Using a navigation app when out on the road is what just about everyone does nowadays, but these apps are useful for more than just getting directions from point A to point B. Google Maps has supported incident reporting for quite some time, but as we keep moving forward, the feature is becoming essentially useless due to neglect.
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Google Maps first introduced support for incident reports back in 2019. The feature allows users to report speed traps and accidents, and quickly expanded to include more incidents and obstructions including construction, lane closures, and more. With Maps being one of the most-used apps out there, it’s an incredibly useful idea!
But, almost five years later, the feature just feels like it’s been wasting away.
With incident reporting in Google Maps, users can send in these reports while they’re navigating on the road from a little menu attached to the right side of the display. It’s quick and easy, but it only works from your phone’s display. If you’re using the phone to display your navigation, you’ve got quick and easy access, but that’s becoming increasingly frustrating.
As we move forward and more and more folks get new vehicles, Android Auto and CarPlay are commonplace on the road. These systems bring the crucial apps from our smartphones onto the car’s display, where they’re generally safer to use and easier to see. But Google Maps, for whatever reason, just keeps ignoring incident reporting on these platforms. We first called attention to this towards the end of 2019, but does to today, the feature still has never expanded to Android Auto or CarPlay, and it still doesn’t seem like there’s any good reason for it.
Meanwhile, Waze continues to support reporting options on both platforms. Waze recently gave its reporting feature a revamp, and that update was available quickly to Android Auto and CarPlay users.
Without support for these platforms, incident reporting in Google Maps is dying a slow, painful, and needless death. Waze is always going to have a more lively community of drivers who make these reports as that’s the main focus of the app, but Google’s decision to not support this functionality in the Maps experience that more and more people are actually using in their cars is just leaving the feature to fade into the background. As fewer people use it, fewer people will know it exists in the first place. Besides, it’s not like the phone experience is getting any better – arguably, it’s just getting worse.
This Week’s Top Stories
Gemini 1.5
Google just revamped Bard as Gemini last week, and to follow up with that, the Gemini model is getting its next-generation release. “Gemini 1.5” is a major update to the model with a larger context window and dramatically upgraded capabilities.
You can read our full coverage for more details – it’s all really impressive. Gemini 1.5 doesn’t have a set release date, though.
Google One is making some changes
Following the debut of its new “AI Premium” tier last week, some changes hit Google One. This includes, firstly, the fact that new subscribers can no longer easily sign up for the 200GB subscription tier. The option still exists, but you need to first sign up for the 100GB or 2TB plan and then adjust the subscription from there.
Beyond that, we also reported that Google One is still working towards a new “all-in-one” subscription which will include Nest Aware, but it’s still unclear when that will arrive.
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