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Comment by dangerlibrary | Hacker News Reader

My wife and I regularly talk about how "Thanks Google, I'll take it from here" is the best Maps features that doesn't exist.

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You mean pressing “end route” ?

Common scenario: I’m somewhere unfamiliar, going home, and I need to be home at a certain time. Once I’m on the freeway I no longer need the navigation, but I still want the en route traffic info and ETA.

> Once I’m on the freeway I no longer need the navigation, but I still want the en route traffic info and ETA.

Apple Maps on CarPlay added this feature and I love it. It works great for routes where I pretty much know the way but want a heads up for traffic and such.

Traffic Message Channel on your car radio? RDS-TMC kicks in where appropriate even without a "data link" (eg. no 4G / 3G data link)

Sure, but I'm driving. It'd be nice if it was configurable or automatic, is the point.

Exactly, I just hit Exit in GMaps, and it works well.

Yes! Or maybe a radius around around your house where navigation stops, just like how you can set an area of maps which is downloaded.

I guess, though, I would probably only want navigation to stop if I'm going to my house, not from it.

The case I find most annoying is driving from one city to another. I don't need directions on how to get to the highway, nor on how to drive straight for 200km[1]. I just want directions when I get close to the city I'm unfamiliar with. Currently, the best solution is turning on directions only when I get a chance to stop near my destination city.

[1] It seems this has gotten better in recent years with less frequent nagging to "proceed straight for 50km" from the app.

It’s maybe different in the UK but it’s great to have it for motorway (highway) journeys where a closure of a section of road can leave you dealing with a 4 mile route around winding roads. It’s also great for avoiding the traffic in the first place.

I _hate_ how all map programs think they need to tell you to keep going straight. It seems to be because the road you are on will change its name.

The worst example I've had is that a road changed it's name 70m before it split into two. The app would only show "In XXXm, continue straight" then, with 70m warning, it told me which lane I needed. That was stressful.

I want the screen to stop dimming when navigating crucial junctions.

Or an option to say, "Hey Google, I'm fine until I get to the highway" or if Google proactively said, "I noticed that the last 5 miles of your route is on roads you have not traveled before. Would you like turn-by-turn directions for the last 5 miles?"

Does it not have the ability to mute navigation?

Apple Maps in CarPlay has this option, and I only ever use it muted. It’s fine even when I don’t know where I’m going, since I just glance at the screen to see the next turn/distance and that’s all I need anyway.

You can press the X on the bottom left of the navigation page, which halts the navigation. To start back up, just press Start again.

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