Navigation should always show the next two steps ahead
I did a cross-country drive recently, and there were several situations on the drive where ABRP would just say “continue straight for 0.3 miles” or whatever, and only show me the next turn at the very last minute. This led to a couple situations where I had to make some last-minute maneuvers that were less safe than they could have been had I been given more notice.
I’d like to see two things from the navigation guidance:
Eliminate “continue straight” from the vocabulary entirely. It’s okay to say “in 80 miles take exit NNN onto Street Ave.” Actually, it’s better, because in 80 miles I may have memorized the exit name by that point.
ALWAYS show the next two steps—e.g. “turn left onto X St, then turn right onto Y Ave”. This is again a safety improvement because it allows me to better-position myself head of time. Also: don’t try to guess at when it is or isn’t necessary to show the next two steps, just show them all the time. Consistency is good for meeting user expectations, and there are always going to be edge cases where you actually do need to know two miles in advance that you’re making two turns in quick succession (for example).
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Comments3
Des Voidborn
Aug 8, 2025
I too use Apple Maps quite a bit, and I find its heuristic about when to show two steps ahead to be woefully inadequate. But then I’ve driven a lot in both Boston and the San Francisco Bay Area and both locations are challenging in different ways.
In Boston sometimes you actually need like three steps ahead (heh) because you’re navigating a series of cursed intersections in quick succession. And in the Bay you’re basically expected to know exactly where you’re going and line yourself up well in advance. And in both cases, there are sometimes lane restrictions or traffic is heavy enough that you physically cannot position yourself correctly by the time the next step shows up.
But yeah at the end of the day I’d be happy with something configurable too, so long as “always” is an option. :)
ABRP User #811399
Aug 9, 2025
Most of my use of Apple Maps has been in the PNW. Boston (or London) might have me thinking very differently :-) I remember trying to drive in London with a Garmin GPS and if I missed a turn I would have to pull over because it couldn’t recalculate the route fast enough to keep me from missing the next turn…
What I’d really like is something like what Apple Maps does when you tap the guidance tile and it displays all of the route steps, which practically means that you can see the distance and cues for at least 5 or 6 steps ahead. That’s also really nice for when I’m wondering what in the world Maps is asking me to do making that turn.
If that could be combined with a “compact view” that just shows the next turn & a configurable 2nd cue — something similar to what they are doing in 6.1.2 — when it is “needed” I think that would be ideal (or at least a huge improvement).
ABRP User #811399
Aug 8, 2025
In the 6.1.2 beta the continue straight guidance has been supplemented with the next step. I think that is a huge improvement. Since the next turn could be 10s or even 100s of miles ahead, I like the “nudge” that comes from changing the tile background from black to blue & the change of guidance as you get close to the maneuver.
My personal preference would be for doing it the way Apple Maps does it. Apple Maps “second guesses” and shows two steps when the 2nd step comes shortly after the first (I’ve never figured out the heuristic that they use - it’s good enough that it’s not interesting). What I like about that is that it communicates useful information about the upcoming maneuvers: when there is nothing, the next turn is a “reasonable distance ahead,” if there is a 2nd turn, I know that I need to be thinking about it and planning for it.
That said, I think your argument is compelling too. So maybe the answer here is a setting to either “Always show 2nd turn” or “Show 2nd turns when close” perhaps with a slider to tune the adaptive option.