Google maps app on android phone help me please

[ny biker]

I installed the latest update to the Google maps app on my android phone (Motorola Droid Razr Maxx) and now I can't figure out how to do anything with it. I look at the official "help" information online and it is useless, it tells me to click icons that are not on the screen. I want to type in an address and get directions to it. I do not have sufficient words to describe how angry this makes me. It worked fine before and now since there is an update it is a useless piece of crap. I do not have time for this.

When I search for "google maps android tutorial" all I see are links to articles for programmers.

Does anyone know where I can find information on how to use this stupid thing? Actual real useful information?

Or should I just give up and switch to Waze?

[Last week I was told that my office is being moving next month to a neighborhood in DC that I know nothing about. And I am going on vacation soon to a place I have not been to since I was 10 years old. I really need a map app that works on my phone. I am so overwhelmed by the work move and the stress it is causing that I really just need this stupid map app to work. I am just so frustrated right now.]

[Sylvia]

See if this helps.
http://youtu.be/mUR08cdIhTQ

[OakLeaf]

?? I have zero problems with the app on my HTC phone. Maybe it's the Motorola skin that's giving you fits? Typically for navigation I'll use the actual Navigation app, but it works fine in the Maps app too ... just click on the app, click on the little icon at the bottom that has the directional arrow in it, type in the start and end point, click whether it's car, transit, bike or ped, click "get directions," and voilà. Or the magnifying glass icon if I'm navigating from my current location. What kind of trouble are you having?


ETA - I see they are rolling out a new update in the next few weeks, so maybe I'm still on the old version? I'm on 6.14.4. You should be able to roll yours back to the version that your phone shipped with, though. If you go to Settings, then Apps, then click on Maps in App info, it gives you the option to Uninstall Updates, at least on my phone.

[ny biker]

There is no blue directional icon on the screen.

I used to have zero problems with it too, until I installed the upgrade this weekend. They completely changed everything about how it works. The UI is totally different, icons have disappeared, pressing the menu button on my phone does nothing, I just stare at the screen with no idea how to get things to work.

I want to be able to search for an address, look at the map, then get directions to the address. I can search for an address but when I do I can't get directions to it. And then I'm stuck.

There are no buttons to zoom in or out, you have to do the pinching thing and that doesn't work right. I pinch and nothing happens. Or it zooms in or out way too much.

I used to be able to touch a location on the map and have the option to get directions to that location. This feature is gone.

So I downloaded Waze but it will not help me. I do not want it tracking my every move.

I do not understand why developers feel it is necessary to completely rewrite things that were working fine before.

[Sylvia]

There is no blue directional icon on the screen.

It is my understanding that they have made the new Android version of google maps match the iPhone version.

I have an iphone so I can only walk you through it as I see it on my iPhone. I don't know if this will help, so take it for what it's worth, but this is how it works on my iPhone.

1. When I start up google maps it gives me a map with my curent location pin pointed

2. At the top is a Search field where I can enter where I want to go.
If I enter Starbucks, for example, it will list various starbucks nearby and I can choose which one I want.

3. After I choose, I go back to the map with my current location pin pointed in blue and the Starbucks with a big red pinpoint.

4. On this same map screen, at the bottom right corner is a blue car icon. It sounds like this is the icon you are missing on your phone.
If I click on that icon, it gives me a choice of routes that I can take with the amount of time each route will take to get to that Starbucks.
When I select one of these routes, it takes me back to the map with that route outlined in blue.

5. At the bottom right of this screen is a blue arrow icon with the word Start.
If I click on the Start icon, it will show the map at my current location and at the top the first step in the list of directions to get me to Starbucks.

6. It will give me the next step in the instructions if I tap the Arrow in the upper left corner (labeled Then) and then click in the upper right corner.
Continuing to click in the upper right corner will walk me through the directions.

[thekarens]

Do you use the Chrome browser? Another useful tool that you might find helpful is an app called Chrome to Phone. You download the free app on your phone and the free Google extension to your computer. Then you can search and view the map on your computer and then send it directly to your phone. I some times find it easier to type and view in the computer than straight on the phone. It will open straight on your maps application on your phone and give you the option to start navigation.