Google Maps - Transit & Food 4+

Delivery driver app

I have been using google maps for many years. And compared to the big two Garmin and Tom Tom this is by far the best app to use. Is it perfect no it’s not. But a little checking before pulling away can save a lot of the little problems. Check the final destination is correct. Check postcode and double check house number is at the same location or even tap in the business name.

The options to take alternative routes is a real life saver when live traffic is activated. This has saved me literally hours. Route could be nice and clear when pulling away but 2 hours down the road anything can happen. Gmaps will alert me with nice big red travelling time. A quick zoom out and a tap on the screen gives a quick detour around the problem.

DEVs: A lot of delivery drivers use this. Just one little question. When will you release an option for hgv vehicles (width restrictions and height restrictions). Nothing a little common sense doesn’t sort out but please bear in mind that hgvs do use your app.

Great. But beware the ‘AVOID TOLLS’ option! 😡

Always rely on Google Maps when we’re in the US, and especially liked the ‘Avoid Tolls’ option when you’re in a rental car and don’t want a hefty admin fee from the agency for going through a cashless toll. However I discovered last week that it’s not reliable - drove from Ohio to Staten Island NY with ‘avoid tolls’ selected, no warnings/pop-ups to say anything to the contrary, only to find ourselves at a $15 bridge toll to get over to Staten Island. Turns out there is no way to avoid a toll on to the island, fair enough, but if that’s the case PLEASE GOOGLE can you give us some notification of this when we select the route? I could easily have gone to an ATM and got the money before we got there if I’d known, but the only mention of the toll is hidden away down in the route description, and the top of it still says ‘avoid tolls’. No warnings whatsoever. So I’m now looking at a hefty fine/admin fee that would have been entirely avoidable if the nav info had been more accurate. Yes I know that all New Yorkers are aware there’s a toll, but it was a last minute trip and I trusted google maps to just avoid the tolls if that’s what was selected, or tell me if it wasn’t possible.

For future updates, the difference between cash and cashless tolls would be useful info, so we could avoid cashless tolls, but use cash tolls, as that’s what most people out of state are worried about.

Developer Response ,

Thank you for letting us know about this issue, and your patience as we fixed the problem. We appreciate it! With the latest update, Google Maps should now be working as usual.

Currently the best maps app

I use maps primarily in the car as satnav through apple CarPlay. I used apple maps for years because it’s clean, reliable and just generally a very good app. I tried google maps along with a couple of other apps e.g. waze because I wanted some feedback about the traffic around me. Apple maps will advise new routes if there’s traffic but I doesn’t give you much more info, this keeps the app clean but it’s not what I wanted. Google maps has a very simple but game changing feature for me, and that’s the active alternative route information. It will actively show other routes with the estimated time when taking the route, this not only allows me to anticipate traffic and take another route but it’s also enabled me to become more familiar with the areas I drive around regularly. I’ve been using google maps now for over a year, and while there isn’t much difference in terms of functionality compared to Apple maps and waze, it just has some nice extra features which I couldn’t be without. The interface isn’t as nice as apple maps, but the demo icon/arrow when driving and using as satnav is more accurate and the graphic makes it much easier to understand where you are on the road and what exits you need to take, especially welcome on busy UK roundabouts.