As if we needed one more distraction on the roads, Google Maps voice alerts for iOS are too loud and too annoying. We saw it with Waze and now it’s on Google Maps, but this one even gives a spoken summary of upcoming traffic. When will it end?
The new Google Maps voice alerts for iOS lets readers know what’s happening on the roads, and allows them to choose between different routes before going into an area with heavy traffic. This is great news for Uber drivers, since you’re in the back and probably jamming to the latest Taylor Swift, but it’s annoying to people actually behind the wheel and know what they’re doing. Like Waze, Google Maps voice alerts can now alert of minor crashes, traffic congestions and a delay estimate; routes can even be changed before you turn the car on. Talk about control freak.
This feature, which was already on Android, has reached the rest of the population. Except for the fact that it’s useful for morning commutes and metropolitan city traffic, Google Maps’ new traffic alerts are annoying, and best kept off if you’re going on a drive to relax. There’s also the risk that, like Waze, Google Maps will take you through roads with no traffic lights, which is useless because the time that you’d have spent at a light is the same amount of time you’ll spend sitting to gather enough courage to cross between the fast moving cars ahead of you.
