For example, when you look at the screen in Waze, you see how fast you’re going and the speed limit in the top right corner on CarPlay, so a glance at the app is all it takes to let you know if you must adjust speed to avoid getting a ticket.
Before you rush to the comment section to tell me that you also have a speedometer right in front of your eyes, I think it’s important to remember that a GPS-powered app, such as Google Maps (which uses GPS to determine your location and then the basic formula to calculate how fast you go) is more accurate than the value indicated by the factory-installed speedometer.
Not only is the car’s speedometer typically a few miles off on purpose, but certain changes you make to the car, such as installing other wheels and tires, increase the difference between your actual speed and the value you see on the dashboard.
Photo: reddit
A speedometer has been available in popular navigation apps, including Waze, for many years, but Google has somehow ignored this feature in Google Maps on CarPlay.
An announcement earlier this year landed after a few users started seeing this long overdue improvement when running the navigation app on CarPlay. The speedometer appeared out of the blue for these users, and many believed that it was all an experiment that Google conducted before announcing the general availability.
This was precisely the case, as the search giant eventually confirmed that the speedometer would go live for everybody on CarPlay.
But as I explained, not long ago, not all users got the speedometer, and the confusion in the user base was frustrating and sometimes ended with people looking for alternative apps with the same feature.
The confusion stems from Google’s rollout model, which involves a phase-based approach for new features. Not everybody gets new features on day one, as the search giant enables the update for users worldwide gradually. The company collects stability and reliability data, determines if everything runs as expected, and eventually enables the new features for more users.
Photo: reddit
The time has come for the speedometer to go live for more users, with several users confirming in mails submitted this week that Google Maps on CarPlay now tells them how fast they are going.
Several other users confirmed online (here and here) on social media and forums that the speedometer has been enabled in Google Maps on CarPlay. It looks like the change occurred on September 1, so if you were waiting for this feature, launch Google Maps on CarPlay to see if it has also been enabled on your device.
However, it’s important to know that the rollout is not complete. For example, I still don’t have the speedometer in Google Maps on CarPlay despite running an up-to-date configuration (the latest iOS and Google Maps versions are installed on my device). Everything else is there, including options to report incidents in Google Maps.
Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution
If the speedometer is not available on your device, Google Maps should only display the speed limit for the current road.
However, this feature is also available only in certain regions. Oddly, some users say they got the speedometer, but they don’t see the speed limit, so they’re getting only half of the experience. Others claim the speedometer comes and goes, but this is likely just a glitch that Google will eventually resolve.
Meanwhile, Google Maps is also evolving on other fronts. The application has received incident reporting on Android Auto and CarPlay, becoming a more capable Waze replacement by allowing users to flag the location of common hazards like accidents, roadworks, and speed traps.
Google will also start importing more data from Waze in Google Maps, so the next time you drive with navigation enabled, the app could warn you of more hazards as you approach your destination. This is proof that Google is addressing the feature gap between the two, albeit many people still believe it’s a matter of time until it merges Google Maps and Waze into a single navigation app with a complete feature package.
The search firm never commented on this speculation, but my sources told me on more than one occasion that keeping Google Maps and Waze as separate apps is the long-term plan in the mapping space.
Have you received the new speedometer in Google Maps on CarPlay? Let me know in the box after the jump.