions in it. There's Group Planning, there's a social-esque "follow" button for local businesses, you can share your ETA, there's a redesigned "Explore" section, and there's almost no way to get the damn thing to show you a cross street near your destination without three full minutes of desperate pinching and zooming and re-zooming. It's becoming bloated, is what I'm saying. It's Google's equivalent of Big Blue, as Facebook nicknames its flagship app that does a thousand things across countless strange nooks and crannies. It's as though Google wants to kill off Yelp once and for all, but can't let anybody notice how hard it's trying to do that so it just slow rolls those things into Google Maps instead.
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Google Maps Has Introduced So Many New Features and Design Changes in Recent Months That Getting Directions On It is Becoming an More

Google Maps Has Introduced So Many New Features and Design Changes in Recent Months That Getting Directions On It is Becoming an

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  • Inevitable (Score:5, Insightful)

    by orev ( 71566 ) on Friday November 16, 2018 @01:45PM (#57656828)
    It seems like the inevitable fate of any successful product. Wall St demands higher and higher profits, so there is no choice but to keep adding and pushing, even beyond what makes sense. Then the product inevitably becomes so bloated that people only tolerate it until a simpler alternative comes along. Then that becomes successful and the cycle continues...

    • Re:Inevitable (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Nidi62 ( 1525137 ) on Friday November 16, 2018 @01:49PM (#57656862)
      It's also that as people move on or progress up the chain of command, you have new people taking over or joining the group that want to add new things or features. Because you don't get promoted by maintaining, you get promoted by creating or bringing in customers or revenue. Plus maintaining something is boring. So you inevitably get bloat as people just keep throwing on more and more.

    • Re:Inevitable (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Luckyo ( 1726890 ) on Friday November 16, 2018 @02:02PM (#57656978)

      Is Google really beholden to Wall Street at this point in time though? My understanding is that core group of insiders still holds the stocks necessary for full control of the company regardless of happens to public stock.

      • Is Google really beholden to Wall Street at this point in time though? My understanding is that core group of insiders still holds the stocks necessary for full control of the company regardless of happens to public stock.

        I'll bet that those insiders like money, too.

    • Re:Inevitable (Score:5, Insightful)

      by alvinrod ( 889928 ) on Friday November 16, 2018 @02:14PM (#57657072)
      I don't think it's quite that simple. If it were, the same greedy Wall Street types would stand to make more money recognizing this pattern and stopping their cash cow from dying. Sure, a new product, company, or even industry will come along, but that requires finding a new winner which isn't always obvious. Also, some would probably just demand that no additional features be added to the product either (at least as long as it doesn't allow for greater monitization), as that's money that could be invested elsewhere or returned to shareholders.

      As much as the Wall Street fat cats are responsible for various maladies, software bloat and feature creep is the work another group, or perhaps even several others. I think that it's mostly that the people who make software, often fail to understand what actually makes it great.

      • Big investors don't care when something dies. They sell long before then.

        They care primarily about the 2nd derivative. When growth stop accelerating, they start making their plans to bail out, or to buy up other dying companies on the cheap and coerce the first company to buy them out, thus pivoting stagnant value in the first company to sudden growth in the buyout target.

        • Big investors don't care when something dies. They sell long before then.

          They care primarily about the 2nd derivative. When growth stop accelerating, they start making their plans to bail out...

          This wasn't how investment analysis used to work. Steady growth of an asset over an extended period of time is a good bet to beat virtually any fast-buck strategy.

          The claim that Peter Minuit bought Manhattan from the Lenape people for $24 is probably apocryphal, but if the tribe had received that amount in the year claimed and simply banked it at two percent compound interest, their stake would now be worth more than Manhattan itself.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by sfcat ( 872532 )

            Big investors don't care when something dies. They sell long before then.

            They care primarily about the 2nd derivative. When growth stop accelerating, they start making their plans to bail out...

            This wasn't how investment analysis used to work. Steady growth of an asset over an extended period of time is a good bet to beat virtually any fast-buck strategy.

            The claim that Peter Minuit bought Manhattan from the Lenape people for $24 is probably apocryphal, but if the tribe had received that amount in the year claimed and simply banked it at two percent compound interest, their stake would now be worth more than Manhattan itself.

            Not quite. 1.02 ^ 392 ~= 2351.1 so $24 x 1.02 ^ 392 = $56,425.91 which is obviously far less than Manhattan is worth today.

            However increasing the rate helps a lot

            • 1.03 ^ 392 ~= 107,694.14 so about $2.4m
            • 1.04 ^ 392 ~= 4,754,107.58 so about $114m
            • 1.05 ^ 392 ~= 202,397,542.68 so about $4.8b
            • 1.06 ^ 392 ~= 8,315,707,096.14 so about $200b
            • 1.07 ^ 392 ~= 329,944,469,081.16 so about $7.9t

            So the natives would need between a 6% and 7% annual return to make a profit. The lesson is rate of return matters

    • Re:Inevitable (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Albanach ( 527650 ) on Friday November 16, 2018 @04:26PM (#57657888) Homepage

      It seems like the inevitable fate of any successful product. Wall St demands higher and higher profits, so there is no choice but to keep adding and pushing, even beyond what makes sense. Then the product inevitably becomes so bloated that people only tolerate it until a simpler alternative comes along. Then that becomes successful and the cycle continues...

      Before responding like this, why are we even accepting the premise without testing?

      I just tested. I opened Google Maps (not already running) on my phone. I searched for somewhere random (US Courthouse). I selected a court from the four options and clicked the icon for directions. I had directions on screen in about 20 seconds from my click to launch the app. I didn't need any unnecessary clicks.

      Maybe, since he mentions cross streets, the author is talking about when you search for a place but know you really want to navigate nearby, not to their door. That took me about 35 seconds starting Maps from scratch. You search for your destination, zoom in at the destination to see where you might really want to drive to. Delete the destination and select "Choose from map" and now you can navigate to wherever you place the pin.

      So that's not quite as straightforward, but still it's no where near several minutes. It could do the initial zoom for you, but that would be at the expense of showing you the planned route and alternate routes which, I think, are more useful more frequently.

      Of course none of this is as simple as using the Google Assistant and saying "Hey Google, directions to the United States District Court". which gets me directions in under fifteen seconds with no clicks and a read out of the preferred major road together with an estimated duration.

      Now it's fair to ask whether Maps is becoming too bloated,, but I don't see any evidence bloat is making it harder to get directions.

      • That's way too slow in many cases. I often use Google maps when I'm close to where I need to go but there's some last-minute uncertainty (was it this stop or the next? The train is pulling into the station). Lately it's become more and more and more sluggish, it now takes forever to start up, and then there's more delay before you can start entering your location, and also lag when you go back to re-do the search so you often skip one screen too many back and have to start from scratch. I used to prefer

        • I often use Google maps when I'm close to where I need to go but there's some last-minute uncertainty (was it this stop or the next? The train is pulling into the station)

          You can have your maps running in the background, and bonus is you're going by public transport you'll get a notification if suddenly your option is no longer viable (e.g. train delay causes a missed connection), or a faster option becomes available. The greatest power of Google maps is not to tell you how to get to where you're going, but all the things that can go wrong on the way.

          It's sounds like you're making things hard for yourself for no reason.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        I use Maps quite a lot and can confirm that getting directions is a very quick and easy process. The directions tend to be better than other products too. About the only annoying thing is that by default 1/4 of the map screen is covered by some quick search icons I don't want.

  • Answer: Brian McClendon. (Score:5, Informative)

    by 110010001000 ( 697113 ) on Friday November 16, 2018 @01:45PM (#57656830) Homepage Journal
    The answer is that Brian McClendon, who was vice president of Google Maps, was replaced by Jen Fitzpatrick. Period. People matter.

  • How's that again? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Friday November 16, 2018 @01:48PM (#57656848)

    "It's Google's equivalent of Big Blue, as Facebook nicknames its flagship app that does a thousand things across countless strange nooks and crannies."

    Note to millennials: "Big Blue" has been the nickname for IBM for at least 50 years.

  • I was in DC and Crystal City in October - the construction topped with trying to use the maps for live guidance proved frustrating. Driving in circles, heading down a long highway with no offramp when directed the wrong way, it was incredible how bad the mapping directions were...

  • What? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by JohnnyBGod ( 1088549 ) on Friday November 16, 2018 @01:54PM (#57656900)

    Uh... what is this guy on about? The interface for getting directions hasn't changed a bit since the last major redesign.

    • Re:What? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by ranton ( 36917 ) on Friday November 16, 2018 @01:58PM (#57656940)

      I'm also confused at how anyone can be confused when using Google for directions. I can understand a learning curve on the new features, but getting directions is very easy and has only gotten easier lately.

      My guess is the article's author simply had a deadline to produce a story, and this was the best he could think of.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Can it not take an hour to load though ?

      • I'm also confused at how anyone can be confused when using Google for directions. I can understand a learning curve on the new features, but getting directions is very easy and has only gotten easier lately.

        My guess is the article's author simply had a deadline to produce a story, and this was the best he could think of.

        Um. No. This may be a question of "it works great in one use case from certain platforms," but IMHO Google Maps has pretty much gone downhill since maybe streetview, which was the last awesome feature. Most changes since then have made it gradually worse. If you look up directions on a computer and send them to an email, for example, they don't put the directions in the email, they put a link in the email--this means that they are prioritizing tracking your use of the app over giving you directions.

        It also

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by ranton ( 36917 )

          If you look up directions on a computer and send them to an email, for example, they don't put the directions in the email, they put a link in the email--this means that they are prioritizing tracking your use of the app over giving you directions

          This is simply a lie. I had never even tried to save directions in an offline format in years (internet coverage has been very good for at least a decade), so I just tried to do it on both my Android and laptop. On the Android I instantly found the ability to share directions within the main menu, and if sent to email it prints the directions in text.(along with a link to real time directions). On my computer it allows me to "Send a link" (as you described), "Embed a map", and print the directions including

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by Anonymous Coward

          I just grabbed my phone, a Galaxy S6, one generation newer than the one he is complaining about - clicked maps, searched for a location. Getting directions was trivial, I just clicked the top box and picked a starting location after refusing to let it turn on my GPS. Instantly directions. Shows nice large directions with turn icons and street views. On the first screen that popped up it brought up a 'Tap to download offline directions for spotty connections on your route' link. Took me two tries to find whe

        • Why would you ever send directions in an email? If you are logged in to Google when you search out a map on a computer and then open it on your phone that destination comes up as the first search.

          I use Maps all the time to go just about everywhere, even places I know how to go, so that I can use the fastest route feature and see slowdowns, as well as arrival time. I have noticed no delays or bloat.

          I can tell you that if you're traveling through somewhere like metropolitan New Jersey or New York, where the r

      • >"I'm also confused at how anyone can be confused when using Google for directions. I can understand a learning curve on the new features, but getting directions is very easy and has only gotten easier lately."

        Agreed. My issue is that there is so much "JUNK" and pop-ups and screen-stealing cards and such that it is much harder to use the MAP portion on small screens, especially after doing a search. Directions are easy. What is not as easy is browsing and zooming and exploring because of the lack of r

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      I managed to get directions on the map which takes up 1/4 of the screen while the other 3/4 are pictures of where I want to go and other menu options I rarely if ever use.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Kaenneth ( 82978 )

      But instead of a few seconds, it now takes a few MINUTES for Google Maps to start on my phone after asking the search box for directions. Frustrating minutes that I could be using to travel.

      Google Maps on my Android device literally takes longer to start than booting Windows and going to the website.

      • Google Maps on my Android device literally takes longer to start than booting Windows and going to the website.

        Something is wrong with your phone. Don't blame maps for that.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Kaenneth ( 82978 )

          Yep, Android updates that make it slower and slower as well.

          Sometimes the incoming call screen doesn't come up until the fourth ring, when it goes to voicemail.

          I did get the cheapest model from Samsung, but every update makes it slower and slower.

  • So, it took me all of a minute or two to learn the new navigation. Oh no, Mr. Bill!!!
    Seriously, whats the issue here. Have not been sent the wrong way. Have been able to enter where I want to go with no problem.

    What I would like to see though! If the local area has Department Of Transportation camera's along various highways, to include an option to see them on the map. Ohio does, and I use those camera's all the time. They are real time, maybe a 5 second delay.

  • Classical "smart people" screwup (Score:5, Insightful)

    by gweihir ( 88907 ) on Friday November 16, 2018 @02:04PM (#57656992)

    Lots of intelligence, but really limited real-world understanding at Google. What they have done here is known as the "Second System Effect", nicely described by Brooks in 1975. It is a sign of amateurs at the controls.

    Not that I mind. Google has gotten far too evil, far too powerful and far too arrogant. Anything that speeds their demise is a good thing.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by MTEK ( 2826397 )

      On the Microsoft side, that nicely explains what has happened since Windows 8.

    • > Google has gotten far too evil ...

      I've been seeing comments like this a lot recently, but how exactly are they evil? They're still delivering lots of great products that millions use everyday for free (with advertising).

      Maybe privacy violations? I've never felt violated, I freely use their services and expect them to collect info on me.

      China? That's tricky - the government has issues, but can you really dismiss such a huge part of the world's population? Is providing more censored search tools for Chin

  • Place names (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Maybe now they could make sure they actually put the names of fscking rivers, streets, mountains and communities on the fscking map. It's now fscking vacant. Switched to Bing maps or however they call that other abomination.

  • As a transit user, my directions have got worse (Score:4, Interesting)

    by DigitAl56K ( 805623 ) on Friday November 16, 2018 @02:14PM (#57657068)

    The app no longer reflects whether transit is on time, early, or late (which is reported by our MTS), so now even if I know the route it's harder to make my connections.

    • That's not a Google issue, that's a local issue. Maps still show my local transit times including early, late, updated instructions if a connection will be missed, etc. just fine for metros and trains here in the Netherlands. It also worked fine in London last week.

  • *sigh*.. I just want them to add back the option to email step-by-step directions. There are a handful of times where that is still useful.

  • Punked by Realtors (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jtara ( 133429 ) on Friday November 16, 2018 @02:35PM (#57657234)

    They've been punked by Realtors and real estate developers, as well.

    Where Google Maps used to show the names (whether formally-adopted or not) of long-established neighborhoods in San Diego, it now shows the names of new condo complexes.

    These are not neighborhoods!

    - Spruce Canyon Townhomes
    - India Street Lofts
    - Southpark Townhomes
    - Mississippi Street Condos
    - The Village in University Heights
    - Florida Gardens
    - Fashion Walk Condos
    - Judson St Condos

    They are shown in the same typeface, size, and color as ACTUAL neighborhoods:

    - Linda Vista
    - Little Italy
    - Hillcrest
    - University Heights

    etc.

    Google.... you been punked!

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by jtara ( 133429 )

      BTW, while some of these are large, sprawling developments, many are not - some are a single small building.

      It looks like some of society's nastiest vultures (sorry Realtors and real estate developers...) have found a loophole.

      • It looks like some of society's nastiest vultures (sorry Realtors and real estate developers...) have found a loophole.

        I didn’t realize that paying Google a fee was considered a loophole.

    • Where Google Maps used to show the names (whether formally-adopted or not) of long-established neighborhoods in San Diego, it now shows the names of new condo complexes.

      and... why should we be outraged? Something about gentrification perhaps?

  • Poster-child for 'bloated web app' (Score:3)

    by Rick Schumann ( 4662797 ) on Friday November 16, 2018 @02:39PM (#57657270) Journal
    Up until recently I'd been babying along an old AMD-64 single-core system, but it would choke out so bad on Google Maps that it was nigh-unto unusable; I'd have to sit there for at least a full minute before it would all load. For what should be a simple mapping webpage you shouldn't have to have a quad-core 3GHz system with graphics card in a PCIE x16 slot, FFS. Face it: it's bloated as fuck.

    Thanks, Javascript!

    • For what should be a simple mapping webpage you shouldn't have to have a quad-core 3GHz system with graphics card in a PCIE x16 slot, FFS. Face it: it's bloated as fuck.

      Of course you don't need that. Phones with 1.6Ghz dual core processors load it fine.

    • It used to be said that all non-email programs would eventually evolve to the point they would include an email client. (I suspect it was probably EMACS that did it first).

      The modern version is that eventually all applications will evolve to the point where they include a dating function. When Google Maps has that, then we know that the end is nigh for Google.

    • I think you may have a problem with your browser. Google maps isn't heavy in the slightest. It takes less than 2 seconds to load, and in the default zoom level, everything including scrips, data, the map itself, and interface comes in at under 400k. Scripting causes a single threaded blip up to about 20% on one of my cores that doesn't last longer than a second, and the memory used by the tab on maps is only 30% more than the memory used here on Slashdot.

    • It worked fine with Javascript until they moved from image-tile-based maps to vector maps (each of the streets is drawn on the map one by one in Javascript, which allows for more customization, but is slower). This change is several years old, though. I don't notice any changes of significance in recent weeks.

  • Different Philosophies (Score:3)

    by DaveM753 ( 844913 ) on Friday November 16, 2018 @02:42PM (#57657300)

    Unix Philosophy: "Do one thing and do it well."

    Google Philosophy: "Make 57 different apps to do 57 different things in mediocre fashion, then bring those features that consumers seem to like into one single, bloated app that focuses on "monetization opportunities". Oh, and "do no evil" (ha ha ha)."

    Apple Philosophy: "Do one thing and do it well, but charge exhorbitant fees and make sure the hardware ensures vendor lock-in."

    Microsoft Philosophy: "Don't do a damn thing. It's broke, don't fix it but do charge for it. Sell ads and personal information."

    Facebook Philosophy: "Fuck everyone and fuck you, too. --Sincerely, Mark Z."

    • Google Philosophy: "Make 57 different apps to do 40 different things in mediocre fashion...

      Fixed that for you. Some things need 3 different apps to do it, each in slightly different and completely incompatible ways.

      I'm looking at you, messaging.

      • Excellent point. I haven't kept up... what are they calling their messaging app(s) this week?
        "Hangover"?
        "Chatout"?
        "XMPeePee"?
        Ugh...

    • Google Philosophy: "Make 57 different apps to do 57 different things in mediocre fashion, then bring those features that consumers seem to like into one single, bloated app that focuses on "monetization opportunities". Oh, and "do no evil" (ha ha ha)."

      Actually, it's more like make many different apps to do 1 thing in a mediocre fashion, every time. Also make sure to name said apps as confusingly as possible, and to discontinue them randomly and without warning. The rest is correct.

  • tolls (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I would love a simple toggle feature to turn tolls off and on without having to dig 3 screens deep. Anytime I take the regular freeway home south from Chicago, google maps asks me every two minutes if i want to take the toll road to save 6 minutes (which costs 8 bucks). The only way to make it stop is to turn off tolls in settings, but I would like to be able to see the different routes without it trying to autoswitch me 10 times/hour.

  • Reading Street Names (Score:4, Insightful)

    by WalrusSlayer ( 883300 ) on Friday November 16, 2018 @02:47PM (#57657328)
    All the other commentary aside, could they one day fix my pet peeve: the fixed-size, microscopic font for the street names. Doesn't matter how goddamn close you zoom, it always reduces the street name back down to the 0.4 point font. Yeah, I'm a 50-something now who's eyes aren't what they used to be. But I'm pretty sure that even when my eyesight was better, I would still have trouble reading the tiny print. Is it such a crime against humanity to set a zoom threshold where the text size starts to grow with the other features of the map?

  • ... the search feature on Openstreetmap is finally becoming usable.

    Die DISPLAY of the maps has been dozen times better than Goggle maps for quite some time now, but sometimes you had to search for a place on Google Maps, to figure out where it was, and then switch top Openstreetmap to get some Idea of what is actually there....

  • Ok, it's a Note 2 but it's still going fine... :) I reverted patches and stopped auto-updates, now maps are useable again...

    Yeah, time for a new phone...

  • I got sick of having to update I don't know how many sites in the last five years to support new APIs and requirements with Google Maps.

    I use Open Street Maps and Leaflet for most things now. Gets the job done for a lot less hassle and money.

  • But NOW YOU KNOW how long it takes to ride a Llama from San Jose to Burning Man!

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • I can personally testify to it having problems. A few weeks ago there was a store I wanted to go to that's about a 15-20 minute drive from my house if I go the most direct way (fewest turns). However, it is possible to shave a good 5 minutes off the drive if I let Google maps direct me through some residential areas. I don't ever go through these areas unless I am letting Google Maps direct me and it involves a large number of turns, so I don't have the path memorized. I used Google Maps to go there,

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by jtara ( 133429 )

      Google Maps is not and never has been a good navigation app. If you want to navigate, get a navigation app!

      I used to use the excellent Navigon app, until Garmin killed it, and stopped releasing updates and updated maps. (Garmin bought them, and sold both Garmin and Navigon apps for several years.

      I've switched to Waze. I didn't like Waze very much when it was new, but I've been pleasantly surprised since switching from Navigon.

  • That's an explanation that fits the facts in the madhouse that Google has always been, and which is becoming only more so. Leave things have done, by all means, but innovate at all costs.

  • When useful features start being replaced by gratuitous social media connections, you need to start looking for a new app.

  • Good thing auto update is disabled in the play store on my phone. I think this version of the app must be a couple of years old now...works great!

  • Google Plus was destined to be the next Google Reader.  When you have a big company with a lot of money and a product manager trying to look good, we find random sh*t being stacked up on top of a product.

    now all of the sudden you've got
    * VTEC, HONDA POWER, MUGEN, NISMO, TRD, and GREDDY stickers
    * Red Honda Badge
    * GT Wing
    * Cut Springs
    * Data Champ Wheels

    ALL OF THIS ON A 1999 Integra Type R.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Google have shown themselves an almost unlimited amount of times, to have no qualms killing a perfectly good service for fun, or to redesign it and make it horrifically awful.
    (I'm still using BASIC HTML gmail right now, I refuse to use that new abomination)

    They will NOT have the balls to say "hey, this user interface is almost perfect, ok half the UI / Dev team? You're fired / on a new project, we do not need to mess with this" - nope, they gotta fiddle.

    Big point here : - Google maps about 2 years ago had

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