MapQuest
Ranked 4 of 12 navigation apps by recommenders
People recommend it for free directions without an account, its clean look, and its camera-location display; critics say its owner is an ad firm and its CarPlay voice is choppy.
People recommend it for free directions without an account, its clean look, and its camera-location display; critics say its owner is an ad firm and its CarPlay voice is choppy.
30 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 16
- criticize it
- 14
- approval share
- 53%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 16 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.1 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Shows surveillance camera locations
“show us where obtrusive technology is so we can avoid it”
Comment from 17 Oct 2026 in “MapQuest will now show you where Flock cameras are in your neighborhood” “Nice render on their map - even shows camera direction”
Comment from 17 Oct 2026 in “MapQuest will now show you where Flock cameras are in your neighborhood” Clean, charming, basic design
“Nice render on their map - even shows camera direction”
Comment from 17 Oct 2026 in “MapQuest will now show you where Flock cameras are in your neighborhood” “It's basic and has a charming theme”
Comment from 23 Sep 2026 in “Apple has added persistent 'ads' to iOS, and it's driving users crazy” Back in regular use
“This is one unexpected comeback.”
Comment from 17 Oct 2026 in “MapQuest will now show you where Flock cameras are in your neighborhood” “I still use it regularly.”
Comment from 29 Apr 2026 in “Show HN: Rip.so – a graveyard for dead internet things”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Choppy CarPlay voice guidance
“It's decent but the voice over through CarPlay is choppy and cuts off words.”
Comment from 4 Sep 2026 in “MapQuest tops Apple, Google Maps downloads after refusing 'Lake America' change” “it gave me weird routes and the audio was extremely stuttery”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “Thanks to Lake Ontario, MapQuest is popular all over again” Ad-heavy, owned by ad company
“They're owned by System1, a bottom-of-the-barrel advertising company where 1990s web brands go to die”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “Thanks to Lake Ontario, MapQuest is popular all over again” “They are owned by bottom feeders of a sort that makes Bending Spoons look like the FSF.”
Comment from 17 Oct 2026 in “MapQuest will now show you where Flock cameras are in your neighborhood” “not photos of food at restaurants, ads for fast food, etc”
Comment from 17 Oct 2026 in “MapQuest will now show you where Flock cameras are in your neighborhood” - Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “Thanks to Lake Ontario, MapQuest is popular all over again”
Slow, crashing, full page reloads
“it was too slow with the directions updates”
Comment from 18 Oct 2026 in “MapQuest will now show you where Flock cameras are in your neighborhood” “it was hanging and crashing left and right”
Comment from 17 Oct 2026 in “MapQuest will now show you where Flock cameras are in your neighborhood” “it fully reloaded the page with each move”
Comment from 19 Mar 2026 in “A sufficiently detailed spec is code”
Other navigation apps people recommend
The four most recommended other navigation apps, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Maps | 272 | 479 | 36% | 12 | 14 yrs4 owners | — |
| Apple Maps | 145 | 206 | 41% | 12 | 9 yrs5 owners | — |
| Waze | 27 | 19 | 59% | 10 | — | — |
| MapQuestThis page | 16 | 14 | 53% | 7 | — | — |
| Mapy.com | 12 | 1 | 92% | 6 | — | Approved |
What people said
26 of the 30 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it was too slow with the directions updates”
“I couldn’t get my CarPlay to recognize anything resembling a “stop navigation” button.”
“show us where obtrusive technology is so we can avoid it”
“It's pandering. Pandering of course works, that's why it's done.”
“Also like how MapQuest doesn't lock multiple destinations behind needing an account”
“it's your "driving directions" app that decides if you drive by these cameras, or not!”
“not photos of food at restaurants, ads for fast food, etc”
“MapQuest is acting like Democrats should be acting.”
“This is one unexpected comeback.”
“it was hanging and crashing left and right”
“They are owned by bottom feeders of a sort that makes Bending Spoons look like the FSF.”
“Nice render on their map - even shows camera direction”
“It has been working great in CarPlay.”
“It's basic and has a charming theme”
“It's decent but the voice over through CarPlay is choppy and cuts off words.”
“There's no one left at MapQuest that knows how to change it.”
“it gave me weird routes and the audio was extremely stuttery”
“with incessant advertisements”
“They're owned by System1, a bottom-of-the-barrel advertising company where 1990s web brands go to die”
“Mapquest has said they're not going to update the name, which presumably means their pipeline is old and creaky.”
“Mapquest was better than Google Maps when you needed to print directions.”
“it was a dying product with no real way back”
“I still use it regularly.”
“it fully reloaded the page with each move”
“I can't find the print button anywhere on their site today.”
“Technically mapquest got server-rendered interactive maps working, but no one would choose that”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.