[Edward in Toronto]

Except for getting out of downtown Toronto in rush hour traffic. In which case it constantly tries to lead me along Front Street between Young Street and Bay Street, which is closed for an extended period of time (years) for major construction.

The Map is also useless in being able to tell whether you're on the Gardiner Expressway or Lake Shore Boulevard in the areas where the former is constructed over the later.

It's also useless in that it'll gladly lead you to make a left had turn at a major intersection at 3:40pm, when the sign at the intersection clearly states that there is no left hand turn allowed between 3:00pm to 7:00pm.

This all while you're trying to get out of rush hour downtown Toronto.

Any other time or place it is better. That is except that it doesn't matter where you are or what city, if there's a road closed along your route, it'll likely take you along that road.

[robsteve]

In regards to the tunnel thing and even overhead highways blocking the GPS signal, it would be helpful if mapping programs went into a dead reconing mode, with warning at least. If I understood it correctly, pre-GPS, planes used inertial navigation to assist in navigation. Using gyro sensors like we have in our phones, sensing changes in speed and direction by the loads on the gyros.

Anyway, I have used BB maps extensively, but also run the built in GPS in my truck for the times I need a second opinion. Such as in a tunnel with exits They do happen, Paris for example and maybe Montreal. In my truck the GPS is connected to the GM lan, which send the speed and distance info to the navigation system for when the GPS signal is lost.

The one flaw with all the online maps programs is there are a lot of dead spots when traveling and they often happen to be where you need to make routing changes.

[piquepoc]

I use Waze and it's very good, I will give a new try to bbmaps but like Waze

[garrett1972]

I use Waze and it's very good, I will give a new try to bbmaps but like Waze

I've bounced between Waze, and Google Maps on and off. Waze has been getting better and better. I'm in a newer are in Calgary, but BlackBerry Maps was way behind the major map programs for the new roads. I'd either given up or got used to driving off the map for part of my drive when using BlackBerry Maps. Finally I see BlackBerry Maps updated new areas here to be nearly as current as Google and Waze.

The voice direction of BlackBerry is generally better than Waze and Google - they can leave a turn too close to react and turn in time. BlackBerry was better, but it bugged me that it was incomplete.

Nice that Waze fixed the bug that showed the wrong time zone - it was wrong for months and months!

[cbosdell]

I used BlackBerry Maps back in September on a 2000 mile road trip from NC to Maine and back. For the most part it worked fine but when it told me the destination was straight ahead it would have been nice to tell me on the left or right. This usually would happen and I would be looking on the wrong side of the turn for the destination, pass it then it would keep telling me to make a "legal u-turn". That got really frustrating.

Also it seemed to tell me pretty often to continue ahead on the interstate when there was an exit or split and it was pretty obvious to stay ahead but there were times I would need to either go in a certain direction where the road forked or take a left or right exit to remain on a certain highway and it wouldn't even tell me about these. But it was sure to remind me several times about the ones that weren't even needed to be mentioned.

The second issue became even more frustrating on the last 600 mile leg of the trip as I had gone over my data allowance on StraightTalk and was being throttled so when I missed a turn I had to pull over and stop and give it a minute to update as if I didn't by the time I did I would have passed or be passing the new recommendation.

[TalGarik]

Yesterday I have used BB Maps for the first time on my Passport and it has been quite a satisfactory experience here in North-Eastern Italy, though I guess I will need to use/test it much more before calling it �usable�, the first impression has been very good anyway.

[HotFix]

I used BlackBerry Maps back in September on a 2000 mile road trip from NC to Maine and back. For the most part it worked fine but when it told me the destination was straight ahead it would have been nice to tell me on the left or right. This usually would happen and I would be looking on the wrong side of the turn for the destination, pass it then it would keep telling me to make a "legal u-turn". That got really frustrating.

Also it seemed to tell me pretty often to continue ahead on the interstate when there was an exit or split and it was pretty obvious to stay ahead but there were times I would need to either go in a certain direction where the road forked or take a left or right exit to remain on a certain highway and it wouldn't even tell me about these. But it was sure to remind me several times about the ones that weren't even needed to be mentioned.

The second issue became even more frustrating on the last 600 mile leg of the trip as I had gone over my data allowance on StraightTalk and was being throttled so when I missed a turn I had to pull over and stop and give it a minute to update as if I didn't by the time I did I would have passed or be passing the new recommendation.

Oh... the throttling issue is one I hadn't thought of and is really bad IMHO. All the more reason for BlackBerry to let us cache on the storage card the maps for an area ahead of time when we are on WiFi.

Posted via CB10 on my Z30STA100-5/10.3.1.1154

[mjdimer]

It's also pretty safe to assume, you didn't make a wrong turn in the tunnel.

Not in Brisbane, Australia. This is one of the most annoying aspects of BlackBerry Maps. Our tunnels can be many kms long, with multiple exits. The maps just get stuck at the start, and I never know which exit it wants me to take.

Not an issue with Google maps. It must use the cell / mobile signal to keep it going.

Posted via CB10

[BigBadWulf]

Not in Brisbane, Australia. This is one of the most annoying aspects of BlackBerry Maps. Our tunnels can be many kms long, with multiple exits. The maps just get stuck at the start, and I never know which exit it wants me to take.

Not an issue with Google maps. It must use the cell / mobile signal to keep it going.

Posted via CB10

Excellent point, and one good reason to follow every map apps warning to review the directions before leaving. I imagine someone here could have that issue on Lower Wacker.

[pantlesspenguin]

The main thing that bugs me about BB maps is that you have to enter a search exactly how it's listed. Here are a couple examples:

Say my friends ask me to meet them at the Boulevard Brewery. I type "Boulevard Brewery" into BB Maps.



I don't get any matches because it's listed as Boulevard Brewing Co. However, when I type Boulevard Brewery into Google Maps it knows where I want to go.



Say a friend tells me about a place she thinks I'd like called Tea Drops. Since this is the first I'm hearing about it, I'm not sure if it's one word or two. I type "Teadrops" into BB Maps.



Again, no matches. When I type "Teadrops" into Google Maps, it finds it.

[potatoguy]

Weird! There are a lot of buildings on campus:

Attachment 323455Attachment 323456

But except for the first one, they all appear correct:

Attachment 323458

At least when compared to the UNB site. Maybe you should have started in Chicago.

Never once showed me Bailey drive.
Like I said I always used til that day, so whatever happened, it showed me 2 address's and they were on other side of the city.

[drrobert_Taco]

I would have to agree with the general sentiment of the thread, but also some very valid criticisms being made here as well. I've definitely experienced the downtown Toronto frustrations that were listed, but I've also experienced the app's traffic re-routing in a very positive way!

All in all the service is good enough to rely on now, but you still have to know about its blind spots to use it effectively. I'm not sure we're at the point where you don't need an alternate mapping app for backup, but I've made plenty of trips without consulting gmaps.

[vbdwork]

BlackBerry Maps is usable, but I find Google Maps (old 6.8.1 version) more accurate and more often updated (map info). I use both for search and navigation and around Southern Ontario I get very similar results. In GTA though Google Maps does the job much better. BlackBerry has to pay more attention on details. Not in Maps only, in general. For example, when I'm on Square One in Mississauga the Weather app is telling me I'm in Etobicoke. Really? A company in Waterloo Canada doesn't know where Mississauga Canada is?

[Icarus3000]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a navigation app for pedestrians? I used to use Telmap Navigator years ago on BB OS6 - it was one of the best overall navigation apps. They are now called "m8", and sadly they now charge a monthly fee. Also their website is so complicated I can't figure out if it is even available in North America anymore.

[heading4tomorrow]

Personally, and I know this won't apply to everyone, but it's still useless for me. I understand you guys are mainly concerned with GPS but here is my input on BB Maps.
Until they add one handed support (on-screen buttons or tap/swipe like google maps), until they add areal search without having to put the whole address, until they get a better traffic source or be able to select the traffic data source, until they add route modification or alternate routes just like google maps, I am sticking with much slower and buggy google maps instead of BB Maps.

[adamschuetze]

Or just use the newest Google Maps from Cobalt. Search the forums.

Posted via CB10

[TBone4eva]

I'm going to have to stick with Waze. DC and Maryland deploy many speed and red light cameras and I like to know where they are when I'm driving in unfamiliar areas. Also having the ability for users to report other road hazards in real time is very handy.

[Alain_A]

hey Kansas city..i drive there almost every week

[cbvinh]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a navigation app for pedestrians?

When I was traveling in Toronto, Montreal, U.K., Brussels and Rome in earlier this year, I compared Google Maps app, Google Maps bookmarked webpage, and Here bookmarked webpage. Google Maps app was slow to load over slow data. (I was using T-Mobile USA's free international data, which is mostly 2G speeds.) Google Maps webpage was fast to load the maps, but the current location marker was slow to update. Here webpage was slow to load the maps, but the current location marker was quick to update. Both did pretty well with Pedestrian directions and in the end, I felt Google Maps webpage was the most useful.

[pantlesspenguin]

I'm going to have to stick with Waze. DC and Maryland deploy many speed and red light cameras and I like to know where they are when I'm driving in unfamiliar areas. Also having the ability for users to report other road hazards in real time is very handy.

I really like Waze when I just turn it on and drive to show me road hazards, etc. However the search function is lacking. There are 5-6 branches of the gym I go to in my city. It doesn't show me a single one. Not when I type "24hr fitness," 24 hour fitness," "24 hour fitness on Metcalf," etc.

[balenax]

Very usable for me. Ffs, the map is prety decent but no voice guidance available. Sucks big time. We also pay for the devices and they are not cheap at all...

Sent via my square wonder thingie

[lawguyman]

Google maps is so good it is almost like science fiction.

BlackBerry maps is okay.

I wish Google would port Google maps to BlackBerry.


Posted via CB10

[dejanh]

Google maps is so good it is almost like science fiction.

BlackBerry maps is okay.

I wish Google would port Google maps to BlackBerry.


Posted via CB10

Not happening anytime soon.

Posted via CB10

[TBone4eva]

I really like Waze when I just turn it on and drive to show me road hazards, etc. However the search function is lacking. There are 5-6 branches of the gym I go to in my city. It doesn't show me a single one. Not when I type "24hr fitness," 24 hour fitness," "24 hour fitness on Metcalf," etc.

Absolutely agree! You would think since they are now owned by Google that search would not be lacking with this app.

[VeryBumpy]

The main thing that bugs me about BB maps is that you have to enter a search exactly how it's listed. Here are a couple examples:

Say my friends ask me to meet them at the Boulevard Brewery. I type "Boulevard Brewery" into BB Maps.

I don't get any matches because it's listed as Boulevard Brewing Co. However, when I type Boulevard Brewery into Google Maps it knows where I want to go.

Say a friend tells me about a place she thinks I'd like called Tea Drops. Since this is the first I'm hearing about it, I'm not sure if it's one word or two. I type "Teadrops" into BB Maps.

Again, no matches. When I type "Teadrops" into Google Maps, it finds it.

Yes, this demanding Point of Interest search word choice is driving me away from Maps. (no pun intended) I am having better luck so far with 4Square but then a map search from 4Square to Maps comes up empty also. ARG!! Which led me to my thread here.