Nokia Maps Needs An Update
Yes, I realize that Nokia Maps just got updated recently, but I want the old version back. Or a new version that’s closer to the old version. I reluctantly upgraded my N95 when the new version came out, and now I have the new version preinstalled on my Nokia N81 and it’s just cemented in the fact that I’m extremely unhappy with a few changes that were made. I find that these changes greatly reduce the user-friendliness and ease-of-use of the Nokia Maps application.
I know that a few people directly connected with the Nokia Maps application read my site, so if you’re a user and you’re disappointed as I am, please leave a comment saying why (and if I covered it, then just reaffirm that). Hopefully we’ll see these features brought back in V2.0 of Nokia Maps.
The first thing is auto-tracking. With the older software, when I opened the app, the first thing it did was attempt to figure out where I’m at. It would start seeking my GPS location. The new version doesn’t. When you open the app, it’s just sitting there, showing you the whole stinking globe. Seriously? That helps no one. NO ONE opens an app on their phone just to see the globe. If you don’t press anything, it’ll sit there all day long, just showing you the globe. When I open a GPS navigation software, the first priority should be to attempt to figure out where I’m at. Hence, GPS.
The second thing is auto-zooming on my location. With the older software, once it found me, it would automatically zoom down to a decent viewing level of where I’m at. This is great, and the perfect behaviour for a GPS navigation software. When I turn it on, I want to know that it knows where I’m at, since I’m soon going to be asking it for directions. The newer version, once you figure out that the zero key tells it to try to find you, doesn’t do ANYTHING once it gets a lock. You have to manually press and hold a button to zoom in on your location. Again, how is this user-friendly? It’s not.
The third thing is another seemingly common sense item. Why is my default access point set on WLAN (that’s WiFi for you non-geeks)? If I’m using GPS, the odds are, I’m either driving or walking around. Very unlikely to be sitting at the same hotspot, don’t you think? Wouldn’t it be better to either ask me which access point, or simply assume I want the cellular network (since that’s going to be available still once I start moving)? Instead, when I start up the app I immediately get a "Network Connection Unavailable" message. That tells me there’s something wrong and I should call my Operator. It does not help me realize that my phone is stupidly looking for a WLAN network that doesn’t exist.
Fourth, and last for this rant, is why sometimes when I "Search Nearby", I get results that are over 1,000 miles away? If I’m searching "nearby", wouldn’t that mean that the application should somehow be using my GPS location to narrow the searches? I know this is possible, because it’s able to tell me how far the result is from my current location. If it can do that, why can’t it figure out that I’m VERY unlikely to drive further than ~30 miles to get to wherever I want to go. That’s "nearby". "Nearby" is not past 40 miles out. In my opinion, "nearby" is within 10 miles.
What do you think? Do even use Nokia Maps on your S60 device? Do these things annoy the heck out of you as well? What other things would you change?
Wow. I was contemplating upgrading my N95 to the latest version, but I guess I won’t.
Poor Nokia Maps. Sitting in the corner of my Navigation folder Collecting dust while Google Maps is placed in the default spot and gets used all the time.
I have the N95-3. The version of Nokia Maps on this device is listed as “1.2 wk33 b03.” I don’t know if this is the same as the “new” version or not.
In terms of network usage, whichever connection you initially chose is set as the “default,” and it attempts to use that every time the app starts. Failure to connect simply results in the error text you described. This could be improved I’m sure, but it’s also a symptom of S60’s poor handling of wifi in general.
When you start this version, it takes you to the last map you viewed. This is a reasonable default IMO. Pressing the “0″ key takes you to your current GPS location (though retains the old zoom level).
Search does the same things you describe, and is pretty crappy in general.
It also bugs me that Nokia Maps is crippleware - I have a really high end device, and I would honestly expect to have the navigation feature enabled for how much I paid.
On the other end of the spectrum is google maps. It’s faster and more responsive, it has dramatically better search, the UI is generally cleaner, it has satellite imagery, it has traffic data - the list goes on. All it can’t do that Nokia maps can is side-load maps and do voice navigation (which I’ll never use anyway since it costs extra).
IMO Nokia Maps really needs to get a lot better if it hopes to compete. Start copying google maps and add some better (free!) navigation features.
I personally don’t use Nokia Map anymore. It is unfortunately the worst navigation I have come across, and possibly the least user friendly. At the moment I am using Route 66 which possibly is not perfect but works fine.
The search feature needs to be improved significantly. From my experience, Nokia Maps is only able to find 1 out of 3 searches (roughly). For the other 2 searches, I just got “not found” message. This is really not helpful. Google Maps is much more better on this.
I use Nokia Maps several times a week, getting kinda fond of it(’s theoretical possibilities). I agree to pretty much every point above, especially one:
The “search nearby” feature is great in theory, but, just as you noted, “nearby” seems to be a very loose term.
The information present is also grossly outdated and incomplete: The other day I was looking for the nearest supermarket to me in Espoo and I was directed between 43 and 596 km away. (the nearest store was a km away). I get offered bars and clubs that haven’t existed in 4 years. But worst of all, last month I spent the weekend in Tampere, Finland and really would have needed to know where the nearest supermarket was. Again, off the mark by a long shot, but the worst thing was, THE SEARCH NEARBY MENU WAS COMPLETELY IN GERMAN!
Nokia, when are we going to see updated maps and information (tired of seemingly driving through fields)? Let’s see those billions of dollars spent on nav companies not go to waste, please!
And thanks Ricky for pointing out the problems! Now let’s hope the right people at Nokia read this great post!
i have seen same problem on tomtom one with search near by problem a i tried looking for dentist in middle of england and the nearest was in in ireland according to the tomtom. So where do all the companys ( nokiamaps, tomtom,route66 etc) get the search data from?
I agree with everything stated above and I will add…
The thing that annoys me most is that most business in my area are recognized in the “shops,” category, regardless of what type of business it actually is. Forget about searching for gas stations…none ever register.
Also, for example, I hate it when I’m on Rt. 68 and the road turns at a stoplight, but the navigation doesn’t tell me to turn. I assume it’s because I’m still on Rt. 68.
I’ve come across some other mapping errors, as well. The biggest one was when it didn’t tell me to merge into a new highway when the one I was currently on ended. Thank goodness I knew which direction in which I need to be going.
Agreed!
I have “1.2 wk34 b03″ on my 1st gen N95 and the complaint about always just starting up on the globe is simply incorrect. It doesn’t and goes back the last position and zoom level used. Yes it’s annoying you have to press “0″ to get to your current position but to that’s a minor point.
Again, I have no issues with default access point and it’s always set to my phone ISP.
It’s almost like your copy is crashing and losing previous settings. Are you sure you have the latest version?
But I do agree that telling me there’s a Chinese restaurant 150km away is a little pointless.
I can’t remember, what connection was the default one when i first used Nokia Maps but I definitely agree to the other three points. And I have an additional point: you can’t use the navigation for anything else then a car. If you are walking or going by bike,… even in a city Nokia Maps will send you onto roads you shurely don’t want ho be on (like city-highways). But I have to admit that has been a problem with all kinds of navigational software I’ve used.
And by the way: I don’t like the payment system. As long an there are services out there, that offer free navigation like Nav4All (yes, I know it’s ugly, but it works fine) I will not pay for navigation. I would, how ever, gladly pay for a “search nearby” function that works like it should: telling me everything a local resident could tell me and even more.
Hi,
well I have used Nokia maps a good bit in US and Germany when travelling. There is no way I can use it in India as it has shows 3 roads in many of the biggest cities. I use mgmaps in India which does much much better and is getting better all the time.
For Nokia maps, even in Germany, the map data is very old. For eg. in Munich, an S-bahn station @ Fasanenpark on S5 is missing (its been around for more than 1 yea
Wow thanks for all the feedback, ya’ll! For the record, I used both the official update for the N95 available on the http://www.nokia.com/maps website, as well as the preinstalled maps app on my N81 for this post. Those are the most recent that I’m aware of, and they still contain the problems stated above.
I don’t mind the payment system, I mean, they gotta make their money somehow. I’ve used the week-long and month-long licenses several times and was very pleased with the experience.
All your suggestions are good ones. They should also add road lock. That way if you are out on the street, the gps unit is much less likely to show you in the middle of some building or house..
i also agree with the above points, but i would like to add that the tracking feature is greatly missed. my only real problem with this program is that the search feature really sucks. this is the only gps software that i have used that can only find the address occaisionally.
the only reason that i installed google maps is to be able to quickly find the addresses that nokia maps cannot find, then i can switch back over and use nokia maps.
I do the same thing, George. It’s ridiculous. It should work as intended. I kind of wish I didn’t pay for it now.
I agree with everything that you said and will add a couple more. First, it is by no streatch of the imagination intutive how you are supposed to tell it where you want to go. I use TomTom and the first item on their menu is “Navagate to”. From where ever you are, this will take you to where you want to go. Isn’t that the primary design function of a gps? Next is advanved planning when I want to look a a route between two points that I specify. Yes this is possible but again, not intutive.
Once you get past these two things, the actual turn by turn directions works well. If Nokia could make it easier to use, I’d buy the service in a minute.
Mark
There’s another rant to be added. “Why is the Zip Code a mandatory field? If I don’t even know where on the map this place is, how am I going to know the Zip? Pretty much defeats the purpose of a search doesn’t it?”
Hi,
So, seems Nokia is saying is buy the navigation else the Nokia Maps is totally useless for tracking when driving or trekking etc. Besides, tracking and navigation are different (in tracking I just follow where I am on the map, while navigation will recompute route to destination …
Today I checked out the N95 Nokia Maps again after I had upgraded to version v1.2wk38b01 ! The best feature of the previous Nokia maps was the “tracking” feature - this has now been removed
As far as I could make out on the non-existent map of BLR, tracking is no longer possible - or am I missing something here (there is not menu option like “Start Tracking”)
Regards,
Most of the old functionality is still there, somewhere. You can “track” by pressing the 0 button, for instance. However, my biggest complaint, like Ricky’s is that it doesn’t default to the current location like the old version did, and it changed the UI for the sake of change. It is unintuitive, and Nokia needs to step it up a bit. The search feature can use some work, as others have pointed out. Hopefully things improve after Nokia acquires Navtek.
However, the good news is that there are alternatives like Earthcomber and Google Maps for S60, both of which can use the GPS in the N95.
Hi KPO’M,
Pressing ‘0′ takes me to current GPS location. However, this is not the same as continual tracking by Nokia Maps of the user’s position. Such a possibility was there before as menu option (”Start Tracking” after doing a routing from Point A to Point B). It may still be somewhere hidden (or done differently) like you mention. On the other hand, if this is not there, then its the single most important feature to bring back into the new version …
I use mgmaps which is the best such app out there and its free as well:-) However, here I am talking from Nokia Maps perspective if this is going to be a useful piece of s/w. Sure I will buy navigation for a few places (when they fix the maps into something meaningful), but I should be able to use it @ others w/o having to always go for paid navigation, no ?
I DISAGREE with this review. Reason: the reviewer…and most of the others who have left comments, are actually using GPS. Nokia maps is for all Symbian phones… and the last time I checked only 2 models currently on the market have built-in GPS. I believe that Nokia make the changes to NOT look for GPS because doing so basically reduces the usability for people who are not using GPS.
I do not use GPS, but I want to use map programs to look at where I am and where I am going. I can’t stand how Rout66 and all other software force look for the GPS receiver once they turned on.
Re phones with no GPS: there’s no reason the app couldn’t default to using the GPS at startup only on models known to support it, and have the behavior be configurable (for people using BT GPS units on non-GPS devices). It’s a pretty simple solution that works for everybody.
I don’t actually mind this very much personally. There are times I do use Google Maps without using the GPS at all. I think the “sticky” network setting is more frustrating.
I also started to use Gmaps instead Nokia Maps.
Mainly because after the upgrde the “update time” went up significantly. It used to take less than a second for the map to update my location on screen but now it takes several seconds. 95% of my driving happens in city and I can´t have an application that allows me to miss crossings because it didn´t update quickly enough.
Regarding phones w/o GPS, yes there can be usage based on GPS positioning and w/o it. This does not mean that the Maps application should not allow such a mode selection (tracking vs browsing)…
Many many phones have bluetooth and can use an external BT GPS receiver, so its hardly true that serious users of Nokia Maps are all not using GPS ! I would say over time, GPS ussage of Nokia Maps will dominate non-GPS uses…
I agree with your comments, however, I am using N73 maps on an N80 (and LD-3W) and dont have the problem of it starting with the world view, it starts with last location. The find nearby does my head in as it considers a pub 500km away is nearby and only shows 2 of the 20 or so pubs in my small country town. Using pubs as an example because it does the same for every ‘nearby’ search.
I have a US N95-1 running 12.0.013 and I bought the 3 year navigation license back in April. When I upgraded to the new version of Nokia Maps, it lost my license!
I am pretty annoyed at the tracking feature being taken away. It was one of the things I used to show off when talking about the N95. Now I wouldn’t recommend the N95 to anyone.
I don’t buy from companies I consider dishonest and it is dishonest to remove features in an ‘upgrade’.
I have v1.2wk45b02 on my N81.
What I hate is that I cannot even get mute navigation for free: when starting calculation it keeps on asking for an upgrade of the voice navigation. setting voice navigation to none in the preferences does no good, as the option goes back to English every time.
Yes also the font is way to small (should be able to zoom) and i liked the Blue graphics better should be able to interchange them!
The removal of the tracking function from Nokia Maps is totally unacceptable. Very poorly played by Nokia. I bought the phone because of that feature and for them to remove it is very rude. i wasn’t told about this. Not good. It’s a critical function for many users and they’re asking for trouble. Bring the navigation back. Point blank. Now. Please.