Google launches offline maps
googleblog.blogspot.com
googleblog.blogspot.com
Now who do I need to bribe at Google to get Google Maps to support Mirrorlink so it works with a quarter of a million vehicles? And to give Google Now a fake telephone number?
Google would prefer vehicles implement Android Auto. I'd prefer that too. The reality on the ground is that about a dozen vehicles in the 2016 model year support Android Auto, while four times that support Mirrorlink (a Android Auto/Car Play competitor). That's a lot of vehicles who for their ten-twenty year lifespan won't have Google Maps without MirrorLink app support. So they're stuck using wonderful Android apps like "BringGo" and "Sygic" that are MirrorLink compatible.
As to the Google Now fake phone number issue. Microsoft's Cortana does this, it rocks. A lot of vehicles totally botch Bluetooth. On a $20 Bluetooth Headset you can push and hold the call button and it opens up a audio stream to your smartphone, you say "OK Google" and Google Now works. Unfortunately many vehicles lack this very simple functionality. They outright refuse to open up a blank audio stream over Bluetooth, instead they want a specific phone number to call (that is stored on the vehicle's contact list). With no telephone contact in the directory the vehicle won't even pretend to start a call. Once you ask your vehicle to call someone, it opens up the Android dialer app and "OK Google" does not function (since you're now in a voice call). Cortana's fake number solves this outright, you "call" Cortana, she answers and you conduct your query. Your vehicle cannot know it isn't a real voice call, it is amazing.
PS - No, Tasker does not solve the bluetooth thing. You can intercept the call and start Google Now, but as soon as it hangs up the call the bluetooth cuts out.
I had no idea, I got a 2011 car recently and it plays bluetooth audio and does calling as a separate functionality. I had issues getting it setup at first, but once I did, I haven't really thought of it sense. My only issue is I think Google should let you pick a default music software somehow, when I first started using it, it would open up the stock music player instead of Google Play Music (which is what I use by default). Now I go into my car and it autoplays, but I have to have the app open. Hopefully there will be progress in future versions of Android.
We have a 2014 and a 2016 model year vehicle (by two different vehicle manufacturers, but they both use Fujitsu-manufactured infotainment systems under the brand "Eclipse"); they have voice activated calling. So you have to sync your contacts and then say "Call Bob" for it to call that contact.
If you hold the handset up/handset down button it just brings up the contact list on the infotainment unit, if you hit the listen button it just listens for a voice command, unfortunately in either vehicle there is no possible way to just start a pass-through Bluetooth connection, and from forum posts it is unfortunately common.
As I said above Microsoft have solved this by giving Cortana a contact and a telephone number. You just hit the voice command button and say "Call Cortana." For many people we're stuck not being able to use Google Now until something changes, and it is unlikely the manufacturer will improve the infotainment system (if history is any indication).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Bluetooth_profiles#Pho...
And then tries to act as the dialer (rather than just passing audio to the phone like a headset). With the voice features built into phones now, the car dialer is probably not the better thing to be using. Windows Phone/Cortana have a workaround:
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/how-to/wp8/cortana/use-cor...
So no need for a device, Microsoft has already solved it in software. There's no technical reason that Google and Apple can't copy the feature.
I came back to this thread because I just tried to find a way to do this with Siri and failed.
I see you've never used a GPS in the back country for days at a time.
Things that are still wonderful about my eTrex 20 [0] is that it's cheap, it takes AA batteries, those AA's can last for 16+ hours continually, and it's not my phone. (phones are great, but I need it to operate as a phone, when I do need it).
And yes, I know your phone can do may wonderful things, and I am as grateful for that as you are, but of the few things they still are not getting right is: use in incremental weather. Like: winter outside, in a snowstorm, on a mountain. Or, being dropped onto things, like rocks. They seem to be allergic to those.
Sure, they're back to their core audience, but it's a much smaller one than they've become accustomed to.
The worst things about the eTrex are it's utter crap screen, how bulky it is, how expensive it is (they start at $250), the fact you have to spend a significant amount of additional money on maps and map updates, the added bulk due to the fact it uses AA batteries, and the poor battery life (I know this contradicts your experience, but that is MY experience using one 12 hours a day mapping plants).
I think for many people buying something like the Gaia GPS app and a waterproof case for their phone will be a much less expensive and more flexible option. If you are worried about running down the battery, buy a rechargeable lithium ion battery with a usb jack and take along your charging cable. If you need more accuracy, get a GPS puck for your phone. Garmin sells one.
There's been a refresh of the eTrex recently, one of the improvements is a better screen.
> how bulky it is,
It's 2.1" x 4.0" x 1.3". You know, big enough to hold in your hand.
> how expensive it is (they start at $250)
Here you go: $163, I'm sure there will be many sales in many outdoor enthusiast stores in a few days.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=11499...
> the fact you have to spend a significant amount of > additional money on maps and map updates
Here you go, all free:
> the added bulk due to the fact it uses AA batteries,
Again, I'm not sure if I'd call AA's "bulky" (compared to what?) but one of the merits of only needing AA's is you can find AA's literally anywhere, which is important to me, as I'm sometimes found in the middle of nowhere.
> and > the poor battery life (I know this contradicts your > experience,
Lithiums work incredible on this thing. The majority of the time, I use rechargables, as my use is < day, but if I'm out for a few weeks, I bring along a few pairs of lithiums, and life is good. The refresh again had improvements in battery life. The eTrex literally has the best battery life of all the Garmin consumer models.
> think for many people buying something like the Gaia GPS > app and a waterproof case for their phone will be a much > less expensive and more flexible option.
My use case is different than yours (backpacking, mountaineering, bicycle tours across the country). Ever have a phone shut down because it's too cold? Ever use a touch screen with enormous gloves on? Ever needed to use your phone, but its dead because of an app? All of the above in a storm?
Phones are great. I have one! They are also very fragile. I could throw an eTrex across the room in an attempt to do harm to someone and it would work just fine, once I find it again.
You think I'm going to put my phone, in a cradle, and mount that on the handlebars of my mountain bike, then go out and ride a singletrack trail across Colorado? (because that's what I do)
Nope. Batteries not going to last, screens not going to be visible, the thing will get damaged the first time I go over the handlebars (because again, that's what I do).
Dropping my phone off a cliff is something that's happened to me in the last week. I dropped an eTrex down a cliff, and I searched for it, for like an hour, because I knew it was still on, still functioning, and damnit, it's been working for 4 years, no way did I want to lose it. The phone, when found, was destroyed.
A better purchase today might just be a Delorme Inreach and their cheapest subscription. It gives 2-way communication and has an emergency beacon function.
Why only now? Offline maps/navigators have been available for years, Google is only catching up.
What is new, and never existed before in any version of the app, is the ability to search and start navigation completely offline.
The one reason to use the Google Maps app is the updated Traffic info and slightly nicer turn-by-turn (mentions specific lanes, etc) and slightly more updated maps.
They covered much more of the world than google maps. I always didn't understand why Japan didn't make the cut, I didn't have any insight into that.
fyi, HERE also has better indoor map coverage last time I checked, if you care for that sort of thing.
It was certainly odd that it was missing.
HERE is very good as an actual map I would call it a Garmin GPS replacement more than anything else, but it's navigation and city living/POI location features are kinda lacking.*
Based on my experience YMMV
You're probably not going to get the same detailed place/business data, but there are some things where it is more useful (finding public restrooms in Europe, for instance)
That's super useful when traveling within Europe for instance.
The main reason I sometimes use Google Maps is that it has better traffic coverage (shows also minor roads while HERE only major ones).
This is quite good for my android phone because it seems to try to connect to every metro wifi out there and doesn't fall back gracefully and quickly enough for it to be seamless. The iPhone has a better UX when it comes to this but still would be quite good especially when I go to out of the city and get edge or poor 3G connection, it also will work great when roaming and I won't have to worry about closing the navigation app or pressing anything that will trigger a new search when I'm out of the hotel and don't have wifi.
My other complaint was that the area it allowed you to save offline was too small to cover a trip to another city. So you'd have to save separate areas all along the route, and try to make sure they all overlapped a bit.
Hoping that this allows larger saved areas and starting or changing navigation destinations while offline.
That said, the ability to download maps for offline viewing was supported years ago, then removed, then added back (hidden in a hard-to-find corner of the app).
Maybe all these ideas have been considered but rejected for one reason or another.
* Why can I not annotate the map with my own comments? I can mark a place but I can't label it or put any notes. Seems like for google it could a great source for big data (opt in). Would also seem like a possible lock in feature as in an incentive not to switch to another map system since you probably couldn't easily import your notes)
* Why does search on maps suck so bad? I search for things and it gives me massively irrelevant answers halfway around the world even though it knows where I am. Why is actually searching so hard? Quite often I type something in, I want to "search" as in (show me markers on the map that match this query) but no search option appears, only a list of results which is not useful to me. I want to see them on the map. I don't know where 123 brown street is vs 567 red street but I would know if it would show me all of them on the map. That option is only available sometimes, not always. No idea why.
* Why haven't they started selling ads on the maps? Or at least letting businesses register more info. I'd personally like to see logos/signs (small) instead of just generic markers. I'd also like to be to search for items and have it tell me where I can get them. Not just generic items but specific items. eg. not where can I buy appliances but where I can I buy/see the LG LSXS26466S
* Why are the maps still so bad in so many parts of the world? Google maps does not know how to get from downtown Paris to Paris Disneyland by public transport. Google maps does not have public transportation info in Istanbul THE LARGEST CITY IN EUROPE!
2) Search is hard, let's go shopping!
3) They have: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/3246303?hl=en-AU
4) Public transport info generally relies on there being a competent transit authority that can provide a solid GTFS feed. You'd be surprised how hard even big, 1st-world cities can find this (here's looking at you, Melbourne).
Sometimes the authorities get into exclusive deals with other companies. Which is infuriating, because while I understand competition, et al., it's Google Maps (and by extension Google Now) we're talking about! I don't want to use that stupid startup that provides public transit navigation in my city. I want Google Now which is properly integrated with everything else on my phone.
If I recall correctly this feature was actually implemented for a short time. You could search for "milk" and see listings directly on the map with prices. I believe the reason it never took off was retail stores aren't actually interested in letting people comparison shop in this way, so they didn't let Google have the data. Also store inventory data is pretty terrible in general so you'd likely drive to a store and find that they were out of stock, or the item was slightly different, or the price was wrong, or whatever. That's just speculation, though.
You may not be able to search for products on the map anymore, but you can currently search for hotel prices: https://www.google.com/maps/search/hotels/ and soon gas prices http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2015/10/google-maps-makin...
I know that there's a lot of deals that need to be made for public transportation data. I think the philosophy is if google can't get high quality data (notably: real time data that has things like delays and line shutdowns) for times of public transportation, they won't integrate it.
The goal being to make sure that all the content is as high quality as possible, and not send people down the wrong way
Please, Google--anybody--let us use or buy offline satellite imagery!
[1] https://www.flickr.com/photos/defender90/sets/72157654387670...
So you just need to pick some of them and mess around getting it working. In the US, you can get reasonable imagery from the USGS:
http://raster.nationalmap.gov/arcgis/rest/services/Orthoimag...
I had other map and navigation apps, including quite pricey ones. And, I had a dedicated Garmin GPS. All could navigat and provide maps without a network connections. But, they all suck in other ways. Google Maps is clearly superior in every regard except that it will leave you on your own when you get off the grid, which is a pretty big deal...made more frustrating because it's difficult to guess when it's going to fail completely and make driving really stressful for a little while.
They allegedly added caching of routes a few years back, but it never worked very well. Any change, addition of another destination along the route, changing zoom level, searching for gas and then trying to go back to your original route, would all cause it to lose the cached information. It was pretty much worthless because it would invalidate the cache at the drop of a hat.
I'm hitting the road again, in a travel trailer, and I gave away my GPS because I have less space for extraneous things. I also assumed that things are better on the Android app GPS front (when I started traveling back then, I was using a Google dev phone, the first one based on the G1...so, all things Android have improved a little bit).
If they only add "Save as a contact", as version 6 does, I could get rid of my never-to-be-upgraded original Nexus.
This is on of the few changes to Maps that seem to be an improvement over the previous version.
I'm curious what states or countries actually work with this feature. The first thing I did was type in "United States." Too big. Eventually I had to zoom into an area half the size of the SF peninsula before I could download anything. It's better than nothing, but still not as good offline as the Garmin I had a decade ago. I guess this data has lots of stuff that my Garmin didn't, like business hours, but I care a lot more about navigation than about the rich maps data Google wants to deliver me.
You can download the whole USA map with the "HERE" app...
There's a very small limit to what one can download as well.
Personally I'll just stick with Here.
As in, go to the maps.google.com website, and the little icon in the corner to see things in a satellite view doesn't exist anymore ... there is only a choice for google earth and streetviews and blah blah blah things I never used.
Although on an old mac running snow leopard, satellite view option is still there.
What is going on ? Why would I not want the option of satellite view ? It seems like I would...
[1]: https://www.mapbox.com/mapbox-studio-classic/
[2]: http://store.usgs.gov/b2c_usgs/b2c/display/(xcm=r3standardpi...
[1] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.here.app.m...
Wouldn't it be nice if there was a version number so one could tell if it was worth updating yet. This is a big plus for me, the old option to cache a region of maps was very useful and this seems the moreso.
Latest example I had while I was travelling - the AirBnb "app" couldn't show me my accommodation details without internet access. Really, what's the point of the app then if you can't cache the data locally?
Browser caches should also be less aggressive about getting fresh data too. Caching is hard, but not everybody stays in one place with access to the internet until later. Do I have to continue printing on paper? Most web apps and pages don't pay enough attention to those cache headers.
I used Maps.me while in Europe and it worked well except for the occasional crash, and the offline routing was very welcome for navigating the cities.
A travel app that doesn't work off line? Never doing that again.
About 2 to 4GB. Depending on level of detail that number can go up or down a lot.
I still like to keep some AAA maps in my car as a backup in case my phone dies or gets lost.
Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Reader used to have offline mode through Google Gears - though a while ago they yanked it from all browsers apart from Chrome to foist the latter onto people. Of course there is also POP3 and IMAP for Gmail. Also, Google Maps used to have a prominent offline caching mode, but the hid it away more and more.