Google Maps is continually improving with serivces and fucnitons added regularly, as yet though there isn’t a speed alert system available. This has been solved by an independant developer who has put together an app called Velociraptor. The functionality is fantastic and adds an overlay to Google Maps that shows you the speed limit for the area you’re in and offers speed alerts when you exceed this.
The app is simple to install (are any actually difficult these days?), easy to understand and automatically loads when you load your navigation software. You choose the alert level; you can choose to give yourself 0%, 5%, 10%, 15% or 20% leniancy on the limit before the app tells you you’re being a little bit naughty. That is all well and good in theory and works well in some areas but I quickly discovered that the data is not completely correct. On a main road (60kph speed limit) close to my work, the app was telling me 40kph was the limit and continually alerted me that I was speeding when in fact I was still under the prescribed limit for that road.
My only suggestion to improve the functionality to the app at this point would be have a feedback button to get the developer to check their data source for what the limit is on various roads. While it’s not perfect it does add some really useful functionality to Maps when you’re in an unfamiliar area
Would you like to see an official version of this app added to Maps?
We don’t always know speedlimits to the above comment. So many times i’m trying to find one, nowhere to be found, then I finally find one by accident later. So this is very useful for me… however I will definitely need this as a main screen overlay without any app using, sort of like Gadget. I have set screen to stay on while charging, also using dark background color, it would be nice without any background screen app, would also draw less battery
We don’t always know speedlimits to the above comment. So many times i’m trying to find one, nowhere to be found, then I finally find one by accident later. So this is very useful for me… however I will definitely need this as a main screen overlay without any app using, sort of like Gadget. I have set screen to stay on while charging, also using dark background color, it would be nice without any background screen app, would also draw less battery
To be honest I don’t see the value. We all know what the speed limit is because countless road signs tell us. What Maps really needs is speed camera alerts.
Is it a coincidence that android police posted this first?
Because of time zones it is quite likely that many announcements are made in the US at a time when most of us in Australia are asleep. So, less of a coincidence and more of an inevitability.
Thats a good point.
awesome, It just keeps getting better and better 🙂
I’m impressed it’s an open source project.
It looks like they just use HERE maps data for speed limits. I’ve noticed that HEREs speed limit data is often wrong. Part of the M5 in Sydney has been an 80km/h zone for years, yet, HERE lists it at 100km/h. So, I wouldn’t rely on this too much.
If they’re using HERE data, surely it’s a matter of time before HERE closes off this sort of data access via API. They are a competitor to Google Maps after all.
It could be argued that apps like this bring free advertising to HERE maps. Also, more people might start correcting the HERE data in HEREs MapCreator.
However, I suspect there is a clause in the API T&C’s, that somehow prevents Google from downloading all their data.