Photo: autoevolution
While iPhone and CarPlay users are provided with a native navigation application, Google Maps continues to be the preferred choice for a wide variety of reasons.
Especially in non-U.S. regions, as the experience with Apple Maps beyond the borders of Apple’s home market leaves a lot to be desired.
But as it turns out, Google Maps doesn’t guarantee a flawless experience either, and a bug that was recently discovered by CarPlay users is living proof in this regard.
More specifically, it appears that the voice search in Google Maps never works on the first attempt for some users, with everything coming back to normal when the voice search is launched a second time.
Several users have confirmed in this reddit thread that the same thing is happening in their cars as well, so at first glance, it doesn’t seem to be a model-specific glitch. At the same time, CarPlay is unlikely to be the culprit given only Google Maps is affected, as the voice search works properly in Apple Maps and the other navigation apps.
However, worth knowing is that not all users are hitting the same bug. The voice search in Google Maps appears to be working properly on a cold start in my car – I’m using an iPhone 14 Pro running iOS 16.1.1, but it doesn’t look like the software version and the iPhone model makes any difference anyway.
At this point, Google is yet to acknowledge the problem, so users who are hitting the glitch have no other option than to try out the generic workarounds.
Nevertheless, given it’s Apple’s walled garden the one we’re talking about here, the options in this regard are very limited and most often come down to removing and reinstalling Google Maps on an iPhone. And of course, this solution doesn’t seem to produce any improvement for the Google Maps voice search.
But as it turns out, Google Maps doesn’t guarantee a flawless experience either, and a bug that was recently discovered by CarPlay users is living proof in this regard.
More specifically, it appears that the voice search in Google Maps never works on the first attempt for some users, with everything coming back to normal when the voice search is launched a second time.
Several users have confirmed in this reddit thread that the same thing is happening in their cars as well, so at first glance, it doesn’t seem to be a model-specific glitch. At the same time, CarPlay is unlikely to be the culprit given only Google Maps is affected, as the voice search works properly in Apple Maps and the other navigation apps.
However, worth knowing is that not all users are hitting the same bug. The voice search in Google Maps appears to be working properly on a cold start in my car – I’m using an iPhone 14 Pro running iOS 16.1.1, but it doesn’t look like the software version and the iPhone model makes any difference anyway.
At this point, Google is yet to acknowledge the problem, so users who are hitting the glitch have no other option than to try out the generic workarounds.
Nevertheless, given it’s Apple’s walled garden the one we’re talking about here, the options in this regard are very limited and most often come down to removing and reinstalling Google Maps on an iPhone. And of course, this solution doesn’t seem to produce any improvement for the Google Maps voice search.
Google News