• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Root Google Maps vs MapQuest

Petrah

Petrah

Psychotic Female
Posting this here because we have the luxury of completely uninstalling Google Maps. :p

The difference between these two apps is astonishing to say the least. For those of you who use Google Maps and wish to try something 500 times better, uninstall Maps and install MapQuest. It's so totally awesome... everything you could possibly need in one app and it makes traveling a breeze (my boyfriend made fun of me because of how excited I got over this app lol).

Unfortunately I was only able to experience the pure awesomeness of this app for the last 200 miles of my vacation. I so totally wish I had thought about checking for a MapQuest app before we left and I am kicking myself for it now! Was so cool how it found the closest Portillo's from where we were before we got home.

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mapquest.android.ace#
 
This sounds interesting. Does anyone else favor Mapquest over Maps? I might have to check it out.
 
I used to use mapquest (the website) before google maps. More often then not it sent me to the wrong side of town. I can't tell you how many times we ended up in a residential area when looking for the mall or movie theatre when we first moved to town. It had a great than 75% failure rate.

I used to dispatch trucks for Home Depot, we had one driver who insisted on mapquest. He was always late/lost.
 
MacFett said:
I used to use mapquest (the website) before google maps. More often then not it sent me to the wrong side of town. I can't tell you how many times we ended up in a residential area when looking for the mall or movie theatre when we first moved to town. It had a great than 75% failure rate.

I used to dispatch trucks for Home Depot, we had one driver who insisted on mapquest. He was always late/lost.
Click to expand...

Our trip was planned via MapQuest on the Internet from a PC and we had no issues whatsoever. We supplemented by using the built in screen GPS navigation system in his SUV. Between MapQuest and his SUV's built in GPS (I named it Gabby.. female voice that never shut up and irritated the hell out of me), there were no issues. We put aprox 8 thousand miles on his SUV since Oct 17th.

As for the app... in all fairness it's still in Beta. This means there will be errors. That's a part of the Beta experience after all... when you use Beta software you acknowledge that there will be bugs/errors and you also agree to report those bugs/errors to the software vendor. That driver should of been reprimanded if not fired for using beta navigational software on the job. No wonder he was late!

The last 200 miles I played with MapQuest and had a blast with it. It found everything I searched for, all the little gas icons I checked as we drove by were right on the money as were the fast food places I checked. It even found a Portillo's and took us right to it. Of course there will be errors since it's Beta software, but I'll venture to say that between the time your driver used it and when I used it last night, there have been major improvements.

In a nutshell; I'll take MapQuest in beta any day over that awful Google Maps app. ;)
 
NoNameFace said:
Our trip was planned via MapQuest on the Internet from a PC and we had no issues whatsoever. We supplemented by using the built in screen GPS navigation system in his SUV. Between MapQuest and his SUV's built in GPS (I named it Gabby.. female voice that never shut up and irritated the hell out of me), there were no issues. We put aprox 8 thousand miles on his SUV since Oct 17th.

As for the app... in all fairness it's still in Beta. This means there will be errors. That's a part of the Beta experience after all... when you use Beta software you acknowledge that there will be bugs/errors and you also agree to report those bugs/errors to the software vendor. That driver should of been reprimanded if not fired for using beta navigational software on the job. No wonder he was late!

The last 200 miles I played with MapQuest and had a blast with it. It found everything I searched for, all the little gas icons I checked as we drove by were right on the money as were the fast food places I checked. It even found a Portillo's and took us right to it. Of course there will be errors since it's Beta software, but I'll venture to say that between the time your driver used it and when I used it last night, there have been major improvements.

In a nutshell; I'll take MapQuest in beta any day over that awful Google Maps app. ;)
Click to expand...

I looked at the reviews and to be honest most were pretty bad with the exception of a 5 star review from a poster on this forum you may be familiar with ;)
 
Well, I can't say I have experience with using the map programs on the phone, but I'm glad you posted this, NoName... I always preferred mapquest online over google maps (using my computer). I honestly can't make claims about its accuracy, but I never had a problem with the driving directions mapquest gave me... Honestly, the reason I stubbornly stuck to mapquest is b/c i root for the underdog (even though i think mapquest was around before google maps?). ok, i guess i shouldn't admit this here, LOL, but it bugs me when a company (like google) tries to TAKE OVER THE WORLD. heehee... :) (yes, i'm a rebel...don't love monopolies). anyway, not sharing any new info with anyone, just saying yay for an alternative...and i hope it works, of course. :)
 
Yes...as my husband would say, i'm full of contradictions... LOL

I rebel when and where i can...walk contrary to the status quo as the norm of my life, but not everywhere, sorry to say. that's just reality of constraints, eh? when it came to getting a smartphone, it was pay megabucks for the iphone or go VM route...this seemed to make much more sense to me. :)
 
I remember when google was the underdog, back when I left metacrawler and fully embraced the baby that was google.
 
wow...they all start somewhere, eh? i remember when my dad purchased his first computer, the commodore 64...and our first atari and his first apple computer...he was really into "firsts" of tech stuff...didn't really rub off on me, LOL.
 
I realize some like coke and some like pepsi, but I've used both and IMHO, there is no comparison: google maps is substantially better.
(Just to be clear: I'm talking about the google maps android app vs the mapquest android map).

The Mapquest app is serviceable; it's generates good routes, it speaks street names, it has icons for POI lookups, and it's free, but those are about it's only features worth noting.

The UI is really poor compared to google:
- No 3D view when driving
- It doesn't zoom in when you approach intersections
- The maps are raster, so if you are heading south, the street names are upside down.

For all these reasons, I much prefer the google maps/navigation app.
 
A n d r o i d said:
sorry to revive an old thread but i prefer mapquest because my address is not on google maps for some odd reason.
Click to expand...
:rofl: I prefer google maps, mapquest made my dad get off the highway, make a u-turn and go back on continuing north.......and this is a really old thread...
 
I am a truck driver, don't know about MapQuest the app I definitely know MapQuest web, all i have to say and believe me when i tell you THANK GOD I HAD GOOGLE MAPS with me!!!!!. I will never ever trust MapQuest, I've had years of experience with MapQuest i don't believe i would of found my destination without Google!
 
MapQuest sux....

Honestly, it used to be good, but after AOL bought it, they let it die.

I love the web version of Google Maps and use it all of the time.

As for navigation, even though my phone has Google Navigation, I tend to use TeleNav because it seems to be a bit more accurate.
 
kct1975 said:
As for navigation, even though my phone has Google Navigation, I tend to use TeleNav because it seems to be a bit more accurate.
Click to expand...

TeleNav, according to Google Play, is not compatible with our phone, and no idea if it would work on a custom rom if it was side-loaded.
 
Petrah said:
TeleNav, according to Google Play, is not compatible with our phone, and no idea if it would work on a custom rom if it was side-loaded.
Click to expand...
It is according to google play, not available because of Virgin Mobile, it won't even let me load it to my tablet that has no carrier.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom