Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution/Google
The "new" Google Maps rollout is finally over, and everybody can now enjoy the awful color palette that makes navigation a mess at day and night.
While the new colors feel more natural when exploring the maps, they make less sense when driving with navigation enabled on the screen. Google Maps highlights the route in the most counterintuitive way, making it difficult for drivers to determine the next turn with a glance at the display.
The interface update doesn't seem to be Google Maps' only problem. One of our readers told me that right after receiving the interface update, Google Maps started struggling with a mysterious voice command problem that no longer allows the app to set the destination to the home address.
If you've used Google Maps on your mobile device or Android Auto, you probably know already that the voice command support powered by Google Assistant is integral to the overall experience, as it lets users control the app without touch input. They can set navigation with voice commands, and the process is even more straightforward when navigating to favorite locations.
However, a recent bug in Google Maps breaks down the voice command for navigating home. Telling Google Maps for Android to "navigate home" doesn't begin navigation but conducts a search for "navigate home." The other voice commands to configure navigation to a saved place work correctly, as navigating to work doesn't suffer from the same problem.
Someone on Google's forums, who says they've been struggling with the same problem since mid-November, claims the only workaround is to speak the full home address when setting navigation with a voice command. The feature works correctly, and Google Maps even greets them with the usual "welcome home" message when arriving at the destination. It proves Google Maps is still aware of the home address, but the broken voice command doesn't correctly instruct the app to enable navigation.
One user says on the forums that they struggle with other broken voice commands, including avoiding tolls.
Based on the data provided by all these users, I believe the problem resides in Google Assistant rather than in Google Maps. Google Assistant, powered on Android devices by the Google app, is in charge of the voice command integration on Android. As a result, the first thing you should try if you're hitting the same problem is to downgrade to an earlier build of the Google app, as it could help restore the expected behavior in Google Maps.
Google hasn't yet acknowledged the problem, but it doesn't seem widespread, affecting only a handful of users. The number could increase as more people receive the faulty update, so make sure you chime and tell Google what happens if you encounter the same problem on your device.
The interface update doesn't seem to be Google Maps' only problem. One of our readers told me that right after receiving the interface update, Google Maps started struggling with a mysterious voice command problem that no longer allows the app to set the destination to the home address.
If you've used Google Maps on your mobile device or Android Auto, you probably know already that the voice command support powered by Google Assistant is integral to the overall experience, as it lets users control the app without touch input. They can set navigation with voice commands, and the process is even more straightforward when navigating to favorite locations.
However, a recent bug in Google Maps breaks down the voice command for navigating home. Telling Google Maps for Android to "navigate home" doesn't begin navigation but conducts a search for "navigate home." The other voice commands to configure navigation to a saved place work correctly, as navigating to work doesn't suffer from the same problem.
Someone on Google's forums, who says they've been struggling with the same problem since mid-November, claims the only workaround is to speak the full home address when setting navigation with a voice command. The feature works correctly, and Google Maps even greets them with the usual "welcome home" message when arriving at the destination. It proves Google Maps is still aware of the home address, but the broken voice command doesn't correctly instruct the app to enable navigation.
One user says on the forums that they struggle with other broken voice commands, including avoiding tolls.
Based on the data provided by all these users, I believe the problem resides in Google Assistant rather than in Google Maps. Google Assistant, powered on Android devices by the Google app, is in charge of the voice command integration on Android. As a result, the first thing you should try if you're hitting the same problem is to downgrade to an earlier build of the Google app, as it could help restore the expected behavior in Google Maps.
Google hasn't yet acknowledged the problem, but it doesn't seem widespread, affecting only a handful of users. The number could increase as more people receive the faulty update, so make sure you chime and tell Google what happens if you encounter the same problem on your device.
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