Google Maps and Navigation Q&A

[easy1jay]

Google Maps and Navigation are awesome and have so many spectacular features, yet even after some extensive searching and playing around, there are a few questions that come to mind. Or have these features not been added yet?

1. After opening the Navigation app, is there a way to rename my starred items on my phone within the app itself. It's hard to recognized saved placed by the address alone. What I'm currently doing is going to https://www.google.com/bookmarks/ and renaming the items there.

2. Is there a way to show navigation mode or street view without actually having a set destination, like what I could do on my Garmin. So even though I don't have a specific destination set, I can still view the 3d street view or standard navigation view and not the overhead satellite view of the map.

3. Add side destinations (or points of interest) along the way on the phone without loosing my original destination. Say I am on a 6 hour road trip to California and I want to stop somewhere along the way to eat. Can I search for a place to eat along the way, and still be able to continue along my way afterwards.

4. Access Buzz, Yelp, or Wikipedia information about a place I have already set as a destination.

5. Navigate using a combination of travel modes, i.e. drive to train station, ride train to location, take bus from location to stop, walk to destination?

6. View a reality browser through Google Street View at a destination while still at my home destination.

7. View planned road trips with multiple POIs as shared by others.

8. Request a detour route around heavy traffic, a closed road, etc.

I know, it's a lot to ask, but I'm oh so curious, as I'm sure many others are.

 

[takeshi]

In general, if it doesn't have the features you want you can either wait for Google to implement them or look into another GPS nav app.

Several from your OP are not currently possible. Definitely 2 and 8. Can't say for certain about the rest but I'd suspect the same for them as well.

 

[indianajonze]

not true for point 8. google nav does allow you to detour around traffic or accidents

 

[easy1jay]

Eh, it's more like a features I'd like to see post.

 

[o2bnclemson]

I have a question as well - is there a Route Planner, like MapQuest has? I could really use something like that.

 

[superflush]

1. After opening the Navigation app, is there a way to rename my starred items on my phone within the app itself. It's hard to recognized saved placed by the address alone..
I don't know what you mean by this. Contacts of yours?

2. Is there a way to show navigation mode or street view without actually having a set destination...
NO

3. Add side destinations (or points of interest) along the way on the phone without loosing my original destination. ...
Kind of. You can start your trip. Say you're driving from LA to SF, you can put your SF destination, but if you want to stop at In-N-Out and you add that destination in, you can do that easily, and then when you reach In-N-Out you should be able to tap "Next Destination" and it continues to SF.
(It doesn't always work perfectly, but often does. If not, you should be able to pull up the SF address when you search as a recent search and it might still be under "Layers" too.)


4. Access Buzz, Yelp, or Wikipedia information about a place I have already set as a destination.
Unfortunately, I think you have to be out of Google Nav, and in plain Google Maps to get destination information Google Places info & Buzz

5. Navigate using a combination of travel modes, i.e. drive to train station, ride train to location, take bus from location to stop, walk to destination?
Not that I know of, but that'd be great. fwiw, if you do a public transit plan, and walking is a part of it, then you'd be combining both public transit & walking (which is frequently the case).

6. View a reality browser through Google Street View at a destination while still at my home destination.
Just tap the destination in Google Nav.

7. View planned road trips with multiple POIs as shared by others.
Don't think so.

8. Request a detour route around heavy traffic, a closed road, etc.
You can ask for alternate routes for a destination (through "get directions") and in Google Nav, just tap Menu > Route Info > and then you may have an option at the bottom for alternate routes.
Google Nav will often reroute you if a given road is closed. The only problem is they don't tell you that they're rerouting you or why they are doing that. (This can be a problem if you see that Google Nav is telling you an alternate road to go on, and you wonder why they are telling you to go this way, and you ignore Goog Nav, only to find out later that they were sending you the alternate way because of a road closure.)
I don't believe they reroute for traffic. They will factor traffic into your total travel time, but I don't think they reroute for heavy traffic. If they do, then they haven't done it well for me. I'm color blind, and reading the reds & greens of the traffic is pretty tough for me. Usually they both look the same. I can usually only tell the heavy traffic if they put those black lines throughout the red.

 

[prakash99]

I am an android noob. Just got my LG Ally - a temporary handset for me until Fascinate hits Verizon stores. As I was using Google Maps navigation, the volume of turn by turn voice prompt was very low. Is there something I need to turn on - like speakerphone? or is it just a problem on the specific handset (Ally)?

 

[superflush]

I am an android noob. Just got my LG Ally - a temporary handset for me until Fascinate hits Verizon stores. As I was using Google Maps navigation, the volume of turn by turn voice prompt was very low. Is there something I need to turn on - like speakerphone? or is it just a problem on the specific handset (Ally)?

Hm, I don't know. I assume you have to volume turned up all the way (the navigation volume is separate from the ringer volume and musical volume, to turn up or down the navigation volume, make sure you are doing it while the navigation is open)

 

[prakash99]

Hm, I don't know. I assume you have to volume turned up all the way (the navigation volume is separate from the ringer volume and musical volume, to turn up or down the navigation volume, make sure you are doing it while the navigation is open)

Thanks. I cranked the navigation volume to the max and it was a little better but it was still not as good as the BlackBerry volume. It is still better than my first try though. I hope Samsung Fascinate will be better.

 

[prakash99]

I can't get the google maps navigation turn-by-turn voice prompt through the car speaker like other regular media. Is there anyway I can do that?

 

[Chrisy]

I'd also like to know how to rename my starred list. For example my aunt's address is in my starred list but it only shows her address.

How do I rename it, Aunt Sue? Because I don't always recognize destinations by the address.

 

[prakash99]

I'd also like to know how to rename my starred list. For example my aunt's address is in my starred list but it only shows her address.

How do I rename it, Aunt Sue? Because I don't always recognize destinations by the address.

I am not sure how to do that on Google Nav itself but there is an app called "Google Map Navigation Book" that you may want to check out.