Google Maps Retina Rant

[Small White Car]

Back in the good-old 3GS days, the iPhone's Google Maps showed you traffic on the iPhone.

It looked like this:

You'll see that it only shows traffic on the major freeways. You could always zoom in and see traffic on the local roads too.

It looked like this:

It was a good system, and everyone was happy. Then Apple came out with the Retina Display! Oh boy! Everything is sharper! Ok, this is good news.

The wide view still looks pretty much the same but now you can read smaller text! Great!

But this got Apple thinking. "What if," they thought. "What if we show local traffic at a higher zoom level now? Hey! Yeah, it's sharper so you can see more detail so it makes perfect sense!

So NOW when I see this:

...I think to myself: "I'm just gonna zoom in a tiny bit to see that red area more clearly!"

And I get this:

Whoah! What road is mine? Which split is the freeway and which is the local road? What's traffic like ahead? Uhm...I'm not sure anymore...

Unlike before I don't have to zoom way in to get local roads. They're just right there all the time, making the traffic readout downright unusable.

So I zoom back out and use my map like this again:

So...thanks Apple. Now I have to decide between zooming in or using the traffic colors. Those were both features I liked but now I'm forced to pick one and ditch the other. Great.

Does this bother anyone else? I'm not looking for a solution...just wondering if anyone else has the same problem!

 

[chrfr]

That's got nothing to do with the Retina display. Traffic display changed, I think with iOS 4.0, even on the 3G and caused the problem you describe. I do agree it's annoying.

 

[Small White Car]

That's got nothing to do with the Retina display.

You're right, I am only guessing that it was the Retina Display that gave them the idea to do it...I don't know that for sure...but I still think it's a pretty good guess.

Why else would they think of this change?

 

[bmwhd]

Umm...I have to say, I don't get what you're complaining about. The second zoomed image you show gives better information on both the road and traffic situation IMHO.

 

[Mliii]

On a similar note, one thing I find a bit frustrating is the fact that the traffic conditions will obscure the road names. Don't know of a work around for that.

 

[Small White Car]

Umm...I have to say, I don't get what you're complaining about. The second zoomed image you show gives better information on both the road and traffic situation IMHO.

Have you used this on the phone in a car?

You're probably looking at this thread on a Mac or a PC and staring at the image. It's easy to stare at it for 5 seconds and figure it out. But in the car this changes the image from "I can glance at it for half a second" into "man, I have to pull over to study this stupid thing."

In other words, it makes it unusable at that zoom level.

(Note that I'm not talking about FINDING directions here. That's an entirely different thing that requires more concentration. You really would need to pull over for that. I'm talking about roads I'm familiar with and just glancing to see if it's red or yellow up ahead. The difference betwen 1/2 second and 5 seconds kills it for that kind of use.)

 

[palmerc2]

When your in Los Angeles you don't have to worry about that, because it will all be red :-D it just looks like a map with a whole bunch of blood vessels over it! I don't know how people sit in traffic all day, I guess let the sheep be sheep.....

Okay, well actually yeah....I did notice that the other day, but I just simply zoom out and am pleased.

One thing I do wish, is that Apple could make it so the lettering is overlapped on top of the traffic. I will be looking at a freeway and not knowing which one it is (unless I'm already familiar with how that freeway looks). Or same thing with roads....it's kinda hard to distinguish one road from another when they're so close to each other and all have a color over it

 

[bmwhd]

Have you used this on the phone in a car?

You're probably looking at this thread on a Mac or a PC and staring at the image. It's easy to stare at it for 5 seconds and figure it out. But in the car this changes the image from "I can glance at it for half a second" into "man, I have to pull over to study this stupid thing."

In other words, it makes it unusable at that zoom level.

(Note that I'm not talking about FINDING directions here. That's an entirely different thing that requires more concentration. You really would need to pull over for that. I'm talking about roads I'm familiar with and just glancing to see if it's red or yellow up ahead. The difference betwen 1/2 second and 5 seconds kills it for that kind of use.)

Fair point. I use Navigon in the car.