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Google Maps Suddenly Becomes Painfully Slow on Some Android Phones

While Google Maps is the number one navigation app worldwide, it’s also not a secret that some users are struggling with various problems, including GPS tracking issues that make using the app quite a painful experience.
Google Maps for Android 6 photos
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Google Maps version 10.50.4Google Maps version 10.50.4Google Maps version 10.50.4Google Maps version 10.50.4Google Maps version 10.50.4
More recently, I noticed that Google Maps is occasionally becoming very slow on the Samsung Galaxy Note20, with the app requiring up to several seconds to update its location.

What this means when driving is that Google Maps can easily miss a turn, which obviously more or less defeats its purpose, as the app should provide instant navigation directions according to your current position.

While I’m not sure what’s causing this sudden drop in performance for Google Maps, I’m seeing others complaining of similar problems, albeit some believe it’s tied to the carrier rather than to the app. This is highly unlikely though, especially because all the other apps that I use on my Note20 seem to run correctly with no data hiccup whatsoever.

Whenever I use it, it takes like 30 seconds to update location at a time. Sometimes I'll be close to a turn and it didn't update so I wouldn't catch it,” a Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra owner explains on reddit.

It goes without saying that Google Maps becoming so painfully slow is quite an inconvenient at certain times, and this user has just the perfect example in this regard.

I deliver food so I can't just stare at my phone the whole time to make sure I don't miss a turn,” they say.

At this point, it’s not yet clear if a workaround could bring things back to normal, but I downgraded to an earlier Google Maps version and the problem seems to go away. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that I encountered the whole thing only occasionally, so I’m still not 100% sure that the latest Google Maps update is indeed the culprit for this annoying problem or not.
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
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Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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