Metro station labels no longer appear on Google Maps

[PotomacCyclist]

Except in extreme zoom-in views. This is a change from the previous set-up in Google Maps. For neighborhood views, Metro station labels were clearly visible. I believe it was a small blue square with a white “M” inside. Those labels are very helpful when looking at neighborhoods in Google Maps. You can see how close or far CaBi stations are from the nearest Metro stations, and so on.

Google Maps changed sometime over the summer. At first, the Metro station icons disappeared completely from Google Maps. Now they are visible in extreme zoom-in views, but not in the wider neighborhood views. This is a minor improvement, but I still wish they would return to the set-up they had before this summer.

I filled out a comment form on Google Maps. If other people find the change to be ill-advised, they can post a comment to Google through the Google Maps page too.

[On a different note, I’ve read that Google changed the rendering of Google Maps so that it relies more heavily on the graphics processor of the user’s computer. For those of us without high-powered gaming machines, this has resulted in hiccups and stuttering in the display of the maps, especially when zooming in and out. I guess this was done to put the burden of rendering on the local computer, instead of on Google servers. I’m not pleased about this change either. Maybe if enough people start using other mapping services, Google may reconsider this decision.]

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[mstone]

@PotomacCyclist 61845 wrote:

[On a different note, I’ve read that Google changed the rendering of Google Maps so that it relies more heavily on the graphics processor of the user’s computer. For those of us without high-powered gaming machines, this has resulted in hiccups and stuttering in the display of the maps, especially when zooming in and out. I guess this was done to put the burden of rendering on the local computer, instead of on Google servers. I’m not pleased about this change either. Maybe if enough people start using other mapping services, Google may reconsider this decision.]

It was done mostly because it makes allows additional functionality and a better experience on more powerful computers/newer browsers. AFAIK it’s an optional toggle.

[PotomacCyclist]

It seems as though the Metro icons show up in Map View, but not in Satellite View, which is what I use most of the time. Before this summer, the Metro icons also appeared in Satellite View.

As for switching off the local rendering, I just tried that (“Lite mode”). Clicking on the link doesn’t seem to do anything.

https://support.google.com/maps/answer/3031966

I’ve cleared the cache and restarted the computer and Google Maps continues to run slowly, much slower than it did before this summer.

[btj]

On my account I can switch back to the “Classic” maps app. Don’t know how long they’ll have both but it’s there (for me at least) for now. Click on the gear in the top right of the page.

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[PotomacCyclist]

I received a reply from Google Maps today. I had sent them a note about the missing Metro icons. They said that it’s a known problem and that they currently cannot fix it. But their engineering team is going to take a look at the issue. I would think that many people use Google Maps to look up the locations of Metro stations in the D.C. area, including residents, workers and visitors. I hope they can fix the problem.

[Author]

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