MapQuest Launches Beta Support for Android Auto
MapQuest, the world's oldest commercial web mapping service, has added beta Android Auto support. Interest in the app has surged since it kept the name Lake Ontario while Google and Apple changed theirs.
MapQuest, which launched in 1996 and is described as the oldest commercially available web mapping service in the world, has rolled out beta support for Android Auto. It becomes another in-car navigation option alongside Google and Apple Maps.
The service has drawn attention because it kept the name Lake Ontario, in use for roughly 380 years, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump. Google and Apple both changed how the name appears for users in the US; MapQuest did not. The company says usage rose to 50 times its normal level and its apps were downloaded more than 1.5 million times. It briefly became the top mapping app on Apple's App Store. General manager Doug Berger said in a statement that hundreds of thousands of people had shown, by downloading the app, that the company got it right.
How to set it up
Users need to find MapQuest in Google Play, install or update it, join the beta program from the app's page and update again. The phone is then connected to the car via Bluetooth or a compatible USB cable. If the icon does not show up, the MapQuest checkbox should be checked under Connected devices > Android Auto > Customize launcher in the phone's settings.
Features and shortcomings
The app currently offers turn-by-turn navigation, real-time traffic updates, route optimization, location search (for example gas stations and EV chargers), favorites and saved places, voice search, a speedometer display compared with the speed limit, and crowdsourced incident reporting.
Early feedback suggests the app is still rough: reports mention crashes, delayed responses and voice prompts cut off mid-sentence. Some real-time features are limited to North America, meaning the US and Canada. As this is beta software, flaws are expected, and the company is issuing regular patches. Waze, Sygic and TomTom Go are other options.
