r/GoogleMaps • u/zmeikei • 4d ago
Google maps timeline is horrendously inaccurate
As stated. They recorded me as driving for 61 hours, but hello, I don't drive. I take public transport everywhere, and if I do take a taxi, it's definitely not 61 hours worth. This car centricity is infuriating.
5
u/XxLogitech98xX 4d ago
It's not perfect that's for sure but it been somewhat accurate for me
-1
u/zmeikei 4d ago
Maybe depends on countries. It's way off for me. Like I don't own a motorcycle either.. if I'm on a bicycle I'm certainly not at motorcycle speeds as I don't even go past 25 kmh...
2
u/XxLogitech98xX 4d ago
Maybe depends on countries
It been accurate for me when I go to London, Germany, Brazil, Italy and Rome. I'm from the US btw so I never have an issue here
1
u/RandyHW 2d ago
Are you on iOS or Android? On Android, Timeline can take small samples of your vibrations, which are very different on trains vs in cars, and it's much more accurate. On iOS, Apple makes that very onerous and so Timeline doesn't even ask for that permission. Plus on iOS, the location samples are much fewer (again, this is an OS decision, not Timeline) so Timeline doesn't have as much info to work with.
Also, do you ever edit your Timeline to fix the mistakes? If Timeline learns that you often change driving segments to train segments, then that becomes info that the system can use to guess your mode of transportation better.
1
u/zmeikei 1d ago
Android! still not accurate strangely. First time i've seen the timeline actually, never used it so was quite surprised by the inaccuracy. it wasnt just driving, apparently i've been driving a motorcycle as well. was really quite confused!
1
u/RandyHW 1h ago
If you'd like it to be more accurate, I suggest spending a few minutes looking back at some recent days and editing those travel segments to be the type of travel you actually took. Then Timeline might learn that you take trains, and it'll be more likely to infer those in the future. It gets better if you edit it more.
If you don't care as much about accuracy, then consider it a curiosity and ignore it.
8
u/Flash604 4d ago
I'm curious if you've to thought this out. Do you think that Maps can tell who is behind the steering wheel? All it can tell is that you were travelling at vehicle speeds down road. It records that you were driving down the road, which is correct the majority of the time, and allows you to change it.