Where is MS going with Windows maps - pain to rely on for big trips

[avengerxp]

Lumia 640 - running W10m 10586.420 all apps updated to latest version - Sri lanka

Normally my L640 DS would last a full day with light use on 4G after the .420 update and I am very hapy with it. I happened to travel a bit on the middle of the week and wanted to try a new route to get to my location. I had my destination saved already in my favourites, and the maps app quickly picked up the shortest way, I was following maps app route with voice navigation in no time. but things started to turn the other way, when the gps location marker would not update as i was traveling, would jump from a point to front when I passed it, drain the battery within a half and hour to 5% from 90%.

I was so pissed about not being able to rely on the maps app. the same trip I noticed my GFs Android google maps had all locations (supermarkets, shops, hotels) compared to the blank map I had. Google map navigation worked like a breeze when we tried it on another route! it updated without hazzle and pointed correctly. I feel very heartbroken on my choice of mobile when the most wanted stuff doesn't work and your battery runs out for no reason.

whats your experience with maps app on mobile?

 

[xandros9]

I don't trust any phone to last long when GPS navigation is in play so no comments on battery there.

As for the other stuff, I hold Google's POI database as the best.
Bing/HERE has let me down enough in the past with misplaced or nonexistent data and I never use it unless I have the hard address already.
I'm just starting to trust Apple Maps.

 

[EspHack]

same place as everything else: back and forth, see skype's situation, maps is not doing any better, they just dont know which way is less damaging

i noticed their map data improved but google's still ahead, and its not going to improve unless people use it, google is not scanning your city to see if there's a hotdog cart in front of you, people do, they send feedback and suggestions and thats why google maps knows everything, people dont care about any maps app other than google's

 

[PGrey]

I took the plunge and downloaded the whole NA set (US and Canada) to my SD, and now it works substantially better.
Not awesome, but better, and I can use my maps in areas w/o data, which seems intuitive, but whatever.

The one thing I figure out, throughout the process, is downloading the whole set isn't very reliable (take inordinate amount of time, multiple failures, etc.).
What DOES work, is to download a bunch of subsets (i.e. states, provinces), until you have >50% or so, and then go back and do the whole set. Instead of taking days, it takes a couple of hours.
Go figure, I filed a bug/feedback, maybe it'll get looked at. If everyone is just using Google, not so much.

 

[avengerxp]

is there any way to tag places and building via the maps app? If yes, I could help a lot to improve the maps app in sri lanka. I could stop by and add locations while i'm passing them on my bike. No such feature on MS maps app

 

[EspHack]

is there any way to tag places and building via the maps app? If yes, I could help a lot to improve the maps app in sri lanka. I could stop by and add locations while i'm passing them on my bike. No such feature on MS maps app

na we dont have that option, they should just license google's map data and get over this already, or better yet, tap into as many map data sources as possible like waze does, crowdsourcing is never going to work for an unknown platform

 

[nyjets12]

One time i used here maps , drained my battery pretty fast , that's why I got a plug for my car to plug the phone in when.i use here maps. Battery problem solved.

 

[avengerxp]

Disappointed! cant rely on MS maps in Sri lanka. no Google apps are coming to W10 mobile!

 

[Maurizio Troso]

Disappointed! cant rely on MS maps in Sri lanka. no Google apps are coming to W10 mobile!

Google and MS are like cats andd dogs since years. Once upon a time, there were Official Google apps for Windows mobile 8...... Like Maps, Search, Youtube.... Then, the feud started....

 

[Chintan Gohel]

is there any way to tag places and building via the maps app? If yes, I could help a lot to improve the maps app in sri lanka. I could stop by and add locations while i'm passing them on my bike. No such feature on MS maps app

I used to edit Here maps for my country - you can do the same: https://mapcreator.here.com/mapcreator/

If you're really committed, then please do so. I suggest you first become proficient in recognising places or roads from the aerial view so you know where to situate the position marker for the places you add. When adding places, be as accurate as possible.

You can message me for more details. It looks like the here creator map service is open for all though I'm not sure until you try it out. You have the opportunity to edit here maps, don't waste it.

Same goes for others

 

[Chintan Gohel]

I've dropped a few places :grincry:

 

[EspHack]

View attachment 128311

I've dropped a few places :grincry:

you sir, should have a medal

btw can we do the same for bing? i dont see a suggestion option anywhere, all the more reason why it lacks so much

 

[Dusteater]

My big problems with Microsoft Maps are below. I drive a huge amount for work across the whole Pacific NW and western Canada, so maps are a big deal to me. The one life saver though is offline maps for my time in Canada.

1. There is no support for MirrorLink so I can see my phone navigation on my car display. Why there is no support for this is mind boggling as we do have Miracast. Also, Microsoft has been a member of the CCC for sometime now and refuses to say one word about developing the feature.

2. On Bing Maps on the web I can add favorites in collections. I like to keep my personal and work favorites separate. Unfortunately any contact in a collection cannot be seen from the phone app.

3. Lately the directions have been a bit crazy. For example, it will direct me to get off a freeway exit and get back on the freeway again. I have no idea why it would ever advise you to do that.

 

[Chintan Gohel]

you sir, should have a medal

btw can we do the same for bing? i dont see a suggestion option anywhere, all the more reason why it lacks so much

Thank you - I got a lumia 820 instead which I sold

Is bing maps still live? I thought the new MS map app is the default now?

 

[daimv]

Here maps is now dead... but the Microsoft Maps app is pretty good I think. They have improved a lot.

Also you could download gMaps as a substitute for google maps.

 

[Chintan Gohel]

for mobile anyway

Here maps is now dead... but the Microsoft Maps app is pretty good I think. They have improved a lot.

Also you could download gMaps as a substitute for google maps.

 

[EspHack]

Thank you - I got a lumia 820 instead which I sold

Is bing maps still live? I thought the new MS map app is the default now?

thats what i call bing maps, whatever mapping app microsoft deems "default" and i checked and not even in the web page could I find options for suggestions or edits, its just "add pushpin" to your places or some kind of favorites, nothing related to directly suggesting a new POI or anything

 

[Chintan Gohel]

thats what i call bing maps, whatever mapping app microsoft deems "default" and i checked and not even in the web page could I find options for suggestions or edits, its just "add pushpin" to your places or some kind of favorites, nothing related to directly suggesting a new POI or anything

then I guess the default now is MS maps which gets data from different sources including Here

 

[Jcmg62]

I've had endless problems with maps/navigation on my Lumia 950.

Last week I was on my way to a meeting, halfway in to the journey and the gps stopped working. I drove around for half an hour before giving up and having to call my client and cancel the meeting. It's totally conceivable that the map failure has cost me several thousand pounds in lost business revenue.

Over the weekend I took my family into London for some sightseeing. We had to get from a train station to the museum by foot, but the gps was so inaccurate it kept putting me on the wrong street and was at least 100 yards out of where we actually were.

The thing with mapping is you have to be 100% accurate. There is no room for error. You're either in the right place or you're not. It's critical that you can trust your maps 100%, especially when driving or it just gets downright dangerous. Microsoft cannot do a 50%, 75% or even 99% job with their home-brew maps app and assume it's good enough. Nothing less than 100% accurate and 100% fully functional will do.

 

[RohanRonQM]

Have you tried Sygic GPS?

I have been using it for over 6 months now and always rely on it for navigation especially when I have no internet connection. It has been very reliable and in some instances better than my friend's Android/Apple phones.

You should really try it out and let me know

Originally posted by avengerxp
Lumia 640 - running W10m 10586.420 all apps updated to latest version - Sri lanka

Normally my L640 DS would last a full day with light use on 4G after the .420 update and I am very hapy with it. I happened to travel a bit on the middle of the week and wanted to try a new route to get to my location. I had my destination saved already in my favourites, and the maps app quickly picked up the shortest way, I was following maps app route with voice navigation in no time. but things started to turn the other way, when the gps location marker would not update as i was traveling, would jump from a point to front when I passed it, drain the battery within a half and hour to 5% from 90%.

I was so pissed about not being able to rely on the maps app. the same trip I noticed my GFs Android google maps had all locations (supermarkets, shops, hotels) compared to the blank map I had. Google map navigation worked like a breeze when we tried it on another route! it updated without hazzle and pointed correctly. I feel very heartbroken on my choice of mobile when the most wanted stuff doesn't work and your battery runs out for no reason.

whats your experience with maps app on mobile?