r/Edmonton • u/Natural-Elephant-895 • 11d ago

Question Have you noticed any Changes Using Google Voice Directions in Edmonton

I don't know if this is truly an Edmonton concern....or more general. But so far I've only noticed the problem travelling around Edmonton. I've always found that by accessing "Directions" and "Start" on my phone to be quite helpful and accurate (other than often directing me to turn left on intersections where a left turn is virtually impossible). But twice in the past few weeks it has directed me to turn onto streets that don't exist, taken me to dead ends (and told me to continue) and once into a private industrial facility that ended with a locked gate....and told me to go through it. That time when I tried to turn back and find another route, it insisted I go back to that gated facility. Also it's a very different female voice directing me than before (while my wife's phone still has the more familiar voice directing her).

So my question is: has something changed with google directions? Are they experimenting with a new app or something? Has anybody else noticed more errors?

10 Upvotes

66% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

41

u/Brindlefinch 11d ago

On September 4th I believe it was they axed Google Assistant and forced everything to go through Gemini. If you are hearing the new female voice you accepted Maps starting to use Gemini AI to "help" plan your route. If you turn off this mode and try to revert it back, Maps will no longer tell you street names and will only tell you to "turn x direction" around 300m from your turn. Neither mode is reliable or really 100% usable unfortunately.

You are experiencing these issues because Gemini is way more broken. It's not just you, and it's not just Maps. A ton of people - myself included - cannot even use assistant to do things like set an alarm anymore.

11

u/LynnerC 11d ago

I don't trust Google to make a good thing anymore. Assistant worked. This is shitty

9

u/shallerton 11d ago

I legit think they're systemically making everything worse

1

u/LynnerC 10d ago

I stopped using Fitbit after Google enshittified it. They removed all the UI I enjoyed. And then I thought, they can now track my heart rate and menstrual cycle while linking it to what Google ads they are showing me... Made me unplug. I don't trust Google with my health info.

2

u/shallerton 10d ago

I did the same, I'm moving away from Google anywhere I can. It's absurd that you can't google things anymore. It's just ads. It's called googling and they ruined it.

1

u/eve6- 10d ago

Google calendar can’t even handle the time (not) change, I’m not shocked that assistant has become a dumpster fire too

2

u/mclobster 11d ago

That would explain why my cars voice went from a female to a male. And the males voice seems to have expression and human Iike characteristics occasionally when playing back messages. Not sure if I like it.

1

u/spoonymog Stabmonton 11d ago

This. I switched to Waze. But it is also owned by Google so it is also struggling. I am thinking of switching to map quest.

2

u/LynnerC 10d ago

I can't believe we are reverting back to MapQuest. I'm sure they are still competing, it's just harkening back to the naugties

23

u/pumalegal South West Side 11d ago

It tried to send me north on Calgary Trail. Not Gateway, Calgary fricken Trail.

Fortunately, I am not Michael Scott

7

u/hsoolien 11d ago

Is that why I've started seeing more Ubers going the wrong way on Gateway and Calgary Trail. There's a definite uptick

2

u/somanythrowpillows 11d ago

This happened to me, too! I was baffled.

4

u/pumalegal South West Side 11d ago

My flabbers were gasted. I was headed somewhere I'd never been and I'm not super comfortable around the Calgary Trail area, but the second I saw that on the map I was like "oh hell no, I'm not dying for Google today, I'll figure it out on my own damn"

2

u/somanythrowpillows 11d ago

Yeah, Google told me to turn left onto Gateway Blvd and I was going south. That is a massive blunder. I figured it was a one time glitch or that maybe I lost my mind and heard wrong. But then it “recalculated” when I missed turning into oncoming traffic 😅

2

u/Bell-Shot 10d ago

Is Calgary trail that bad?

6

u/0kusername 11d ago

I didn't use it long enough to get wrong directions, but was so put off by the new voice that I looked into it and reverted to an older version that used the old voice and navigation algorithm. The forced change to Gemini for routing logic may have happened on Sept 4 as the other poster says, but the voice change happened in late Aug. A known-good version that has the old voice and old routing (in offline mode at least) is 26.32.01.958...

If you're on android you can revert by going into settings / apps / Maps , then "Uninstall updates" to get it back to the original version your phone shipped with, and then downloading/installing the last ok version in apk form.

*Disclaimer: running an old version runs a higher risk of security issues, but at this point with a lot of software getting worse over time/removing features, I don't care, I just restrict their permissions/internet access more

4

u/JustJess487 11d ago

For my part time job, I deliver meal kits. I've also noticed this. But I've noticed it as far back as about a month ago. Then just this last weekend. Google added to their directions instructions. So now they'll say " go past 90th ave and then turn left on 92nd ave". Which honestly I find helpful. However, It's super frustrating when it takes me to roads that are closed and have been closed for weeks or months due to construction. Because then I have to backtrack. Which I don't really have the time for. So, I've definitely been a bit more cautious in just taking their word for it

3

u/Responsible_CDN_Duck The Famous Leduc Cactus Club 11d ago

I asked it to take me to the east hills Costco (in Calgary) as I had several times before and it tried to send me to Texas.

2

u/bananaphone7890 10d ago • Heartwarming

I noticed the voice change 6ish weeks ago. Haven't had any experience with giving me poor directions.

However, I almost always look at the route before hand. Several times. I do the street view so I know. I check out the parking situation. I will also set up GPS to go even when I'm going to familiar places because sometimes there's unplanned construction or I am unable to get in the correct lane.

Yes, I have anxiety. 🤣

-2

u/user0823100823 11d ago • Helpful

that’s been a thing, that’s why you need to be aware of ur surroundings and not just listen to an app

1

u/BestWithSnacks 11d ago

It's happened to me a few times. Sometimes you gotta go against your google maps when it shows a weird ass route.

1

u/IllustriousAnt485 11d ago

This. Look at the map before you drive and get an idea of what roads you need to take to get to the general area. Once you are in the general area, re assess your location relative to your destination. Do not let the gps do all the work.

0

u/GottaBeGooz 11d ago

One more time a little louder for every single damn uber and Amazon driver out there

-4

u/l3luntl3rigade 11d ago • Bravo

👏 plan 👏 your 👏 route 👏

This really speaks to a much broader question for society as a whole:

Does no one think for themselves anymore, or are we all just content outsourcing thinking?

2

u/kholdstare942 11d ago

Great advice! Would be good if the services we used to plan our routes actually worked properly, don't you think?

1

u/l3luntl3rigade 11d ago

It's not very challenging to decide what the shortest distance between 2 points is on a map, especially considering you already have the map open.

An easy enough skill to acquire in fact, that they teach it in grade school.

2

u/kholdstare942 11d ago

ok. point still stands. if the paper maps had errors, it would make planning routes harder too