google

How to add multiple destinations (or stops) in “new” Google maps

Posted on by Forrest Corbett — Posted in Techknow

Since May, Google has been publicly testing a major update to the Google Maps user interface for desktop web browsers. In early October, they released it to the masses. Many of the features have moved from easy to discover buttons, icons and labels, and instead buried more deeply into less obvious locations.

One feature that is now not as immediately apparent, is the ability to add multiple destinations or stops when mapping directions. This feature was missing for a while in the new version, which has probably contributed to its lack of discoverability.

To complicate issues, the instructions on how to add multiple destinations to your route, isn’t very clear. For example, the help documentation states:

Add destinations and waypoints

To add a destination in your directions search, click the + button in the infocard. This will create a new text box to add your additional destination. Add the location of your destination by typing or left-clicking on the map. To add more, click + again.

However, that doesn’t actually work. As a test, I ran a search to get directions from Seattle to San Francisco. As you can see below, there isn’t a “+” button in the infocard.  Continue reading →

How to Remove Yourself From a Google Beta or A/B Test

Posted on by Forrest Corbett — Posted in Techknow

Recently I went to do a search using Google and found that the interface had between tweaked in a few ways that made it difficult to use. I did some searching and found that the tweaks were indeed tests being run by Google. On the Google Product Forums, I found a lot of ranting. I also found a Google employee post instructions on how to get out of the test base.

Unfortunately, it’s not fool-proof. It impacts a lot of other sites and your browser usage. It’s not a vote that you don’t like it – you need to track down a thread for the specific issue and post your feedback.

The answer? Clear your cookies. This will log you out of Google services as well as any other service you’re logged into, so you will need to log back in when you’re done. Google has a page with instructions on how to clear all your cache & cookies.

But what if you don’t want to have to log back into all of your sites? Well, if you’re using Chrome, there’s another way. Continue reading →

One Way Google’s Android is More Closed to Consumers than Apple’s iOS

Posted on by Forrest Corbett — Posted in Techknow

Developing for smartphones has shown some interesting differences between Android and iOS – beyond the obvious. Android is touted as being “open”, but in reality while the source code is “open”, consumer access system updates is vastly more closed than iOS.

Let’s take the tweakers, modders… and other enthusiasts out of the picture for the moment, as they aren’t the majority of consumers. When Apple releases a new version of iOS, it’s available to all, regardless of carrier. For example, iOS 6 was announced on September 12 and then released to the public on September 19, 2012. iPhone owners did not have to wait for their carrier to remove features, block functionality or install junkware. The OS update was available to all with supporting hardware.

Continue reading →