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Can barely see small roads on Google Maps

G

garybeck

Android Enthusiast
Does anyone else have trouble viewing small local roads on Google Maps with an android device?

For highways and busy roads there is adequate contrast between the background and the road.

But for small local roads, I can barely see them. Even if I zoom in, the contrast is so poor I can barely tell where the roads are.

When I visit the same map via my PC, or even on my Android via web browser instead of the Google Maps app, I can see the roads much better.

My device does not seem to have contrast settings, just brightness.

I searched through Google help and couldn't find any settings that would help.

Does anyone else have this problem? Has anyone figured out a solution?

thanks
 
I am assuming you mean when the screen is in night mode.
I haven't got the same problem, I can see those 'small local' roads clearly enough, so the contrast is sufficient for me.

Have you got the same problem when you use GMaps' navigation module? And/or when you use other navigation apps (like free Waze)?
On what device are you running it? And what Android version?
 
I'm not aware of "night mode" on my screen. Is that something in the OS or in the app?

I don't seem to have the same problem with Google Nav but I stopped using it because it's SO annoying to lose your map every time you get out of 3G range. Bad design. I've been using Sygic instead which has no contrast problems.

It's just Google Maps, and any other app that uses it.... like My Tracks.

My device is Optimus V. I'm running Gingerbread (I think).

I'll try to take screenshot and show you want I mean. thanks.
 
OK here's a screenshot. it looks better on the PC than it does on my phone. On my phone I can barely see the roads because the background is white, not grey like it appears here. even if I turn down the brightness on the screen, it's just a duller white... but still white. Even with that said, the screenshot shows little contrast.


screenshot.jpg
 
He said
My device is Optimus V. I'm running Gingerbread (I think).
Click to expand...

If it was a non-stock app my knee-jerk reaction would have been to uninstall, reboot, and reinstall. But that obviously is not going to be an option here...
 
Ceverol said:
That's terrible! Haven't seen that before.

This is how it looks on my phone:

Loganmapcontrasttest.png
Click to expand...

so yours is in a city. I wonder if country roads look as good on yours. can you try something for me and plug this in:

williams hill road
richmond, vt 05477

that's the screenshot I put there from my phone.
can you see if yours looks like mine, or better? thanks!
 
garybeck said:
OK here's a screenshot. it looks better on the PC than it does on my phone. On my phone I can barely see the roads because the background is white, not grey like it appears here. even if I turn down the brightness on the screen, it's just a duller white... but still white. Even with that said, the screenshot shows little contrast.


screenshot.jpg
Click to expand...

I've looked at this address on 2 other devices and both look just like your screenshot when layers are turned off. So, maybe it's not abnormal for this particular area.
 
Skull Nokker said:
I've looked at this address on 2 other devices and both look just like your screenshot when layers are turned off. So, maybe it's not abnormal for this particular area.
Click to expand...

thanks. If it looks like this on other devices someone needs to tell the google folks to fix this! even if I zoom in, I can't see squat! the text is legible but the roads are almost invisible!
 
garybeck said:
thanks. If it looks like this on other devices someone needs to tell the google folks to fix this! even if I zoom in, I can't see squat! the text is legible but the roads are almost invisible!
Click to expand...

Yep, I have the same issue. No bleddy contrast between various different items on the map. Which is the point of a map ..... :confused:

Dave
 
In my humble opinion it looks clear to me, on my device. Although I'm not sure what Google Maps version you're using as the user interface looks quite different to the version that I'm using.

Screenshot_2012-10-31-10-39-07.png
 
SkyJackpot said:
In my humble opinion it looks clear to me, on my device. Although I'm not sure what Google Maps version you're using as the user interface looks quite different to the version that I'm using. ...
Click to expand...

The image you posted looks exactly like one that would appear on my phone. i.e. almost zero contrast between road and surroundings making it very difficult to see.

Dave
 
dvhttn said:
The image you posted looks exactly like one that would appear on my phone. i.e. almost zero contrast between road and surroundings making it very difficult to see.

Dave
Click to expand...
It's weird, his screen grab looks just fine through the Android Forums app on my phone, but looks washed out on the computer. Odd.

Anyways, just use a different layer in Google Maps (either Satellite or Terrain).
 
euph_22 said:
It's weird, his screen grab looks just fine through the Android Forums app on my phone, but looks washed out on the computer. Odd.

Anyways, just use a different layer in Google Maps (either Satellite or Terrain).
Click to expand...

We I don't know if this will help but I use a different screen correct profile from the default settings. I feel like the other color profiles can over-saturate things or make undesirable color choices

Screenshot_2012-10-31-23-55-46.png
 
I think its just his phone. The optimus v has a smaller and lower resolution screen than say, a Galaxy S, and would therefore show maps of an inferior quality, since its displaying a lower res image of the same thing on an inferior screen.
 
Google Maps displays fine on my Desire S, using the basemap or with either Terrain or Satellite layer selected, so I don't see how it can be a Google Maps problem.

Incidentally, I think night view only applies in Navigation mode and comes on automatically - it does on my Desire S anyway.
 
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