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DACH Meetup 2023 Follow Up

Post by adriansinger
Dear DACH Community,

I'd like to share once more how nice it was to spend a full day+ with you all in Cologne, and how happy I am that it was a very productive meetup that is already showing results (keep reading...).

Besides that, I'd like to express my sadness that only our friends from Germany participated from this event. Let's make sure that next year we all meet together, Germany, Austria and Switzerland!

And now, as promised, I'l glad to share the answers to some questions that had remained unanswered during the meetup.

But before of that, a little update regarding the star topic: Gas Price Feeds in Germany. I wanted you to know that we analyzed the data and it looks promising. We're facing a few technical challenges, the main of them being that our Venues server currently doesn't have the ability to decide, when to display gas prices and when not to (and as you know, the German law forbids to display any gas price when a gas station is closed).

We can always develop such capabilities, but as you might understand, such a project should be added to our pool of many other projects and be prioritized above other, more global developments (usually with higher priority). I'd like to try to take a shortcut and speed up the process. So what I did is emailing my colleagues in Google to try to get as much information from them to understand how they're supporting this feature in Google Maps Germany. My dream is to just bring their feed and plug it into Waze (things are usually more complicated than that though). Once I hear back from them, I'll let you know!

As for the questions...

Question1 (ralseu): One thing that adds to the challenge of processing MPs creating from the ADAC feed is that clicking on the marker brings you directly to one of the two end points, which are often quite far away from the marker (which is usually part of a stack of two or more). This often means that we then need to zoom out, find the markers, and zoom back in to make them selectable. Can you please change that so that the map doesn’t jump anymore?
Answer: Can you please share an example so we can look at it closely?

Q2 (ralseu): Please don’t integrate Places feeds before consulting with the community. I’m also editing the map in France sometimes, and those PURs are nearly 100% garbage.
A: Can you please share an example so we can look at it closely?

Q3 (heetENkoel): This question is a bit tricky. In Germany, more and more speed cameras are being purchased and placed in trailers at the side of the road. These stand there then longer time. However, the speed camera pin disappears after a few minutes/hours because they may not be confirmed. Is it worth considering that we put these speed cameras on the map via the reporting tool and when a certain number of users have reported that this speed camera is no longer present, then it disappears from the map.
A: We're currently looking at the possibility to add more camera types. Please request your coordinators to add your request here.

Q4 (Andy_NA): For some editors the koi-foish segments are not visible in WME. For me it happens on Chrome, Firefox & Edge. Using WME Beta it works fine. Is it known and when will it be fixed?
A: Can you please share an example so we can look at it closely? It would be even better if you did it here.

Q5 (ChrisDeBirk): As I understand the function personalized ETA, this is only functional for already driven segments or routes and not for all routings. The result is a chasing the own ETA on new long houl routings. Are there any plans to expand the data of pETA for all routings - to correct the ETA to realistic times?
A: If possible, please respond to this thread to reopen the discussion. If, for any reason, you prefer not to, please report it as a Feature Request on WazeDiscuss instead of a bug report. Feel free to tag me and/or share the new link with me for close internal monitoring. Thanks!

Q6 (LLLOOOMMM22): Can you give a rough estimate about how many app users Waze has in Germany / DACH?
A: Unfortunately, we cannot share actual numbers, but we can share the trend, and the trend of the drives it looks very nice in DACH, especially since the beginning of this year!
https://screenshot.googleplex.com/682RZYZf7q79D8a.png

Q7 (ChristophGP14): Do you have us an update, for a account for the community to comment Google Play store reviews? The question came also up in Bern last year. There are many negative reviews, which can be fixed by a short answer and thus win back the users. Only in this way we could increase our Wazer-density a bit and contact our local users.
A: Unfortunately this won't be possible but we're constantly looking for different ways to communicate with our users directly and improve their perception of the app.

Q8 (ChrisDeBirk): We see standard-comments in URs, if they are produced via AA or CarPlay. Will there be an option for customizing this text to signal to other editors that this UR is sent by another editor, which will handle this UR him/herself?
A: We agree that this is a feature that can be very helpful and I'm sorry for this but can you please submit it to the WME Suggestion Box for upvoting and prioritization?
 
 
Q9 (ralseu): The filter for URs with/without a description would instantly become a lot more useful if it considered “Reported from AAOS” as an empty description.
A: We're looking into adding more details to URs so we might be able to solve this issue in a different way. Thanks!

Q10 (ChrisDeBirk): Customized presets would be fine, to concentrate fast on the next planned tasks and to process URs MPs etc more efficient.
A: Yes, this is planned as "saved search" - select a certain set of filters and save those searches for the future :)

Q11 (heetENkoel): In WME you can set up multi entrance for POI. But in the app you can only sometime chose them in iOS. Are there plans to use this useful function in all platforms?
A: This is one of the top requests from different communities and our representatives in the relevant squad have tried to raise its priority multiple times. We haven't been successfully but we'll keep trying 💪

Q12 (heetENkoel): I think this will be the 1000th question when do you give us the option to map timebase speed limit?
A: This will be developed as part of Permanent Hazard (phase 2). It's not part of H2 2023 at the moment but we will keep you posted.

Q13 (endradon): When using CarPlay Waze uses a GPS position provided by the car instead of the phone. Some manufacturers pre-process the position that is passed on to CarPlay by combining the raw GPS data and other sensory data like speed and matching it to the car's own map data. This is great in situations with bad connectivity like tunnels but leads to bad position data where a road's geo has changed dramatically or otherwise differs in Waze's and the car's map. This in turn leads to constant rerouting and calculating in the affected areas. See this Discuss thread for examples. Do you guys have any update on this? Can this be fixed or remedied on your end or are is there only waiting until Apple or the manufacturers fix this?
A: As you mentioned correctly on the WazeDiscuss thread, this is an Apple issue, which treats location differently between Apple Maps vs. third-party apps. We're in communication with Apple to better understand a time estimation for a fix on their end. Meanwhile, a workaround for this is to launch the app on your phone and it'll fix the issue. Thanks!

Q14 (endradon and Iridium1): How should we treat duplicated EV stations?
A:  When we open the live feed in your country, the new PURs may replace some previously sent stations which will clear up many of these issues. In this case accept the new PUR and delete the old station. If you're unsure to which one is the newest one and which one the oldest, please send us some examples and we'll guide you through.

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That's it for now!

I hope you have enjoyed and you're invited to leave your comments on the above answers in this thread.

Thank you! ❤️
 
 
 
adriansinger
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Adrián Singer
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Post by adriansinger
Dear DownPeriscope,

I disagree with your summary and at the same time I respect your right to be dissatisfied with the answers provided.

I'll answer only to the points that are relevant.

1. Thanks for numbering the questions. Following your post, I numbered them myself for enhanced clarity.
2. Question 3: You're right, the link directed you to the Coordinators Forum, which is not available to you or to anyone who is not a coordinator. I have modified the answer so it's more accessible to everyone.
3. I can see the screenshot. I wish I could have the feedback from more fellow community members to understand if this is an issue with the forum or with specific configurations on your end.
4. Thank you for pointing out to my signature! I indeed had forgotten to update it and I did it now  :D

I'd like to take the opportunity to remind you of the Waze Community Code of Conduct, due to the sarcastic tone of your post.

As I said above, I respect your right to be dissatisfied with the answers, but there's no need to disrespect my work with words like "crap", "general marketing talk" or with a general sarcastic tone. In the future, please feel free to express your disagreements and frustrations to the fullest, however, please remember that on the other side of the keyboard there's an honest, well-intentioned and hard-working human being trying to do his best for the benefit of the whole community. I'll highly appreciate it.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to reach out.

Thanks,
Adrian


 
 
adriansinger
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Post by adriansinger
Hi DownPeriscope,

Thank you for speaking up and for your honesty.

I personally appreciate those attributes as long as they're expressed in a respectful manner.

I suspect that at least part of your frustration might stem from the fact that you didn't have access, until now, to the right sources of information. As you can understand now, here at Waze we distribute the work among the fellow colleagues, so I must say that everything that has to do with EV is being led by my friend BrettCO. My job here is to facilitate your access to the information.

So before going deeper into the details, I'd like to check with you if you had the opportunity to read this post as well as watching our EV-dedicated Office Hours back in February.

If you have already gone over this material and it still hasn't cleared your doubts, please let me know.

Thanks,
Adrian
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Post by DownPeriscope
Thanks for sharing that with us, @adriansinger.

Let me see if I can sum up your answers for an easier understanding:

Your response to

Questions 1, 2, 4: Please explain the question.
Question 3: Please take your request to a linked place which generates an error 403 (Forbidden).
Question 5, 8: Please take it somewhere else, e.g. to Waze Discuss or the Suggestion Box.
Question 6: No info, apart from a broken picture link, which reportedly looks "very nice".
Question 7, 9, 10, 11, 13: "Soon" (tm) and/or general marketing talk about constantly striving for improvement
Question 14: Somebody else needs to solve this, e.g. Apple.
Question 15: No idea what to do with the current load of faulty EV-PUR, but we'll send you new ones on top of the faulty crap for you to work out.

Would you agree that this about sums up your answers?

BTW, I see in your signature that you are "Community Manager LATAM". Which part of that is DACH?

 
 
DownPeriscope
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Kind regards,

DownPeriscope

https://imgur.com/iEXamh4.png

AM Westl. Sauerland, Märkischer Kreis, Pfalz & Rheinhessen.

Edits mainly in the Netherlands and Germany.
Messages may contain humour, including but not limited to irony and sarcasm. Readers who take everything seriously are advised to cover their eyes. ;-)

Post by DownPeriscope
Thanks very much for answering, @adriansinger.

You're right in noticing my frustration. You see, I've been trying for months to get some clarity on the EV-PUR. I invested a great deal of work in those, but have been unable to get clear guidance as to how to handle the rather large number of EV-PUR with one or more faults. Let me give you an idea of what this did on my end:

First, we were handed a spreadsheet to fill out with a number of categories: 1. New, 2. Duplicate, 3. Problem, 4. Already in Waze / merged, 5. Private and 6. Restricted. Weeks later, weeks in which we've invested a lot of time filling out the spreadsheet table correctly and getting others to do the same, we're told all these categories are, in fact, irrelevant, as Waze will only have a look at problematic PUR in cat. 3. Meanwhile, we have been marking EV-PUR which seem to be duplicates as such duplicates. We've been unable to get an answer to questions like what to do with PUR which seem to be duplicates but also faulty. Should they be marked in cat. 2 or cat. 3? Some PUR don't seem to be duplicates in any normal sense, but rather "partial PUR", where the number of connections is split out over two or more PUR, where one or more POI are faulty (wrong location, wrong name, wrong address, etc.) but cannot be changed or moved. We're told to keep those in the map, mark them in the spreadsheet and on the map (with an MC, explaining and linking to the spreadsheet).

Every time I pass a POI like that, a very useful script I'm running will lock up my WME, demanding that I correct the mistakes in the POI I, however, cannot change, forcing me to F5 out of there and start whatever I was editing over from scratch.

Looking for some form of guidance, my CM tell me that this is a task for staff. Staff, however, doesn't provide me with guidance, with answers to all the questions relating to the EV-PUR and how to handle the spreadsheet. So, both CM and Staff leave me hanging. (And, though I'm wording this in the first person, you can take it from me that I am not alone in this. The other just don't seem to have the courage to speak up, bless them.)

Contact between our community and staff should go through proper channels. I understand that. You updating your signature has made that abundantly clear to me. If all editors in all those nations were to contact you in person, you'd get absolutely nothing done. I get that. But it still is very frustrating to not get any workable answers. And the fact that you keep out of all the boards in our discord, except for the one where only very few of us can react, has added to that frustration. It looked (and looks) to me as if you're at best willing to wave to us from "the balcony". That's more or less the reason I was rather harsh in my criticism. I'm not trying to justify it, just offering an explanation, hoping it might be more understandable to you.

Having said all that, I can see from the reactions of my fellow editors that I am alone in my criticism. They seemingly are all very content with your answers. If they aren't, they're certainly not about to show it. That leaves me hanging out to dry here. And I'm pretty much done with hanging. :-)

So, sorry for having spoken out and shown my frustration so clearly. It will not happen again. I will leave it to the proper channels to achieve whatever it is they will achieve, and if any of my fellow editors should want anything done or asked here, they can do and ask so themselves. I will not be bothering you any more. You and I have more important and more rewarding things to do. Especially you.

Good luck on that long list of nations you have to manage, Adrian. You'll need it.
 
DownPeriscope
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Kind regards,

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AM Westl. Sauerland, Märkischer Kreis, Pfalz & Rheinhessen.

Edits mainly in the Netherlands and Germany.
Messages may contain humour, including but not limited to irony and sarcasm. Readers who take everything seriously are advised to cover their eyes. ;-)