Google Maps is something most of us use every day. But is it really as good as it could be? I think not.
My main beef with Google Maps is that it doesn't take safety into account. I live near a big expanse of green with no lighting and when I set off, budget camera phone in hand, and ask Google Maps to take me anywhere, at any time of day or night, it suggests crossing the green.
Now, that might be ok for someone not concerned about their personal safety (okay I'm just gonna say it, I'm talking about (not all) men) but for those of us who don't like crossing dark expanses at night, it's no good.
Could Google Maps not include an option for you to mark a route to say, 'I don't want to go that way'? It could then ask you why and one of the options could be safety. If enough people report the same, that route could then be potentially marked as potentially unsafe for others.
That's my first bugbear. Second up is that it doesn't seem to take into account accessibility needs. It also likes to suggest walking down a tiny alley that has a massive boulder in front of it.
The boulder and probably the size of the alley make it totally unsuitable for anyone in a wheelchair or pushing a buggy (or stroller) but again, there's no option to mark this up in Google and say that it's not a suitable option.
My annoyances with Google Maps don't stop there though. When driving rather than walking I also find the app limiting. First of all, Google Maps will take you down single track roads with no room to turn in, without giving you any warning that you're doing so.
The other day I was stuck in a traffic jam and Google Maps suggested I take a left to escape the traffic. So far so good. But it actually took me across what was essentially a field with a single track road in, which I ended up having to reverse down for a fairly long time because there was nowhere to turn and someone coming towards me.
Had I been given the choice of sitting in the traffic or going down the one-track road, in this case, I'd have taken the traffic jam.
Other apps such as Waze enable you to click whether you want to go on one-track roads or not. Waze also gives you the option to avoid tricky junctions.
Waze also addresses another one of Google Maps' pitfalls in that it shows you where the Clean Air Zone is in cities. Google Maps does not show this so if you do have a diesel car it is very hard to work out where you need to go to avoid a charge.
Google Maps also doesn't show you where dedicated cycle lanes are either, making it not ideal for cyclists. I'd also like it to show me if an area is particularly hilly, as that would help me plan my route both cycling and walking.
Overall I think that Google Maps needs some improvements. It needs to stop sending people down dark alleys and parks at night and it needs to give users options to say that they don't want to go a particular way. If they could say why they don't want to, that could potentially help other users.
It could also have more options for driver preferences and more information for walkers and cyclists.
Waze is an alternative but it's only for driving and I don't find the user experience as good as with Google, it doesn't show which lane you need to be in, for example. There's also City Mapper available in some cities but that doesn't show you options for driving, though it is very good for public transport.
So I'll keep my fingers crossed that Google Maps improves, although I think the developers really should've thought about these options by now.
To see an app that I do rate, check out gardening app Hota.
