Google Maps just fucking SUCKS now

[SectorZ]

I am the eggman.

Google g'joob

[kkt]

Sometimes the pegman gets lost

[csw]

I just realized today that if you drop the streetview man in Nevada, it puts the streetview man in a UFO...probably not a new discovery, but still a fun easter egg.

[ErmineNotyours]

I just realized today that if you drop the streetview man in Nevada, it puts the streetview man in a UFO...probably not a new discovery, but still a fun easter egg.

In Hawaii, he's a mermaid.

[webny99]

Is it no longer possible to rotate Google Maps (i.e. rotate the map to so that a direction other than north is at the top) from a computer??

If so, that is a massive oversight, and I can't believe I didn't notice until now.

[CtrlAltDel]

Is it no longer possible to rotate Google Maps (i.e. rotate the map to so that a direction other than north is at the top) from a computer??

If so, that is a massive oversight, and I can't believe I didn't notice until now.

For me, it's not possible in 3D map mode, but it is possible in 3D satellite mode. I couldn't tell you if that's a change though since I almost always use 2D mode, which has never allowed rotation as far as I'm aware.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

It appears Google has added a feature (or I'm just noticing it) to GSV to better locate businesses while in that mode. Of course, this is bound to be troublesome with outdated imagery or recent changes to the area.

A good example of this new feature:

They added it sometime in June. At the time I was cruising up and down Barcelona following the lines of their orthogonal bus network, and now it's a PITA to go through narrow streets. You almost have to go photo by photo in order not to click in a business. Historic Street View imagery doesn't have that feature.

Is it no longer possible to rotate Google Maps (i.e. rotate the map to so that a direction other than north is at the top) from a computer??

If so, that is a massive oversight, and I can't believe I didn't notice until now.

AFAIK it has never been possible to rotate the browser-based Google Maps on map mode.

[Bruce]

Okay, so in a similar manner to how Google won't let you get directions involving temporarily closed roads, here's another even more bizarre one to ponder over:

The World Trade International Toll Bridge in Laredo, Texas (future I-69W) is currently only open to commercial vehicles (passenger cars need to use the two bridges downtown). However, Google will not let you get directions involving the World Trade Bridge at all - it basically treats it like a closed road. What the hell? How on earth does Google know whether you are getting directions for a commercial vehicle that is permitted or not? Answer: It doesn't. This is beyond stupid. Just allow the use of the World Trade Bridge in directions for crying out loud... perhaps mark it as a "restricted usage road" if you want to make a fuss, but don't completely prevent its usage.

It's the same for the Spokane Street Bridge in Seattle, which is currently closed to all but transit and freight in the daytime but open to most traffic at night.

[jakeroot]

Is it no longer possible to rotate Google Maps (i.e. rotate the map to so that a direction other than north is at the top) from a computer??

If so, that is a massive oversight, and I can't believe I didn't notice until now.

AFAIK it has never been possible to rotate the browser-based Google Maps on map mode.

Also my experience. Changing from satellite view back to map view, regardless of the map mode (globe or flat) has always thrown the map back to north-up. There has never been a way to rotate the regular map in Google Maps, possibly ever.

[webny99]

Changing from satellite view back to map view, regardless of the map mode (globe or flat) has always thrown the map back to north-up. There has never been a way to rotate the regular map in Google Maps, possibly ever.

I do it all the time on my phone, though, so I guess I'm just surprised it never occurred to me I couldn't do it from my computer.

[jakeroot]

Changing from satellite view back to map view, regardless of the map mode (globe or flat) has always thrown the map back to north-up. There has never been a way to rotate the regular map in Google Maps, possibly ever.

I do it all the time on my phone, though, so I guess I'm just surprised it never occurred to me I couldn't do it from my computer.

That's primarily because Google Maps on the phone is used for navigation, where having the map oriented relative to the viewer is especially important. On the computer? I mean, it's something they could easily code (as they already have for satellite view), but I don't think there's as-much of a use case.

[ilpt4u]

Anyone else notice, using iOS, since the latest update/version 5.49 of the Google Maps App, has broken the ability to launch GSV from a location pin?

Found a Google Support thread on it, so I know I'm not the only one having this issue: https://support.google.com/maps/thread/61807479?hl=en

[sprjus4]

Anyone else notice, using iOS, since the latest update/version 5.49 of the Google Maps App, has broken the ability to launch GSV from a location pin?

Found a Google Support thread on it, so I know I'm not the only one having this issue: https://support.google.com/maps/thread/61807479?hl=en

I noticed the same thing as well. Quite annoying, and hopefully it's just a bug and will be fixed.

[LM117]

I see that 2007-quality Streetview images are making a comeback for 2020.

[thspfc]

I see that 2007-quality Streetview images are making a comeback for 2020.

They seem to be gradually going away to me. Used to be that all of the GSV for just about anywhere in WI north of hwy 29 was bad quality. Now there's good quality GSV on most of the state routes.

[LM117]

I see that 2007-quality Streetview images are making a comeback for 2020.

They seem to be gradually going away to me. Used to be that all of the GSV for just about anywhere in WI north of hwy 29 was bad quality. Now there's good quality GSV on most of the state routes.

I was referring to the new images that were taken this year.

[Stephane Dumas]

Not exactly Google maps but Bing maps can sucks as well. Their streetside view of St. Regis/Akwasasne Indian Reserve stop right in the Canadian/US border.
https://www.bing.com/maps?osid=e02eff4f-a700-40ea-aa51-a33f501e0972&cp=44.999479~-74.646697&lvl=19&dir=50.282&pi=-0.44&style=x&mo=z.0&v=2&sV=2&form=S00027

I still wonder when Bing Streetside will cover Canada but that's for another topic.

[jakeroot]

Not exactly Google maps but Bing maps can sucks as well. Their streetside view of St. Regis/Akwasasne Indian Reserve stop right in the Canadian/US border.
https://www.bing.com/maps?osid=e02eff4f-a700-40ea-aa51-a33f501e0972&cp=44.999479~-74.646697&lvl=19&dir=50.282&pi=-0.44&style=x&mo=z.0&v=2&sV=2&form=S00027

I still wonder when Bing Streetside will cover Canada but that's for another topic.

Wait, so Bing Maps 'fucking sucks' because they don't yet cover all of Canada? That seems a bit harsh.

[vdeane]

Well, Google is at it again.  Sure, the natural features look pretty, but the roads look ugly, and it's now even more difficult to pick out freeways cities than it was before (seriously, freeways and arterials have gone from being nearly the same color to being actually the same color).  Why does Google keep suppressing the data that one would use a map for in favor of things that one would use satellite images for?

I wish there were a true competitor to Google Maps, but between street view, accurate drive times, the traffic layer, business information/photos/reviews, and the ability to set shaping points in directions, there's really nobody else that comes close.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/18/21373363/google-maps-redesign-detail-natural-features-environment

[Scott5114]

Over the past few months, I've switched to using OSM for anything map-based and only bringing up Google Maps if I need imagery of some kind. Because I usually am more interested in the location of things like county lines than the location of things like capitalism.

[jakeroot]

As usual, I actually like the changes.

I think it's a mistake to assume that people only use Google Maps to view roads. There's a lot of other stuff going on.

This update actually looks really cool. Especially street-level detail. The contrast also appears to have improved. Check out the sliding image for Mt Rainier National Park (the roads are a bit easier to see now, against the new colors).

[LM117]

Well, Google is at it again.  Sure, the natural features look pretty, but the roads look ugly, and it's now even more difficult to pick out freeways cities than it was before (seriously, freeways and arterials have gone from being nearly the same color to being actually the same color).

I don't care for that, either. Plus, I still don't understand why the new 2020 Streetview images were taken with a potato. Sure, the pandemic has hit budgets pretty hard, but you'd think Google can still afford HD cameras.

[vdeane]

As usual, I actually like the changes.

I think it's a mistake to assume that people only use Google Maps to view roads. There's a lot of other stuff going on.

This update actually looks really cool. Especially street-level detail. The contrast also appears to have improved. Check out the sliding image for Mt Rainier National Park (the roads are a bit easier to see now, against the new colors).

Meanwhile, on that Arizona image... can you tell which road is the freeway and which roads aren't on the new one (ignoring the I-17 shields)?  Because I can't.  The roads are particularly difficult to see at certain zoom levels (zoom 7 was particularly hard, because that's when the arterials appear, but everything looks the same, and the green and yellow aren't as distinct as the beige background that was there before Google started trying to show greenery).  Way zoomed in, arterials and freeways and freeway ramps all look the same too, which at that scale you can usually tell by context, but still, it looks ugly.  Google had me switched over to the new one last night, so yeah, I've poked around with it, and navigation is certainly harder than it was before.

There is a difference between enabling people to do things other than look at roads and making looking at roads harder.  Google is doing the latter.  After all, what is an interactive road atlas for, if not to look at roads?  Let's not forget that Google Maps began as a more browsable version of MapQuest.  It's ironic that one of their original key selling points (the ability to pan the map by dragging it with the mouse and zoom with the mouse wheel, rather than using search or the buttons on the side (which ties into another key selling point - not having onerous load times for panning/zooming the map!)) is made harder by recent changes!

Freeways, as a radically different type of road from surface streets with at-grades and driveways, deserve to pop out when looking at the map at a glance.  They are not the same as other arterials.  I don't get why Google doesn't understand this.

Well, Google is at it again.  Sure, the natural features look pretty, but the roads look ugly, and it's now even more difficult to pick out freeways cities than it was before (seriously, freeways and arterials have gone from being nearly the same color to being actually the same color).

I don't care for that, either. Plus, I still don't understand why the new 2020 Streetview images were taken with a potato. Sure, the pandemic has hit budgets pretty hard, but you'd think Google can still afford HD cameras.

I haven't seen much in the way of 2020 imagery, so I wouldn't know.  One thing to check, though, is whether it's actually Google imagery you're seeing.  They allow third party imagery, which is inevitably lower quality, and often which has priority over Google imagery for some reason even when the Google imagery is newer.

[J N Winkler]

Meanwhile, on that Arizona image... can you tell which road is the freeway and which roads aren't on the new one (ignoring the I-17 shields)?  Because I can't.  The roads are particularly difficult to see at certain zoom levels (zoom 7 was particularly hard, because that's when the arterials appear, but everything looks the same, and the green and yellow aren't as distinct as the beige background that was there before Google started trying to show greenery).  Way zoomed in, arterials and freeways and freeway ramps all look the same too, which at that scale you can usually tell by context, but still, it looks ugly.  Google had me switched over to the new one last night, so yeah, I've poked around with it, and navigation is certainly harder than it was before.

I haven't been switched over yet.  My impression, based on the views available in the article (zoom locked), is that roads in general will be easier to pick out of the background, but there may still be a slight differentiation in shade between freeways and other arterials comparable to what exists now.

[kphoger]

After all, what is an interactive road atlas for, if not to look at roads?

I'd argue that isn't really what Google Maps is.  I bet most people just use it to find out where certain businesses are and the fastest way to get there from here.  They don't care if the road along the way is a freeway or not, they just care where to turn.