Google Maps updated with public transit and walking directions 54
There’s one thing to check off our wish list for upgrades to the Google Maps app on the Palm Pre: Mass transit and walking directions. Actually, that’s two things, so much the better! In addition to now being generally faster and getting a GPS lock much more quickly than I can ever remember, the updated Google Maps app now allows you to pick what kind of route you’d like: driving, mass transit, or walking. The mass transit routing even lets you pick a departure time so it can pick the bus/train/subway/monorail/ferry/hovercraft trips that will get you to your destination in the shortest time possible. All but a few major American cities are participating in the public transit partner program with Google Maps.
As it would turn out, new routing options aren’t the only nice thing we can access. Google Maps now stores your queries for the period you’re running the app, so if you need to check directions between multiple locations and then back again, you can easily do so. Unfortunately, this history log is not saved once you close the app, so you can’t use the history as a quasi bookmarking workaround.
Another thing: we’re not sure if this was a webOS 1.2 update or not. Several users have reported that these options were not available until today, which lends further credence to the theory that most of the Google Maps app is stored server-side and downloaded every time you launch it.
Update: As leez has pointed out in the comments, if you downgrade to webOS 1.1 for Exchange purposes, you still get the upgraded Google Maps app, thereby confirming that the majority of the interface is indeed stored server-side.
Thanks to mobilehavoc in our forums for the tip!
54 Comments
some decent traffic reporting would be a better start. or better yet...microsoft, get your act together and get a live app out for webos, your traffic makes google just look silly. i hate having to get my traffic through the web browser.
t
This is get webos keep getting better buy the minute.
now lets hope they implement the advanced accelerometer features. just like the bell commercials!
Wow. I just tried out the subway route feature (NYC). It let's you choose from multiple routes displaying the estimated travel time based on the actual time you start your trip. Looks like it incorporates the train schedules from the NYC MTA site to accomplish this.
Sweet!!
X
I live in chicago and it does the same for me with the metra stations and all the trains, this is extremely helpful, it even tells me what buses to take!
FINALLY!!! This was pretty much at the top of my list of the few things I missed from my Treo Pro.
It is also nice to see that google is paying some attention to their WebOS apps.
I can confirm it's server side. I downgraded to 1.1 and Google Maps has all the new features as of today!
Why can't Google Maps get it right on the Pre??? These are nice updates, but still lacking some of the essential features of the Treo/PalmOS version (I haven't used any WinMo or Android, so I can't compare).
What's essential features of the Treo/PalmOS version are you talking about?
-storing recently used addresses and searches for the next time you run the program
-saving a business listing to the contacts
-Zoom in and out buttons
-traffic (not as essential to myself, but useful)
- it has traffic
- why would you want zoom in and out buttons when you have a multi-touch screen?
Probably the same reason I want a way to zoom in and out with one hand (though not necessarily buttons) for the web browser. It is hard to zoom in while using the Pre singlehanded (holding onto a subway pole for example), and double tap to zoom can be tempermental.
I would love to be able to use a gesture around the center button to zoom for both maps and web I envision counterclockwise out, clockwise in...
nb
I don't find it hard to zoom one handed. Just used index finger and thumb, while holding with other fingers.
I meant better traffic, but wasn't clear about that in my original post. The Treo's traffic wasn't terribly great either, so that's my mistake.
But pinch and zoom is difficult to use one-handed. Heck, the Pre itself is hard to use one-handed when the keyboard is out.
zoom in and out buttons would make it much
easy to use one hand.
The menu button is redundant too. It provides access to 4 additional functions only. Why not just have the 4 functions appears on the main screen? In other word, just make it like the Palm OS version.
Hot key support would be nice too. Again this is already in the Palm OS version. Press I and O to zoom in and out, T for traffic...
1 and 2 I definitely want as well (are they essential, though? I don't think so).
As far as zooming, I'm fine with the multitouch solution and also you know you can double tap to zoom in right? So really, they just need a way to zoom out without using two fingers for you to be satisfied with that one?
Traffic, I've never really found it to be that bad. Especially now that they do arterials (which is awesome).
no longer given the ability in 'location services' to toggle gps??
It's in the prefs menu under Location Services now.
now if only it would do turn by turn directions we would be in biz
Menu -> Get Directions. Boom, Turn by Turn directions.
Yeah, Google Maps is definitely server-side. If you remember, back when 1.1 first came out, many of us were having issues with it not working at all. It was updated automatically on Google's end to work properly, and everything was fine a few days later.
Besides that, I checked Google Maps just yesterday and it definitely was not there.
This is nice, but can we please have Latitude on the Pre???
+1 - Latitude plz, Google.
YES PLEASE.
oh, yeah !!!! this is perfect for those of us that only walk or take public transportation. I LOVE MY PRE !!!
this is an awesome update, but it still doesn't tie my shoes!! WTF?? come on palm and google! at least make it dust my living room!
Next street view.
+1
It looks like Latitude is coming soon. This is where the maps UI is loaded from:
http://maps.google.com/maps/m
If you view it in a web browser, you can see it's already Latitude enabled. I'm sure they'll enable it for webOS at some point.
w00t. Awesome, looking forward to it.
I have not upgraded to 1.2 yet, and yes I got the new features of Google Maps. It may not be any more a client side app than the regular web version of Google Maps.
Street View please. :)
wow i didn't know i could downgrade to 1.1. may have to to that. i'm not using much that they added.
1.2 is SO much faster, though, I don't know why you'd want to downgrade. I haven't rebooted once since Monday and everything is still very snappy. In 1.1, I had to reboot every 2-3 days.
Maybe this is naive of me, but what practical applications have people actually found for Street View? (Honestly.)
If you live in a dense city like New York City, each block is jam packed with window fronts, apartment entrances, and stores. Often times, these aren't necessarily labeled with their street numbers. Thus, it's helpful to know what the front of the location you are looking for looks like.
I was in the Village and was trying to see if there was a subway stop near a restaurant a friend and I were going to. So I used street view to do a quick look around and we found a stop right next to the restaurant. Definitely other ways I could have done that, but at the time that was the most efficient. I think its useful.
When I'm driving somewhere unfamiliar, it helps to know what my destination LOOKS like. This is often a lot easier than looking for street numbers (not always available or visible) or street signs).
For my out-of-town real estate clients, StreetView and satellite view are good ways to check out the appearance of a neighborhood.
I don't even care about that. I wish the addresses I pulled up in Google Maps actually could get routes. I find businesses in it then it won't give directions. Pathetic. I'm forced to just look at it for around 50% of places I look for.
Walking directions -- not so smart, but not bad if you're in an unfamilar area. I just tried getting walking directions to my son's elementary school nearby, it would sent me way out of the way, out to the main road and back, rather than the more direct route.
my google maps is like 10 miles off from my actual location is this happening to anyone else?
do you have GPS on? i doubt that would change where your phone thinks you are by ten miles but it's worth a shot
yeah i have everything on that i know of
There is a bug in the new version. In the old version I would start typing in an address or business name, then hit Google Map from the drop down. Then in Google Maps, hit menu ->Get directions. Now when you hit get directions, it loses the business or address you just typed in and asks you to type in address. WTF... Anyone else experiencing this?
I'm about 6 blocks off right now.
Guess there is no public transportation support in Indianapolis. Maybe that is because our public transit system is a joke.
While we're on the topic of navigation, has anybody checked out the Telenav app since the 1.2 update? It seems snappier to me and the voice seems MUCH louder and clearer. Maybe it's just me...
The next google maps update I would like to have is a feature that was on my treo. When you searched for a business and found it, there was an option to add that business to contacts. Everything would be imported.
Its crazy that those features weren't included when the Pre came out. Reading the different post I'm reminded about how much I depended on the full implementation of google.
Seems like that would actually be easier on the Pre than it was on the Treo, because it just has to be added to your Google Calendar and synced. So it could be a function done server side. Although that wouldn't be instantaneous for updating on the Pre.
If you don't use Google calendar, this wouldn't be useful.
Good update but would still love to see history, bookmarks/saved routs and the ability to get directions to/from any point you select on the map - without the need for an address.
My Samsung A900 could do this in the Java version of Gmaps 4 freakin' years ago!