Why am I so dumb?

[ouchmysac]

Local Scout. It looks cool, but I can't figure out how to use it, or maps in general. If you know how to make either actually useful, you are a smarter person than me.

How do I find an address in Maps? The other day, I'm trying to find 295 Grand St in Brooklyn. I'm standing on the corner of Grand with the Map zoomed in (I can see Grand St) - just need to know which way to turn. Type in the address, Maps keeps taking me to someplace upstate. I had to google the address to get the zip code then I could search Maps for '295 Grand St 100XX'. Please tell me WP7 prioritizes search results based on location and I'm just too dumb to enable it.

How do I find anything using Local Scout? There are far more than 20 bars in Manhattan, but with Local Scout, I can't find more than 20 results? This can't be true. Am I really limited to the 20 search results that MS thinks are the closest or most relevant? What if I don't like any of the results?

I use gMaps sometimes, but it's kinda clunky and searching is a pain. WP7 is the superior operating system, but wtf is up the maps? Does anybody have any search tips or workarounds they'd like to share?

HTC HD7 with WP7.5, if it matters.

 

[black_lion]

Local Scout. It looks cool, but I can't figure out how to use it, or maps in general. If you know how to make either actually useful, you are a smarter person than me.

How do I find an address in Maps? The other day, I'm trying to find 295 Grand St in Brooklyn. I'm standing on the corner of Grand with the Map zoomed in (I can see Grand St) - just need to know which way to turn. Type in the address, Maps keeps taking me to someplace upstate. I had to google the address to get the zip code then I could search Maps for '295 Grand St 100XX'. Please tell me WP7 prioritizes search results based on location and I'm just too dumb to enable it.

How do I find anything using Local Scout? There are far more than 20 bars in Manhattan, but with Local Scout, I can't find more than 20 results? This can't be true. Am I really limited to the 20 search results that MS thinks are the closest or most relevant? What if I don't like any of the results?

I use gMaps sometimes, but it's kinda clunky and searching is a pain. WP7 is the superior operating system, but wtf is up the maps? Does anybody have any search tips or workarounds they'd like to share?

HTC HD7 with WP7.5, if it matters.

I've had the issue with Maps finding a similarly-named location in another part of the state. I found that, if I say (or type) the street address followed by the city and state, it finds the place I am looking for every time. I hope that helps.

 

[welsbloke]

Using local scout does not show Gregs the Bakery shop in my top twenty but if I use the search button and type "Gregs Bakery" it finds several nearby. So on the face of it this seems reasonable as obviously we cannot show every little nook and cranny that serves sandwiches.

However what was a little dissapointing is typing in Train Station does not show the station some 200 metres from me. In fact no matter what I type in the search string helps, now this could be because it is not a main line station and is what we call a halt.

So in summary I suspect this is more to do with data accuracy than the phone and your us especially as I still have a Woolworth near me and they went belly up a couple of years ago.

 

[Judge_Daniel]

At first I didn't understand because I've never had any problem, but then realized that you are in NYC. In my rural-ish area of Texas, it works wonderfully--picking up almost all the local hotspots and choosing the correct place I put in. However, I can understand that it'd be more difficult in a more urban area.

I would definitely recommend entering the name of the city (or part of town) that the destination resides. You can also sort your local scout results, so while you can only see the top twenty, you can prioritize which twenty you see. The filter is right under where it says eat+drink.

 

[ouchmysac]

I found eat+drink button, but the options still aren't useful here. Entering '295 Grand St NY' or '295 Grand St New York, NY' didn't bring up the bar I was looking for 2 block away.

I'm just trying to make sure I'm using Local Scout correctly. It seems well put together as an application, so how could it be so unhelpful?

 

[Judge_Daniel]

Does the bar's name work?

 

[selfcreation]

Rolf @

why am i so dumb

 

[ouchmysac]

Rolf @

Right? I mean, I must be dum if I can't find a bar two blocks away with the built in mapping function on my phone.

Its rare if MS maps finds the bar if I search for the bar name. It usually has lots of other suggestions tho.

I'll be the first to say I'm an idiot if someone can tell me how to use local scout in Manhattan.