Google Maps just fucking SUCKS now

[7/8]

Interchanges are also a lot harder to see on the new maps when you're zoomed out.

[SignGeek101]

My frustration is that you can't see freeways as easily. It's beige for highways and major arterials, and a stronger beige for freeways.

[Zeffy]

My frustration is that you can't see freeways as easily. It's beige for highways and major arterials, and a stronger beige for freeways.

Biggest pet peeve with the new Maps. I liked the vibrant orange they used to have. Plus, they don't even have the outline for toll roads anymore!

[compdude787]

Plus, they don't even have the outline for toll roads anymore!

That's the one thing that bothers me about the new Google Maps. Other than than that, I don't really mind it all that much. (I know, I know, you're probably all just going to think I'm completely crazy... )

[Duke87]

Remember when Google Maps used to look like this?


Yeah, before we know it the design we just lost will look as primitive as that does.

I am not a fan of muted tones in general though, so...

[compdude787]

When are tech companies ever going to figure out that people are getting sick of computer software and websites being dumbed down? 

[empirestate]

Has nobody else noticed that they DO show incorporated and census-designated places now (without having to select them)?

[slorydn1]

Has nobody else noticed that they DO show incorporated and census-designated places now (without having to select them)?

Yes I did notice that, too.

[jeffandnicole]

I don't mind the labels or any of that other BS, but the white roads on a white background-c'mon, really Google??? At anything other than the tightest zoom levels outside of a major city anything lesser than a full freeway is now completely invisible. Thanks for making the map unusable as a map, Google!!

Glad somebody understands my frustration.  Lol.
What's the point of making a MAP if you can't see the MAP

Kinda like how the phone on a cell phone takes 2nd place to everything else?? 

[vdeane]

Seriously, I don't see how all the tech pundits think the new style is easier... I find that it's very hard to see anything but the most major roads at all.  You have to be zoomed much further in to see anything... even businesses, which are supposedly the focus now.  And they no longer differentiate between toll roads and free roads, and what's with having two different styles for freeways (with the style for more minor freeways being more visible except when zoomed way out)?  It's unusable.  Wouldn't be surprised if I end up having to switch to something else for planning roadtrips, just because everything is impossible to see in the new style.

I'm sick and tired of everything being dumbed down on account of phone users.  Let the phone uses have their dumbed down stuff if you must, but keep the desktop working!  Seriously, what's the point of even having a desktop computer if nobody writes software for them any more?

[paulthemapguy]

I don't mind the labels or any of that other BS, but the white roads on a white background-c'mon, really Google??? At anything other than the tightest zoom levels outside of a major city anything lesser than a full freeway is now completely invisible. Thanks for making the map unusable as a map, Google!!

Glad somebody understands my frustration.  Lol.
What's the point of making a MAP if you can't see the MAP

Kinda like how the phone on a cell phone takes 2nd place to everything else?? 

It is EXACTLY like that.  Brilliantly said.  Excellent simile 

Seriously, I don't see how all the tech pundits think the new style is easier... I find that it's very hard to see anything but the most major roads at all.  You have to be zoomed much further in to see anything... even businesses, which are supposedly the focus now.  And they no longer differentiate between toll roads and free roads, and what's with having two different styles for freeways (with the style for more minor freeways being more visible except when zoomed way out)?  It's unusable.  Wouldn't be surprised if I end up having to switch to something else for planning roadtrips, just because everything is impossible to see in the new style.

I'm sick and tired of everything being dumbed down on account of phone users.  Let the phone uses have their dumbed down stuff if you must, but keep the desktop working!  Seriously, what's the point of even having a desktop computer if nobody writes software for them any more?

Everything is impossible to see -> destruction of a map's functionality.  This applies to PC's AND portable devices.
And I totally agree on your last point...It's almost like they're acting as if phones are going to REPLACE laptops and PC's.  Uhhh, the laptops and PC's aren't being phased out at all...so we should keep making stuff for them too

[Thing 342]

I think the new UI is ok; only marginal improvement on the eye appeal and slightly worse functionality but not the massive disaster you guys seem to think it is. However, I do think the reasons they specified on the blog post were bullshit made up after the fact to justify the redesign, since it seems like none of the use cases they specified were all that common, and it doesn't seem to address them all that well.

[empirestate]

Just to be the voice of a different perspective, my reaction so far is that it's different. Not better or worse, just different. Some stuff is harder to see but some is easier. Certainly, I hate it far less than recent redesigns of MapQuest (not the current one, which I hadn't even noticed–I must say, I kind of dig how they're doing route shields now) or even OSM.

[7/8]

Seriously, I don't see how all the tech pundits think the new style is easier... I find that it's very hard to see anything but the most major roads at all.  You have to be zoomed much further in to see anything... even businesses, which are supposedly the focus now.  And they no longer differentiate between toll roads and free roads, and what's with having two different styles for freeways (with the style for more minor freeways being more visible except when zoomed way out)?  It's unusable.  Wouldn't be surprised if I end up having to switch to something else for planning roadtrips, just because everything is impossible to see in the new style.

I just noticed this too. I would argue it emphasizes the minor freeways more, even though they're a lower class of road compared to a full freeway
In the example below, A-50 at the top looks more prominent than ON 417 below, even though A-50 is a super-two, while the 417 is a 4-lane freeway.

[vdeane]

I will say that the shading of areas of interest does make it easier to locate businesses along an interstate, but at the same time, it's really annoying to have to zoom in close enough to measure the lane widths in order to see any businesses appear; combine that with the difficulty in seeing streets and interchanges, plus the loss of symbology of toll roads, definitely makes it a net negative.  While I don't particularly like the new color scheme, that alone I could get used to if not for the other issues affecting usability.

[Thing 342]

Just to be the voice of a different perspective, my reaction so far is that it's different. Not better or worse, just different. Some stuff is harder to see but some is easier. Certainly, I hate it far less than recent redesigns of MapQuest (not the current one, which I hadn't even noticed–I must say, I kind of dig how they're doing route shields now) or even OSM.

Speaking of which, what is this recent fascination with making all of the roads the same color? OSM, MapQuest, and now GMaps have all recently gotten redesigns that have made different classes of routes nearly impossible to discern from each other, specifically freeways.

[slorydn1]

For giggles I just pulled it up via my phone's app and yep, you guessed it-It sucks there too-so if this was done to make it look/work better on a phone then it was a humongous fail.

I do like the shading of populated places-that helps.

Look, I wasn't one of the ones that went berzerk when the last change (the one that prompted this thread to start with) so it's not just the fact they changed it. Change is good sometimes. But this last change has made the map useless as a map (or should I say as a road map anyway).

[Rothman]

Yeah, I'm annoyed by the lack of distinction between major functional classes and whether a road is toll or free.

However, MapQuest's vector file is total crap (e.g., actual roads that its routing algorithm fails to recognize, missing road segments altogether, etc.). 

Perhaps it's a race to the bottom where GoogleMaps will simply be the one that's not as awful as the others.

I also don't understand how this is better for phone users.  I'd want the distinctions as a phone user as well.

[jakeroot]

No one, except us, uses Google Maps to look at roads. This change directly benefits the vast majority of users by highlighting important areas of interest (the orange blocks on the map), and muting the rest.

This change annoys us because it makes it a hair more difficult to look at maps. But, remember, we are in the minority of users. No one uses Google Maps in the same way as us.

[hotdogPi]

Businesses and areas of interest are not the same thing. (The Robert Frost Farm in Derry, NH is definitely an area of interest, but it is not shown in orange.)

[jakeroot]

Businesses and areas of interest are not the same thing. (The Robert Frost Farm in Derry, NH is definitely an area of interest, but it is not shown in orange.)

Key word is "areas" (plural). Not all businesses are highlighted in orange. Areas with high levels of business activity (like downtown areas or areas near shopping malls) are orange.

[compdude787]

It seems that they've forgotten the primary use of maps, which is for navigation. If you can't see the roads clearly, it makes it harder to navigate. But then again, people don't just look at a map like Google Maps to navigate, they just put in the start and end point and then get GPS directions. As for me, I'm too cool for a GPS. I just look at the roads on the map and am able to remember the route in my head.

[Rothman]

No one, except us, uses Google Maps to look at roads. This change directly benefits the vast majority of users by highlighting important areas of interest (the orange blocks on the map), and muting the rest.

I really doubt that this is the case.  I'm sure those even just using it as a GPS would like to tell if they're unexpectedly coming up on a toll road.

[Zeffy]

I definitely know more than a few people who aren't roadgeeks but use Google Maps for navigational purposes (I.E. seeing which roads go where). It's a good habit to know alternate routes in this state because it's not that unlikely you'll run into a traffic jam that can be avoided if you know alternate ways.

[jakeroot]

No one, except us, uses Google Maps to look at roads. This change directly benefits the vast majority of users by highlighting important areas of interest (the orange blocks on the map), and muting the rest.

I really doubt that this is the case.  I'm sure those even just using it as a GPS would like to tell if they're unexpectedly coming up on a toll toad.

You can still see which roads are tolls, so long as you plug in some directions: