Google maps not workingfor public transit ? - urgent
Aug 30, 2019, 5:27 am
#63
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: China and Canada
Posts: 1,886
@Ricebucket - I am not saying that I don't believe you, just saying that I don't get this on my phone.
Sep 1, 2019, 8:51 pm
#65
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: PEK and BOS
Programs: BA - Blue
Posts: 4,530
Apple maps DOES provide transit
I don't have an iPhone, but my wife does. Given the debate on this thread, I decided finally to check my wife's phone this morning (in Beijing)....and it did give transit (bus) directions...so that's a definite win for Apple, as much as I would hate to admit it. I drive mostly in Beijing, or otherwise take the subway, but I used to occasionally take the bus and the google maps transit functionality was great (as it still is in most countries)..it was a blow that it went away.
Despite what moondog says: Baidu maps is NOT user friendly for a tourist or very occasional business visitor to China. Having a full English interface is really necessary, and Apple maps provides that.
For someone who is a China resident, and especially who drives, Baidu maps is very useful, most importantly for pretty accurate timings in traffic jams/ accidents, which can add 30+ minutes to a journey. A few months ago we were in a cab to the airport and needed to make a stop on the way...traffic suddenly snarled up and we were in real danger of missing our flight (think 20 minutes to make a single left turn) even though I thought we had sufficient padding when we set off. I fired up Baidu maps and told the driver to take a different route to the one he was taking: he was NOT happy, because of course, he thinks he knows better than some stupid foreigner. The estimated traffic timings were reasonably spot on: with the new route, we got there with about 10 minutes to spare for the check-in cut-off and I don't think we would have made it otherwise.
tb
Despite what moondog says: Baidu maps is NOT user friendly for a tourist or very occasional business visitor to China. Having a full English interface is really necessary, and Apple maps provides that.
For someone who is a China resident, and especially who drives, Baidu maps is very useful, most importantly for pretty accurate timings in traffic jams/ accidents, which can add 30+ minutes to a journey. A few months ago we were in a cab to the airport and needed to make a stop on the way...traffic suddenly snarled up and we were in real danger of missing our flight (think 20 minutes to make a single left turn) even though I thought we had sufficient padding when we set off. I fired up Baidu maps and told the driver to take a different route to the one he was taking: he was NOT happy, because of course, he thinks he knows better than some stupid foreigner. The estimated traffic timings were reasonably spot on: with the new route, we got there with about 10 minutes to spare for the check-in cut-off and I don't think we would have made it otherwise.
tb
Sep 3, 2019, 2:01 am
#66
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: HKG
Posts: 1,309
@Ricebucket - I am not saying that I don't believe you, just saying that I don't get this on my phone.
Sep 3, 2019, 2:03 am
#67
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: HKG
Posts: 1,309
For someone who is a China resident, and especially who drives, Baidu maps is very useful, most importantly for pretty accurate timings in traffic jams/ accidents, which can add 30+ minutes to a journey. A few months ago we were in a cab to the airport and needed to make a stop on the way...traffic suddenly snarled up and we were in real danger of missing our flight (think 20 minutes to make a single left turn) even though I thought we had sufficient padding when we set off. I fired up Baidu maps and told the driver to take a different route to the one he was taking: he was NOT happy, because of course, he thinks he knows better than some stupid foreigner. The estimated traffic timings were reasonably spot on: with the new route, we got there with about 10 minutes to spare for the check-in cut-off and I don't think we would have made it otherwise.
tb
tb
Sep 3, 2019, 2:54 am
#68
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: PEK and BOS
Programs: BA - Blue
Posts: 4,530
Sep 3, 2019, 6:33 am
#69
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: DL, OZ, AC, AS, AA, BA, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, IHG
Posts: 19,869
It doesn’t work for me either. I just tried a test in Tokyo and got the same error message as you. I think I might have to be in China for this to work.
Sep 5, 2019, 8:55 am
#70
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: UA MileagePlus (Premier Gold); Hilton HHonors (Gold); Chase Ultimate Rewards; Amex Plat
Posts: 6,642
Problem with Apple Maps is that it's a no go on Android. Although, for major cities, as long as you have the coordinates of your destination, Google Maps works fine, for the most part. But they still haven't updated the maps data for the northern part of Kaifeng for example, despite me complaining to them about it multiple times (there are literally streets that have existed for at least 2 years but are not on the map).
As for transit directions, I'm not sure why it's necessary to have some app telling you exactly what train to get on. This isn't the US, where trains come every 15-20 minutes if you're lucky and 30-60 minutes normally, and trying to transfer at the wrong spot can add 30+ minutes to your journey. It's China, and the trains come every 3-5 minutes, so just look at the map of the metro system and use common sense about where to transfer. As for buses, even in the days when Google Maps would give limited information about buses, I never trusted it enough to rely on it. Always verify your map information in China so you don't end up choosing a hotel on the opposite side of the river in Shanghai from where your office is (my friend who works on Google Maps heard about this one for an entire weekend trip we took and I never stopped complaining about it the whole time).
As for transit directions, I'm not sure why it's necessary to have some app telling you exactly what train to get on. This isn't the US, where trains come every 15-20 minutes if you're lucky and 30-60 minutes normally, and trying to transfer at the wrong spot can add 30+ minutes to your journey. It's China, and the trains come every 3-5 minutes, so just look at the map of the metro system and use common sense about where to transfer. As for buses, even in the days when Google Maps would give limited information about buses, I never trusted it enough to rely on it. Always verify your map information in China so you don't end up choosing a hotel on the opposite side of the river in Shanghai from where your office is (my friend who works on Google Maps heard about this one for an entire weekend trip we took and I never stopped complaining about it the whole time).
Sep 5, 2019, 9:40 am
#71
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 41,967
Problem with Apple Maps is that it's a no go on Android. Although, for major cities, as long as you have the coordinates of your destination, Google Maps works fine, for the most part. But they still haven't updated the maps data for the northern part of Kaifeng for example, despite me complaining to them about it multiple times (there are literally streets that have existed for at least 2 years but are not on the map).
As for transit directions, I'm not sure why it's necessary to have some app telling you exactly what train to get on. This isn't the US, where trains come every 15-20 minutes if you're lucky and 30-60 minutes normally, and trying to transfer at the wrong spot can add 30+ minutes to your journey. It's China, and the trains come every 3-5 minutes, so just look at the map of the metro system and use common sense about where to transfer. As for buses, even in the days when Google Maps would give limited information about buses, I never trusted it enough to rely on it. Always verify your map information in China so you don't end up choosing a hotel on the opposite side of the river in Shanghai from where your office is (my friend who works on Google Maps heard about this one for an entire weekend trip we took and I never stopped complaining about it the whole time).
As for transit directions, I'm not sure why it's necessary to have some app telling you exactly what train to get on. This isn't the US, where trains come every 15-20 minutes if you're lucky and 30-60 minutes normally, and trying to transfer at the wrong spot can add 30+ minutes to your journey. It's China, and the trains come every 3-5 minutes, so just look at the map of the metro system and use common sense about where to transfer. As for buses, even in the days when Google Maps would give limited information about buses, I never trusted it enough to rely on it. Always verify your map information in China so you don't end up choosing a hotel on the opposite side of the river in Shanghai from where your office is (my friend who works on Google Maps heard about this one for an entire weekend trip we took and I never stopped complaining about it the whole time).
For subways, I generally agree that common sense trumps technology (e.g. the apps don't tell you how horrible certain transfers are). That having been said, whenever I'm going someplace new/different, I find the travel time estimates to be fairly useful. Additionally, it isn't always obvious which stations are the most convenient.
Sep 5, 2019, 12:35 pm
#72
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: CX MPC DM
Posts: 416
While I rarely use buses, IME the buses themselves report their locations via GPS, and this data is usually quite reliable.
For subways, I generally agree that common sense trumps technology (e.g. the apps don't tell you how horrible certain transfers are). That having been said, whenever I'm going someplace new/different, I find the travel time estimates to be fairly useful. Additionally, it isn't always obvious which stations are the most convenient.
For subways, I generally agree that common sense trumps technology (e.g. the apps don't tell you how horrible certain transfers are). That having been said, whenever I'm going someplace new/different, I find the travel time estimates to be fairly useful. Additionally, it isn't always obvious which stations are the most convenient.
Maybe I'm old, but I've never used navigation for public transit. I've worked in NYC for a long time and knew all the public transit routes before we had such things. When in SZ, I do use Baidu maps even though I can't read Chinese. It is searchable to an extent in English and I can get a destination and even use navigation. Most of the times I use it to show a taxi driver where I want to go since taxis are so cheap, not nearly as cheap as the Metro but very cheap compared to NYC taxi prices. Sometimes I use google maps to locate, then visually find the location in Baidu maps to show a driver or a local. Yeah, I wish Baidu maps was in English but I'd prefer Meituan in English more than Baidu.
With all that said, this laowai gets around. My first trip to SZ, I'd forgotten to pack some toiletries. Within 2 hours of arriving, I was in a taxi headed to a Walmart (not knowing about such things as Carrefour). On the way back, I couldn't get a taxi but there were some scooter guys around. I showed one of them the card from the hotel, made some hand gestures to negotiate a price and a minute later was riding on the back of a scooter while carrying my shopping bags. All of this without a working mobile phone since I had no data roaming on my Verizon phone. A few days later, I met my girlfriend who spoke little English at the time, sure offline google translate helped a bit with that.
Sep 6, 2019, 7:23 am
#73
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: HKG
Posts: 1,309
Yes Apple Map has some kind of a region lock so it won't work until you are actually in China. Presumably this is because of licensing restrictions on the underlying amap data.
Oct 2, 2019, 10:17 am
#75
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: DL, OZ, AC, AS, AA, BA, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, IHG
Posts: 19,869
I landed in Shanghai today and surprisingly neither Apple Maps or Google maps provide transit directions. Do I need to have a Chinese simcard? I’m roaming with my foreign simcard.
