Google Navigation - Iffy?

[ljholland]

I'm not sure if anyone else has experienced this....

- The navigation picks some very stupid routes. Often, instead of a major highway, it'll choose some neighborhood back street and other slow routes.
- I'm on a major highway (e.g., Rt.66 in the capital region) and it has no idea where I am. I comes back and says that the road isn't found. A few repeated restarts of the app sometimes cures this.
- If you don't follow the route, it can't seem to properly reroute like a regular GPS....again - aiming you into some neighborhood or other silly path instead of re-planning the best possible route.

Anyway, I guess it's not intended to replace a real GPS but it seems to need some more work.

 

[Backnblack]

I have no problem using it here in the Balt/Wash area at all....

Are you on the latest update?

 

[papy72]

My only real complaint (not that I use it much) is that the voice interface, one of the biggest features that was promoted when the droid first came out with it, doesn't seem to work all that well.

I have a "home" contact on my phone with my home address, yet doing a "navigate to home" never works.

When I "navigate to erin at home" it keeps trying to look for places and people named Aaron.

What I would like to see is better integration with the built-in contacts. If I pull up a contact that has an address I want to se a button that basically fires up Navigation and takes me from where I am to the address. If I could do that I'd skip the voice interface for 90% of what I do.

 

[ljholland]

I have a "home" contact on my phone with my home address, yet doing a "navigate to home" never works.
When I "navigate to erin at home" it keeps trying to look for places and people named Aaron.What I would like to see is better integration with the built-in contacts. If I pull up a contact that has an address I want to se a button that basically fires up Navigation and takes me from where I am to the address. If I could do that I'd skip the voice interface for 90% of what I do.

That's another one!!!! It completely ignores my name and suggest how to get to Home Depot or some other stupid google lookup instead of my address. It really isn't integrated into the contacts.


Backnblack - yes - I'm up to date.

 

[fuzzym]

As a pizza delivery guy, I rely on Nav very regularly. Over the course of the last month, there have only been two times where Nav has either failed to recognize the address I spoke to it (I use voice search every time) or where it has routed me in an odd way. Granted, this is only for short intra-city delivery trips, but overall I am quite impressed with Nav.

As far as not working with "navigate to home" queries, I was under the impression that the labels you assign to adresses on the web don't transfer to the Nav/Maps program and thus, those types of queries wouldn't work.

 

[Jeepers]

I have to agree with the Nav problems - and I am very frustrated as well - and extremely disappointed - updated and all - as a daily user - uugghhh - it takes me on very cirtuitus routes - out of the way - or the looong way - or can't find it's way - there are no choices as to how you want go - by highway - or by byway

I was a long time user of VZNAV - which was just awesome - better than my partners Garmin LOL - in that it gave me choices and never had an issue of not being able to locate ME - gave me the shortest routes when I needed them - was much easier to use

Just sooo danged disapointed with this DROID navigation - was one of the biggest sellers for me at the time as well............

If anyone knows of any ''fixes'' to these issues - I would LOVE to know - because I need navigation for my job - daily - more frustrating to use than anything else - uugghhhh

 

[Dusty]

I live in NoVA/DC and I wish it didn't route me to 495/95/295 or any other highway whenever I want to go somewhere.

I actually wish it would give me the routing option of AVOIDING major roads and highways. Around here the larger roads are always backed up unless its between 9:00pm-5:00am... Any other time and you're in your car sitting still.

Other than that I really really like the Google Nav app. It's guided me in Manhattan. Made travel in a rental car easy in Tampa. I use it to get around D.C. at minimum 3 times a week. I think it's awesome, personally!

 

[amjacobs1]

I live in Maryland and as a test, I tried to go from my house to my wife's work which is mostly a few highways. It messed up along the way and gave me roads that were going AWAY from the intended route. However, in general, it has given me a few rare goofs. I am going to test it against my Garmin when I go to Las Vegas for a week in May. I travel all around the LV basin area when I go visit, and there is tons of new road construction going on. We'll see how they do against each other.

 

[thatoneguy5349]

I've never had any issues with it.

 

[takeshi]

Google Navigation - Iffy?

I've never had issues with it. However, I have seen several threads posted by those experiencing issues with it. My fiancee has only had one odd experience with it. Google Nav kept directing her to a destination that was across the street from where she was actually intending to go. It seems to be a YMMV thing.

- If you don't follow the route, it can't seem to properly reroute like a regular GPS....again - aiming you into some neighborhood or other silly path instead of re-planning the best possible route.

I've actually found it to reroute very quickly (faster than Telenav or Garmin for the BB anyway) and the new routes have never given me any problems.

What the app really needs IMO is routing options. Things like: shortest, fastest, avoid toll roads, avoid highways, prefer highways, avoid traffic, etc.

My only real complaint (not that I use it much) is that the voice interface, one of the biggest features that was promoted when the droid first came out with it, doesn't seem to work all that well.

I have a "home" contact on my phone with my home address, yet doing a "navigate to home" never works.

Voice search works extremely well IMO (useful when traveling) but I agree that it seems to be unable to refer to the contacts in the phone for some odd reason.

 

[GolubSux]

Same issues here with the Nav...completely useless...I was driving on a main Rte to my house only 1 mile away and it wants to take me totally in an opposite direction...says accuracy is within 1000 meters...WTF?..

 

[JCR]

Navigation limitations

I've had the issue of voice not finding my "home." The droid has a great processor, but it does have it's limitations. Try running a voice application on a desk top with a half gig processor. You're problems will be twice as bad. That said, try a different word like "house". It's a harsher sound and is easier to r4ecognize.

I think that I've hit most of the routines in navigation at least once. Unfortunately, it was on a random basis and I can't figure out how to get back to them.

That brings me to the number one limitation of google navigator. Where's the manual?? The blurb that came with my phone from verizon tells me what the phone can do, just nothing about how to do it. As if I'm telling you anything. I woulod have been happier if they had just put a note in the box saying here's your phone. At least I wouldn't have expected anything.

 

[bionicback]

Navigation

I loaded 2.1 on my Eris earlier this week and had a chance to try Google Nav a few days later and I have to agree that it sure would be nice to have some control over the route. It seems to have a preference for major highways even if its farther ( say I95 thru downtown Jacksonville ) then a shorter route on a non-major road. It did re-calculate very quickly ( once we turned onto 9A ) and found the route we wanted to take. I did discover a great feature though, I noticed a green indicator in the bottom left of the screen and as soon as we turned onto the new route it went yellow followed by red. When I tapped on it it showed our route which was mostly green with a small section of red. The second we passed the accident ( the reason for the red section of road ) the indicator went green again. NOW THATS COOL !! So I'm looking forward to finding more cool stuff in Nav and 2.1

 

[kevin1016]

Must be a regional problem. Mine works great all the time.

 

[ctxx24]

I tested mine yesterday heads up against my 400 dollar tomtom. They took me on the same rout which was like 25 miles. When i took a diff road :motdroidhoriz: rerouted me faster...while the tomtom was still telling me to do a uturn....my tomtom also shows my final stop at least a house from where iam hmmmm :motdroidhoriz: was a nice picture of my house:icon_ banana: