Google loses Latitude in Maps app shake-up

Android will become a poor choice soon enough

Then it'll be off to another platform for all that get fed up, platforms that hopefully offer removed functionality from this and other applications/builds of Android.

A shame. Mostly preventable, and squarely in the hands of power-hungry Google.

Offline maps gone... or not?

The opening paragraph says offline maps are no longer available; but then later we get:

Currently users can download maps of cities and location and cache them on the phone for offline perusal. With the new app, users select a map area (be it city, borough, or neighborhood,) and save a street map of that locale.

I can't see the difference between these two options. They both seem to be "download a map for offline use" - which is what I want since I don;t have a data contract on my phone but do use the GPS and maps while cycling.

What am I failing to understand?

Oh my god... They killed Kenny!

For offline mapping, I like Skoobler's ForeverMap -- available for iOS and Android -- so losing the Goog's OLM isn't that much of a hardship for me.

Latitude is another issue, however. The family refers to it as the Stalk-O-Matic™ and we use it often to find each other at events or to see that each other got home safely after a night out. THAT one going away is gonna hurt. Does anyone know of / have any recommendations for a similar "Find-the-Rest-of-the-Gang" app?

Ok I'll be the first to say it

Was I the only one to think "Maps with no latitude, but they'll still have longitude, so wtf". Guess my dumbphone makes me persona non grata to Grabmoneyoogle eh?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The one thing my less technically minded wife really really uses is Latitude!! :( For where I am, where our friends and family are. I can understand Google Reader going, but Latitude?!!???!??

Payback?

I was bitterly disappointed when Nokia messed up Maemo, leaving Android with no serious competitor in the relatively-open space.

Seems Google may be willfully conceding the maps space to Nokia. Payback?

Sounds like Minority Report

Where you go shopping and get asked by the ad posters if you want some more shirts

Shame about Latitude

Not that I ever used it, but I use a similar service, APRS. Specifically, APRS-IS, although I've done it with VHF packet radio as well..

In fact, the system I use predates Latitude.

Google Maps? What Google Maps?

It should be one of the best things on my Android phone, but it never has been.

First, because there were no off-line maps (WTF? Nokia gave me this on the not-so-smart phone I had several years previously). I do not keep a phone-based data connection running: I need offline maps.

Second, Google's then-new offline maps never worked on my device.

For obvious reasons, I don't use Latitude --- but I sympathise with those that do, and decry Google's take-what-we-give-when-we-give-it attitude.

All this adds up to Google Maps being something of a non-event for me.

I use maps for navigation, not for maximizing Google's advertising revenue, and as such, I get a better deal from having bought one of the non-"free" nav apps.

http://www.droid-life.com/2013/07/10/fyi-offline-maps-saved-by-typing-ok-maps-in-google-maps-latitude-retires-august-9/

...states "We should mention that the My Maps section of Google Maps is not in this release, but Google assures us that it will arrive shortly."

And given "maps engine lite" lets you edit specifically new custom maps, I hope it's just having a quiet (brief) lie down.

Apparently you don't have to update if you don't don't want to - but I'm really a babe in arms with my Android phone, so please do seek out an expert.

never a missed opportunity to bash G+ from the reg.

some things never change.

So, Google Maps, the dominant mapping project by every measure, is going to be preferentially integrating Google+, a minority social network by every measure.

I don't think the EC is going to be particularly happy about that.

More Freetard whining

"oh no they are knocking the product out that i love and don't pay for or reward them for in any way. How DARE they expect me to do anything for their software in return. Don't they know everything on the internet is free and is magically made with no effort"

Freaking idiots.

I am so glad that Google is cutting the welfare nation off to your freetards. Listening to you guys whine is crazy. If you don't like Plus go find another service and STFU.

Gutted

I have been travelling for the past year and have been using Latitude to track my movements so I can put them into Google Earth later and my friends so I can see who is nearby - It's a shame that this is going - offline maps are really useful aswell!

All the maps I need

Come either from the OS in 1:50,000 or 1:25,000 scale, or from the air ministry in 1:250,000. Real maps, that don't go away when the supplier decides to stop supplying or the battery runs flat.

Ok, you need a little practice to recognise the symbols, and perhaps a compass... and to be fair my ancient Nokia (choc-bar format, can't remember the name) has off-line maps which are reasonably useful if power hungry.

One problem with pretty much *every* sat-nav I've come across is that they don't tell you what's around you - just how to get where you want to be. For many people that's not a primary use.

I've looked at Copilot for offline maps - I'm even happy to pay for it BUT - I've only got an Samsung Galaxy Ace from 3 - the 278MB of phone memory is so stuffed full of pre-loaded apps that it has almost no storage space - I'd actually have to root my phone - so I could remove Google Maps (and loads of other Google stuff, Samsung stuff and 3 stuff I never use) to free up enough space to install co-pilot...

I quite liked caching (in my limited free phone space - why Google would you not design this to use my SD card?) especially for areas I had visited previously and knew I had very limited/no 3G signal.

Ho Hum.

Inevitability

I make a habit of caching map tiles before trips to minimize data usage away from wifi and to assure map availability when detail might be critical and I happen to be in a dead zone. The current version is perfectly suited to this.

I always suspected I was liking this "free" app too much. I suppose it is better they screw me sooner than later.

Google Maps no longer usable

In parallel with the app changes, Google Maps for desktop pc has become unusable, overnight. Google has decided that the road colours used so far should be changed, so that motorways become orange, major routes yellow, other main roads white, all other roads of whatever size white. It is practically unreadable and totally confuses the road network.

I cannot, physically, use this interface. I cannot distinguish the road detail enough to see which roads are which. I have good eyesight, but my guess is that this interface will be even harder to use for anyone with less than perfect eyesight.

Bing, anyone?

First Google Play reviews, now...

They already made Google Play reviews require Google+, and it confirms my worry of trying to force more services into Google+. Even aside from the debate as to whether a real name should be required for reviews or latitude, there are two major problems:

- Your account is associated with your real name. Which means your phone is too, whether you like it or not. It doesn't help that their enforcement of this policy has been appalling, locking people from their accounts until people hand over legal proof of their foreign-sounding names.

- Goodbye to multiple accounts. So if I have one Google account for my phone, but use another Google account for another service, and both start requiring the use of Google+, which says you're only allowed one account - it's unclear how one is meant to handle that?

As a developer, I want people to be able to review my apps, without needing Google+. It does nothing to reduce the dumb reviews (which are usually sincere, so people don't mind putting their name to them). But it has reduced the quantity of reviews, which means you get less of a fair picture (when you only have a few reviews, there's much more "noise", and it only takes 1 1-star review to pull the average down significantly).

Shame to lose Latitude

Well this will be the biggest lose here for me... it's quick and easy with Google Maps to see where a few select friends are... I can see if my girlfriend arrived safely at her hotel after a flight, I can when my brother finally decides to drive over to my house (he's always late), I can even see where my mates are who moved to Australia and USA. Latitude is both very useful and also interesting. And it's simple enough for anyone (thinking of my GF!) to have it automatically working on her phone.

Instead we have to have G+ ??? How does live tracking work on that then? I set myself up on + a while back after various nagging by Google apps on my phone, but I don't use it, it isn't very clear how to work, I get all this rubbish on my page that has nothing to do with me. There's no way in the world I'd get someone like my girlfriend or mother to be able to use it. I don't know how live tracking works on it, do you have to have the app open for it to register your movements? Is it auto updating to selected people (not all your friends on G+)?

Latitude worked simply... your phone knows where you are all the time anyway, it's simple for it to upload that location to a central server, then your friend just looks on Google maps (which checks that server) and sees your location. It works, it's simple, it's fast, you don't need a big messy social media app just for a map.

I for one am going to miss the private location sharing of latitude ("Has my daughter or at least her phone got home from school yet?") and the location history service ("What day did I drive to Manchester? / where was I on the 25th").