r/GoogleMaps Jun 18 '24

Google Maps MEGATHREAD: Google Maps Timeline Moving To On-Device Storage: Web Access Ending Soon - What You Need To Know

182 Upvotes

What Is Happening (Or Already Happened To You)?

Google is moving or has already moved your Timeline data, which tracks places you visit and routes you take, from their online servers to your phone. This change means that you soon won't be able to or already can't access or manage your Timeline through the Google Maps website via a web browser.

Why Is This Happening?

  1. Privacy and Security: By storing this data on your device instead of online, your location history is more secure and private. Only you have access to this data unless you choose to back it up.
  2. Control Over Your Data: This gives you more control over your data. You decide if you want to back it up or delete it, and you can manage it directly on your phone.
  3. Reduced Liability: By keeping the data on users' devices, Google reduces its liability and the risk of having to comply with geofence warrants or subpoenas that require providing information about users' locations.

Can You Prevent This From Happening?

No, users cannot prevent this change from happening and maintain their web-based Timeline data. Google is transitioning all Timeline data to be stored on users' devices and discontinuing the web-based access to this data.

What Do You Have To Do To Adapt To These Changes?

  1. Update Your Google Maps App: Ensure you have the latest version of the Google Maps app on your device.
  2. Backup Your Data: Use the backup feature in the Google Maps app to create an encrypted copy of your Timeline data. This will allow you to transfer your data to a new device if needed.
  3. Check/Watch For Notifications: Look out for notifications from Google about the transition. These may come in the form of emails, push notifications, or in-app messages.
  4. Set Data Retention Preferences: In the Google Maps app, you can manage how long your location history is kept. Options include three, 18, or 36 months, or indefinitely until you manually delete it.
  • Once the transition is complete, web-based access to Timeline data will no longer be available. All management and viewing of this data will need to be done through the Google Maps app on mobile devices.

While you cannot stop the transition to on-device data storage or maintain web-based access to your Timeline data, you can ensure your data is backed up and properly managed on your mobile device.

What Is The Deadline For These Changes?

You have until December 8, 2024, to make these changes. If you don’t update your settings or your Google Maps app, you might lose some or all of your historical Timeline data.

Additional Reading About The Changes:

Alternatives and Solutions

  1. Use the Mobile App: Unfortunately, there is no way to bring back the Timeline feature on the web. The best alternative is to use the Google Maps app on your mobile device. The app has all the functionality of the web version and more, allowing you to view, edit, and manage your Timeline data.
  2. Backup and Transfer: If you're worried about losing your data, make sure to back it up. You can save an encrypted copy of your Timeline data to your Google account. This allows you to transfer your data to a new device if needed. To do this:
    • Open the Google Maps app.
    • Go to the Timeline section.
    • Follow the prompts to set up automatic backups.
  3. Extended Storage Options: You can also extend the auto-delete window for your location history if you want to keep your data longer. Options include keeping your data for three, 18, or 36 months, or indefinitely until you manually delete it.
  4. Feedback to Google: If you are unhappy with these changes, you can provide feedback directly to Google via the Maps website or Maps app. Please remember that this support group on Reddit is not an official method of feedback or support of Google or Google Maps.

r/GoogleMaps 1h ago

Tried to pull up a route to a business over 45 min away

Upvotes

I need to visit a business in person and planned to drive there yesterday. It's at least a 45 min drive I wanted to see how bad traffic and construction was so I could plan my route. I could pull up the business, but it refused to display the Directions button. I ended up not going and decided to visit next week.

Today, I looked up the business again on my laptop - no direction button. I googled the place and found a web page that indicated this site office is closed and they will be moving to another place (but no ETA yet.)

The page said to visit the place that is another 35+ mi beyond that place. I am glad I didn't try yesterday as it would have been a waste of time and I would not have driven another 35+ miles beyond.

I checked other sites to see if they mentioned the office being closed - some were unclear - but others gave store hours.

FYI - if google maps doesn't give you an option to get Directions - there may be a reason!


r/GoogleMaps 11h ago

Fix your map

13 Upvotes

Lake Ontario name is missing! Please fix it!


r/GoogleMaps 1h ago

Discussion Why was my review removed?

Upvotes

And more importantly, how do I find out?

I very rarely post reviews. I posted one 4 days ago and my score impacted their rating the review itself is missing. I don't understand.

How can I fix this?


r/GoogleMaps 2h ago

Baikonur Cosmodrome strange uplifted land?

1 Upvotes

I looked at the cosmodrome in Kazakhstan today, and there are strange 3d 'mountains' there. Are these artifacts? I looked at photos of the site and see no tall mountains that could account for this

thanks


r/GoogleMaps 3h ago

Did google street view remove my car?

0 Upvotes

In 2016 I was driving home from high school and I saw the google maps car. For years I’ve been able to see the full front of my car coming up the road perpendicular to the google maps car; sometimes I show people or I just “drive” around that neighborhood virtually for nostalgia. Now when I go to that spot I can’t see my car at all, not on phone or on desktop. The only trace of it is if I move up the road I can see a tiny sliver of it from behind a house.

Would google maps have like AI removed my car or something?


r/GoogleMaps 5h ago

not a fan of screen wipe for streetview history

1 Upvotes

I'm now forgetting what it was before, because it was so neutral - but now that it wipes up and the image breaks up each time you click a different year, I realize whatever came before was much better. I hope they change this back.

Edit: it's almost dizzying, definitely not user friendly in that way either


r/GoogleMaps 9h ago

Discussion Least-effort option

2 Upvotes

When traveling on foot, it would be great for Google Maps to offer a "least-effort" option, to get the route from A to B over which the elevation changes the least. This would be amazing in places like San Francisco and Seattle.


r/GoogleMaps 17h ago

Why doesn't Google Maps auto-detect transport modes during active navigation yet?

7 Upvotes

We keep hearing that AI is the future and going to automate so much of our daily lives, so I decided to see how current-gen Gemini and Google Maps handle a multi-stage commute.

I was coming home from an appointment in Auckland, NZ. My trip had three legs:

  1. Walk to the train station
  2. Train ride to my local station
  3. Drive home from the station

I selected my final destination, let Maps default to Driving mode, and turned on live location sharing so my family had an ETA.

The Glitch Everything worked fine while the rail track ran parallel to the road. But the moment the train tracks veered off into the countryside away from the road network, Maps went into complete chaos.

Even though the map UI clearly showed my marker moving along a railway line, the turn-by-turn navigation kept aggressively trying to reroute me back to the nearest road. My ETA kept wildly bouncing up and down the further we traveled down the tracks. Once I got to my destination station and jumped in my car, normal navigation resumed smoothly.

The Question Given all the talk around AI integration, will future generations of Gemini / Maps finally be able to dynamic-switch modes based on live telemetry?

Your phone already knows your speed and location vector:

  • < 5 km/h on a path? You're walking.
  • 80+ km/h following a rail corridor? You're on a train.
  • 300+ km/h over open water? You're on a plane.

Google Maps Timeline already classifies this data retroactively after your trip using accelerometer and cell data. Why hasn't active turn-by-turn navigation caught up to switch modes mid-route automatically?

Has anyone else noticed this wall between passive tracking and active routing, or found a good workaround for multi-modal travel?

TL;DR: Took a train with Google Maps set to driving mode. Even though Maps saw me on rail tracks, it constantly tried to recalculate routes back to the nearest road, making ETAs useless. Why isn't live transport mode detection built into active navigation yet?


r/GoogleMaps 7h ago

Help/Support Question about map lists

1 Upvotes

I started working on a new list and I noticed I could add tags. I added a couple tags which are still there and now the option is completely gone within minutes. I can't edit the tags, add new tags, tag places. How does the button just disappear? How can I add tags or edit the one I do have going already.


r/GoogleMaps 31m ago

Up the Mapquest

Upvotes

Screw Google Maps, up the Mapquest!


r/GoogleMaps 9h ago

Help/Support Telling Google to adjust a step on a route

1 Upvotes

There's a place I go where Google tells me my destination is on the left and to turn there, but what's on the left is the employee parking lot. The general public needs to drive farther, to the other end of the property, before turning left into the public lot. I didn't use the thumbs up/down option at the end of my last trip, at which point I could have submitted a comment. How do I do it now?


r/GoogleMaps 11h ago

How do I Delete Maps off my Pixel Phone ?

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0 Upvotes

r/GoogleMaps 12h ago

Other Random message during navigation

1 Upvotes

I was driving home from a shopping trip yesterday and had Google Maps navigation going due to it being rush hour and wanting the shortest route with traffic. In the middle of a 3 mile stretch with no turns, the app voice said something like, "This is what it sounds like when you use navigation." ?????

I've been using Google Maps for years. Has anyone else had a glitch like this?


r/GoogleMaps 10h ago

How do I Delete Maps off my Pixel Phone ?

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0 Upvotes

r/GoogleMaps 20h ago

Links in csv upload

1 Upvotes

Hello,

I’ve been working an a restaurant map for my city and I’ve uploaded the csv with a few columns, one of them being the link to the restaurant. When I go to this map and click on a restaurant the pop up displays the link but it is not clickable and I can’t even copy paste to search it. I’ve tried finding a way to make the URL clickable but nothing that google’s ai has spit out has worked. Has anyone had any luck with this issue?


r/GoogleMaps 1d ago

I opened a map showing a list of thousands of businesses and now all those pins are showing every time I open Maps. How do I turn it off?

1 Upvotes

I clicked on a map linked on reddit that showed thousands of different pins all around the country. Now when I open my regular Maps app I still see all the pins and can't figure out how to turn it off. I tried deleting it from my search history but it didn't help.


r/GoogleMaps 1d ago

No Pizza because Google Maps believes, that you can deliver through a military base, and climb the fence on the end of it.

0 Upvotes

I am living in the nice city of Hamburg, which has a lot of military bases right next to living quarters. They are usually seperated with military fences, and guarded by military. Now google maps always tells the driver to go to military base. This wouldn't be an issue at all, as you can talk to the drivers. But nowadays germany has become very cultural diverse and I am not quite fond of dozen arabic languages. The communication is near impossible, and everybody seems to rely on your cards. So that often ends in me not getting a pizza.

I tried to change that, tried to write tickets and mails, but google still believes a military base is better to drive to me. Although there is a road that actually leads there. I am a bit of desperate. Is there anyone helping me to get my pizza?


r/GoogleMaps 1d ago

Help/Support How to filter by new hotel/accommodation?

1 Upvotes

Hey y'all,

I'm a frequent traveler who uses Google maps way too often. One pattern I've noticed over the years is that when I stay in newly built hotels/accommodations, the rooms are the cleanest, the staff is the most attentive, yet the price is relatively low compared to subpar alternatives. I've noticed this over and over again, I think it has to do with how competitive the hotel industry is, when a new hotel is completed they don't have a reputation yet, so they have to make a name for themselves by charging lower prices and offering the best service to rack up good reviews. That's my best guess.

The frustrating part about this is that Google maps makes it difficult to filter by 'newly opened accommodation'.

For example, I want to filter by hotels on Google maps with less than 20 reviews with a minimum rating of 4.7, but Google maps only lets you choose the minimum rating, not the maximum number of reviews.

If you search 'new hotel' on Google maps or google search, you'll often find listings with hundreds or thousands of reviews.

The best method I found is going on booking sites like Airbnb, booking.com, agoda, etc. And filtering by accommodation with a minimum star rating, but again these platforms don't let you select a maximum number of reviews, or filter by 'newly listed' properties so this is time-consuming.

The website top-rated.online in theory is the perfect solution to this because it lets you filter by number of reviews and rating, but the actual results that show up aren't quality.

Anyone got any recommendations? Thanks so much for the help. Let me know if you have any questions.


r/GoogleMaps 2d ago

Google Maps changed the name to Lake America. Fuck you, Google.

368 Upvotes

r/GoogleMaps 1d ago

Satellite View 33°26'24.0"N 114°18'36.0"W

1 Upvotes

33°26'24.0"N 114°18'36.0"W

What is this place? The towns don't look real, and it isn't marked on any other map I can find. TF?


r/GoogleMaps 22h ago

If you agree that Google Maps labeling Lake Ontario as Lake America is wrong, what would you suggest doing to encourage them to change it back?

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0 Upvotes

r/GoogleMaps 2d ago

Stupid shit Google does

35 Upvotes

Google get your head out of trumps ass and put your maps back to normal the Americans dont know their geography to begin with and now you want to make them even stupidier because of Trump, well you doing this just makes you as stupid as Trump,


r/GoogleMaps 2d ago

Spineless toadies

87 Upvotes

Google has once again shown that they are spineless toadies and are willing to bend over to the orange clowns whims, and I am looking for a new map app. FU Google.


r/GoogleMaps 2d ago

How would one send a meaningful message to Google to protest their spineless renaming of Lake Ontario on Maps?

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16 Upvotes