[jacquesm]

What's even more bothersome is that there is absolutely no reason for any of this. GPS based navigation does not need a server connection to function at all, the one thing you might need a network for is periodic map updates.

[rockinghigh]

Sending live navigation data to servers is useful to update traffic information in real time. Estimates of arrival time are much more accurate if you know how long it took to somebody who used the same route 10 minutes ago.

[kuschku]

These are German car manufacturers,though.

1st, Germans really like their privacy, 2nd, We have inductive loops at EVERY single lane of every single intersection. Meaning, you can get live traffic data without needing to know where everyone is.

[rbinv]

> We have inductive loops at EVERY single lane of every single intersection.

What? I'm German and I have never heard about this. I also can't find anything to support this.

I am aware of induction used for traffic light switching, but certainly not at every intersection, let alone in every lane.

[kuschku]

Well, I’ve seen them at every intersection I’ve been to in Kiel, Berlin, etc.

At least in the bigger cities for traffic shaping they measure the traffic at every lane of every intersection.

[jacquesm]

That should be 'opt-in'.

[riffraff]

google maps will (seems to?) consider current traffic when suggesting a route, which is a big plus for having a server connection.

Might be not enough to prefer online navigation to offline, but it is a reason.

[eli]

Yes, I think that's a big part of why they bought Waze

[edent]

I'm not quite sure that's accurate. Aside from updating the Almanac, a typical navigation system also updates traffic data.