Over the previous few weeks, Google has been quietly rolling out a contemporary coat of paint for its common Google Maps app — and it’s been creating havoc over the vacation journey season.
Whereas some folks might understandably be annoyed at any adjustments made to such a longtime and extensively used app, there appears to be extra to this than simply folks being postpone by unfamiliar colours. The various people taking to social media to voice their displeasure with the redesign have been joined by skilled person interface (UI) designers expressing related, however extra nuanced observations. Even a designer who as soon as labored on Google Maps is pillorying the brand new design as a backward step for the service’s usability.
Of us on social media have described the brand new design as wanting “like a generic map put in in a automotive navigation system with a CD-ROM.” Others say the brand new maps look “unhappy,” whereas some have applauded the adjustments as a nostalgic reminder of “taking a look at an outdated map on the library.”
A backward step for accessibility
Nonetheless, there’s a extra essential consideration to the brand new colours in Google Maps that the corporate’s designers have seemingly missed completely — they’re not pleasant to people who find themselves color-blind. Whereas a number of people have complained that the brand new colours are 30,000x much less accessible, that’s an much more extreme drawback for some folks.
As one Redditor wrote: “What’s wild is who ever designed this LITERALLY has by no means heard of the most typical type of color-blindness earlier than.” A number of posts on Reddit’s r/ColorBlind have identified that the brand new design has made it tough, if not not possible, for color-blind folks to make use of Google Maps successfully. One Redditor, James Connolly, has even began a Change.org petition calling upon Google to reverse the colour adjustments on behalf of the color-blind group.
“I’m one of many 300 million folks worldwide who’re color-blind,” Connolly mentioned within the petition. “The current adjustments Google has made to their Maps utility have made it tough for me and others like me to make use of this important software successfully. The brand new look shouldn’t be color-blind pleasant, which is a significant setback for these of us who depend on this service each day.”
Curiously, this isn’t a brand new drawback, both. A Reddit submit in r/ColorBlind from six years in the past expressed considerations about poor shade selections in Google Maps throughout its final shade scheme replace.
Is Google (badly) copying Apple Maps?
In the event you suppose the brand new shade scheme in Google Maps appears to be like rather a lot like Apple’s, you’re not alone. When 9to5Google first reported the change after Google started testing it on the finish of August, it famous exactly that, significantly that the extra vibrant blue “attracts instant comparability to Apple Maps” and can be significantly stark for individuals who reside or journey close to a physique of water.
It wasn’t alone. Former Google Maps designer Elizabeth Laraki wrote a prolonged submit on X (the social community previously often called Twitter) additionally suggesting Google’s redesign is just like Apple Maps — however in all of the improper methods.
“It feels colder, much less correct, and fewer human,” Laraki wrote, including that, “extra importantly, they missed a key alternative to simplify and scale.”
The colour palette replaces white and yellow roads with shades of grey, adjustments water to a teal that will likely be immediately acquainted to followers of Apple Maps, and goes for a extra pastel mint for parks and forested areas.
Nonetheless, the brand new colours make it seem to be Google is placing make-up on a bovine. Whereas Laraki acknowledges that “main roads, visitors, and trails stand out extra now,” she provides that “water and parks/open areas mix collectively.” Nonetheless, the most important drawback shouldn’t be the brand new colours, however that Google did nothing to wash up “the crud overlaying the map.”
In discussing the redesign with CNBC, Laraki mentioned, “In the event you’re gonna undergo such a big shift that may be very noticeable to folks, it appeared an fascinating option to focus a lot on making these very noticeable dramatic adjustments to the map tiles themselves, however nonetheless go away all of the crud on prime of the map that’s there.” She additionally added that it appears to be like “extra just like Apple Maps coloring than Google Maps coloring.”
Nonetheless, there’s much more to the class of Apple Maps than simply its shade selections. As Laraki notes, Google Maps nonetheless has about 11 completely different components getting in the best way, together with the search field and “8 drugs overlayed in 4 rows” to point out issues just like the temperature, layers, fast searches, and site and course buttons. Then there are the “peeking playing cards” that come out from the underside, simply above the navigation bar.
In contrast, Apple Maps offers a considerably cleaner UI that places the map nearly completely entrance and heart. Whereas 5 related “drugs” overlay the map, they’re a lot smaller than those in Google Maps and positioned discretely across the edges — three within the top-right nook for layers, location, and 3D/2D views, one on the bottom-left to start out Look Round mode, and one on the bottom-right that exhibits climate and an air high quality index (the place accessible).
There’s additionally nothing on the prime. As an alternative, Apple Maps blends proper into the world beside the notch or Dynamic Island of the iPhone. The underside contains a pull-up card with a search subject and different choices, however there’s no navigation bar for switching between modes like in Google Maps.
In her tweet, Laraki proposes a brand new design that might “bury the much less used options elsewhere within the app,” leaving solely the search bar on the prime and a redesigned nav bar on the backside that might lose the Go, Contribute, and Replace buttons in favor of the situation, instructions, and layers buttons that had been beforehand overlaid on the map. Such a design would nonetheless be extra cluttered than Apple Maps, however it could be an enormous step in the precise course.
It’s additionally odd that Google has made such a dramatic change with none clear public statements explaining its rationale. In an e-mail to CNBC, a Google spokesperson mentioned: “We’re at all times occupied with learn how to make Google Maps extra precisely replicate the actual world. We designed our updates based mostly on intensive analysis and suggestions from customers — with a aim of constructing the map simpler to make use of and perceive. For instance, the roads at the moment are darker to look extra like precise roads and supply a greater canvas for useful particulars like lanes.”
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