Decided to just use my phone for GPS as I rarely use GPS in the Expedition and did a pretty good custom wireless charging (at least to the phone) mount that I am pretty happy with.
Waze seems to be the most popular but for some reason I can’t get the voice commands to get low enough. Using the iPhone speaker even with the volume at the lowest setting she is still screaming at me.
Apple maps is decent but traffic updates and construction detours don’t seem as good.

Google maps does a decent job but it's not as good as Waze, I use both interchangeably. Not sure if you have to have the voice prompts, but there is an option to mute them all together if you want to. That's how I have had it set up for years and I've never missed a turn.

Waze is my favorite, but it seems like its programming is biased for the greasy haired douchebag weaving in and out of traffic and tailgating everybody. Some of its "shortcuts" cost time as they seem to ignore stoplight wait time (e.g. one morning it had me get off the Hardy Tollway to avoid normal traffic where 610 and 59 come together with the Hardy, but I hit every light and had to go through a 20 mph school zone too), and like all GPS its shortcuts don't take into account crime rate so they'll have you get off the highway in some areas moderately safer than Mogadishu.

I don't have the noise problem, but I use it 100% through the BlueTooth in Rockford Fosgate sound system where I'm simultaneously playing music via my iPhone.

My 2nd favorite is Google Maps. Good traffic (not as good as Waze), and larger database for searching for businesses by name.

My least favorite is Apple Maps. I know I'm biased from its first release that:

tried to route me onto a runway at Fairbanks International Airport (it got an Alaskan Senator a few days later who had to explain it to TSA, homeland security, local police, etc)

sent me to the wrong house by 2 miles (I flew into Hawaii and was crashing with a friend and was supposed to let myself in via hide a key, but instead it put me in front of a sketchy house I had a feeling my friend wouldn't live in).

couldn't find the rental car lot in Honolulu and had me going in circles for 10 minutes until I saw a rental car company's bus and followed it.

---

Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

Need the voice commands for the turns and prep for turns at least. With 3 boys, the wife, yapping, and whatever show is playing over Bluetooth makes it easy to forget the GPS is rolling.

95% of my GPS usage in this vehicle is long highway trips so mainly use it just to get me from place to place and the occasional reroute if interstate traffic is jimmy jacked pretty bad and have to use the back roads.

This may be obvious, but have you adjusted the volume in the Waze app? It's sort of hidden. Click the Search button, then the Settings icon in the upper left, scroll down to sound & voice and app volume is in there.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
This may be obvious, but have you adjusted the volume in the Waze app? It's sort of hidden. Click the Search button, then the Settings icon in the upper left, scroll down to sound & voice and app volume is in there.

That was my thought too. There is an “internal app” volume.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Need the voice commands for the turns and prep for turns at least. With 3 boys, the wife, yapping, and whatever show is playing over Bluetooth makes it easy to forget the GPS is rolling.

Ahhhh my padawan learner, you have much to learn in your quest to master the force. I've used Waze for what seems like forever to get all over Florida and Georgia. I've learned to purposely turn off the voice prompts and ignore virtually everything occurring in my truck. That would include kids, wife, entertainment systems, and the like. I find my mental comfort space and only glance at my phone (attached to my dash) occasionally, given I've become somewhat adept at gauging speed and distance to our next turn before I need to glance back at it for an update. Not sure I'd even know how to deal with the voice prompts if I turned them back on.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Need the voice commands for the turns and prep for turns at least. With 3 boys, the wife, yapping, and whatever show is playing over Bluetooth makes it easy to forget the GPS is rolling.

Ahhhh my padawan learner, you have much to learn in your quest to master the force. I've used Waze for what seems like forever to get all over Florida and Georgia. I've learned to purposely turn off the voice prompts and ignore virtually everything occurring in my truck. That would include kids, wife, entertainment systems, and the like. I find my mental comfort space and only glance at my phone (attached to my dash) occasionally, given I've become somewhat adept at gauging speed and distance to our next turn before I need to glance back at it for an update. Not sure I'd even know how to deal with the voice prompts if I turned them back on.

+1. I don’t even remember what the voice sounds like.

-Rob

quote:

Originally posted by BurtonRW:

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Need the voice commands for the turns and prep for turns at least. With 3 boys, the wife, yapping, and whatever show is playing over Bluetooth makes it easy to forget the GPS is rolling.

Ahhhh my padawan learner, you have much to learn in your quest to master the force. I've used Waze for what seems like forever to get all over Florida and Georgia. I've learned to purposely turn off the voice prompts and ignore virtually everything occurring in my truck. That would include kids, wife, entertainment systems, and the like. I find my mental comfort space and only glance at my phone (attached to my dash) occasionally, given I've become somewhat adept at gauging speed and distance to our next turn before I need to glance back at it for an update. Not sure I'd even know how to deal with the voice prompts if I turned them back on.

+1. I don’t even remember what the voice sounds like.

-Rob

Yup. If the wife and kids are that loud, they get told to shut the frack up.

I tried Waze while we were in Europe this last spring. Didn't like it at all. Went back to using Apple Maps.

Only thing Waze gave me Apple maps did not was traffic enforcement alerts. I don't need them because I don't drive like an idiot (most times). The two were about equally hit or miss on road construction and closures. The two seemed roughly equivalent on routing.

Apple Maps had one very useful thing Waze did not: Apple Watch integration. Once I set a route I don't even need to look at my handset any more. Everything I need is right on my wrist and much less distracting than looking at my handset.

I'm another that turns the sound down. I look to when the next turn will happen.

Twice on trips WAZE has directed me around MAJOR multi mile traffic jams from accidents on interstates.

It's easier to view waze now that it is compatible with carplay.

I just have Waze set for alerts. If I’m traveling in unknown places then I will turn all sounds back on. But for tooling around or doing my daily driving it is set to alert me to stuff. It’s been great with debris on roadway which is what I mainly use it for.

If I get bored at work I just go sit on the side of the road somewhere and report myself to the app and people thank me. I thank them for slowing down.
If I see highway patrol in my area I report them on the app then go sit a mile up the road and slow traffic down.

Yeah, just turn off voice.

This thread could help

https://wiki.waze.com/forum/vi...pic.php?f=3&t=188273

quote:

Originally posted by thumperfbc:

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
This may be obvious, but have you adjusted the volume in the Waze app? It's sort of hidden. Click the Search button, then the Settings icon in the upper left, scroll down to sound & voice and app volume is in there.

That was my thought too. There is an “internal app” volume.

Phone and app volume both down as low as possible.

quote:

Originally posted by Vanwall:
I'm another that turns the sound down. I look to when the next turn will happen.

Twice on trips WAZE has directed me around MAJOR multi mile traffic jams from accidents on interstates.

It's easier to view waze now that it is compatible with carplay.

If I knew when the turn was coming up then I would not need the GPS.

quote:

Originally posted by RAMIUS:
This thread could help

https://wiki.waze.com/forum/vi...pic.php?f=3&t=188273

I have an iPhone so that does not work for me unfortunately.

I’ve largely written off Waze and use Google Maps most of the time now. Waze just got way too annoying trying to be helpful.

The audio has been muted for as long as I have used GPS mapping. I simply glance at my phone to see how far out the next turn is. Then when approaching, glance at the phone every few seconds like you do with any of your gauges.

Do any of these apps show where passing lanes are? I hate not knowing where they are when making a desision to pass or not to pass when someone won't go with the flow of traffic.

I put my phone on the dash, between the wheel and the speedometer. I leave waze up and use it for my speed, as it is very accurate. The "GO THIS WAY" arrow is easy to see.

It's saved me hundreds in tickets and hours of time, 90%+ all muted.

Wait, Waze is compatible with Apple CarPlay?

I use Google maps every day. Heck, I use it on the way to and from work. Not because I don't know the route but there are two major routes I can take. There can often be major slowdowns on one or the other. I prefer to miss the traffic if I can.