Addresses are written in Mandarin instead of English

Dec 29, 2023

hi all, appears fixed. could you please confirm?

Diamond Product Expert William. recommended this

Helpful?

All Replies (22)

Dec 11, 2023

hello pascal,

welcome to the google maps community forum!

how about the settings here? https://www.google.com/preferences?lang=1

Dec 11, 2023

Hey,

Still not working. See the picture for added context!

Dec 13, 2023

hi pascal, so would seem to be a problem at google's end.

i have checked a few stations and places, and most of those i checked seemed fine.

the one mentioned above, lan kwai fong < https://maps.app.goo.gl/xZ4nhqaiqQJFDdQ3A >, also seems fine now.

so my suggestion is to give it a few days / week to see what happens. any you come across, would suggest you use the suggest an edit button to add the english / latin letter name.

Dec 13, 2023

I just used Lan Kwai Fong as a reference point as the route takes you through several subway stations. The station you get off at there (Central) is not written in English and the directions as to which exit to take to reach it the quickest is also not in Englis. So nothing has actually unfortunately changed back to before the issue began.

Dec 13, 2023

hi pascal, yes, i think central was one of the ones i checked that did not have an english name. please use suggest an edit button to add.

many others i checked were fine.

"..... the directions as to which exit to take to reach it the quickest is also not in englis."

the directions themselves are not in english? or just the names?

Dec 13, 2023

It says exit via but the rest is in Mandarin. And some stations, like Wan Chai and admiralty is in English but most in Mandarin.

Professor Magic Mofokeng

Dec 13, 2023

Can I please use English only as I can't understand these other languages?

Dec 13, 2023

hi pascal,

that would appear to be a name - rest of the directions appear to be in english.

would need some representative list of stations / places that are missing english / latin letter names. otherwise, i will check later when i have a bit more time.

last i checked, most were fine.

Dec 13, 2023

Hi,

Unfortunately most are not fine.

This below is only the blue line and unless stated, all have had their names in Latin letters removed:

Kennedy Town (Latin letters)

HKU

Sai Ying Pun

Sheung Wan

Central

Admiralty (Latin letters)

Wan Chai (Latin letters)

Causeway bay

Tin Hau (Latin letters)

North Point

Quarry Bay

Tai Koo

Sai Wan Ho

Shau Kei Wan

Heng Fa Chuen

I have checked the red line as well and most have been removed there as well.

Dec 13, 2023

I also just found out about this, can't believe it has been going on for at least 3 days and yet the problem has not been fixed. I don't know what is happening.

Last edited Dec 13, 2023

Dec 13, 2023

hi all,

i have made some enquiries. i will let you know by posting back here once i know more.

hi jus,

many problems, like this one, will need time to fix, for various reasons.

Dec 13, 2023

Okay that's great but let them know to hurry up because frankly this is quite an urgent matter and this huge cooperation having a lay back attitude will not help

Thanks either way

Dec 13, 2023

hi jus,

"..... this is quite an urgent matter ....."

it may be urgent for some, not for others.

there may be bigger, more pressing, more important, more urgent matters elsewhere.

"..... lay back attitude will not help ....."

who exactly are you referring to?

Dec 13, 2023

Listen, I'm just trying to help here, I don't have time or energy to argue with you. But I'm going to answer your questions

"may be urgent for some, not for others"

I won't doubt there are possibly bigger bugs in Google Maps that take precedence. But Hong Kong is an international city, everyday there are oceans of foreigners that are not familiar with Mandarin need the help of Google Maps to navigate around the city, having most transportation terminals English name disappearing will cause them extreme inconvenience as they aren't able to locate their destination or they might confuse locations with one another. I hope you understand.

I've been a Google Maps local guide for many years and have been following up with the community. Many times, I see users reporting about issues that bother them on a daily basis and recieve perfunctory replies and never got the matter solved. By laid back, I was referring to Google Maps tech supports I've came across, and I sincerely wish you aren't one of them.

Dec 13, 2023

hi jus,

"listen, i'm just trying to help here ....."

yes, i understand. i am also trying to help.

"..... i don't have time or energy to argue with you."

yes, i understand. many if not all of us also have plenty of other things to do.

"but hong kong is an international city, everyday there are oceans of foreigners that are not familiar with mandarin need the help of google maps to navigate around the city, having most transportation terminals english name disappearing will cause them extreme inconvenience as they aren't able to locate their destination or they might confuse locations with one another. i hope you understand."

yes, i understand. but there are many international cities, and many would have the same characteristics / problems as you have described.

additionally, there are other types of problems, for example, something that directly affects the basic availability of google maps as a service. something like that would affect everyone, regardless of where they are and/or what they can or cannot read.

i am simply suggesting we need to maintain some perspective.

google maps can't be the only viable tool available for people to plan journeys and move around hong kong - there must be other good and/or satisfactory alternatives.

in the mean time, we need to leave google to figure out what needs fixing first - they would be the party best placed to understand what matters most to users, as a whole. they too would be the one that has most to lose if they get any of it wrong.

"many times, i see users reporting about issues that bother them on a daily basis and recieve perfunctory replies and never got the matter solved."

obviously, i cannot speak for and/or about everybody and every specific case, but i for one, frequently see many users asking about trivial and/or irrelevant matters, and/or blowing their own "problems" way out of proportion.

so people can get attuned to responding in a certain way for certain specific types of posts.

this sort of thing works both ways.

also, nothing and no one is ever going to be perfect - there will always be errors, problems, mistakes. so, it would follow, not everything is going to get resolved or addressed.

"by laid back, i was referring to google maps tech supports i've came across, and i sincerely wish you aren't one of them."

first, in case you aren't already aware, i am not employed by and do not in any way represent google. like you, i am just another user.

so if i appear "laid back" to you, that may be because, like you, i have other things to do.

similar reasoning would apply to any google employees, including any technical support people - they have their priorities, and cannot be doing everything all at once.

they would be best placed to know what should be done first, and what can wait until later. like i said, they are the ones with most to lose if not done right.

Dec 14, 2023

That is a lot of words, unfortunately I can't read them all.

Frankly, I wasn't aware you are just another user and not a representative of Google. I can't believe such a colossal company didn't even provide a proper way for us to provide feedback, report bugs and recieve answers. But instead, it's just enthusiasts like you and me talking with each other.

But let's us put this whole thing behind us and pray that Google Maps deal with this muddle as quick as possible.

Dec 14, 2023

hi jus,

"i can't believe such a colossal company didn't even provide a proper way for us to provide feedback, report bugs and recieve answers."

there are far too many users to provide direct support for free. would be a different story if we were paying.

"..... pray that google maps deal with this muddle as quick as possible."

am sure they will do what they can as quickly as they can.

Dec 14, 2023

Well okay.

P G 6611

Dec 20, 2023

Agreed this is an extremely annoying issue - especially taken into consideration that HK has a vast network of stations and exits etc. it’s a shame that it changed suddenly overnight and no one is able to just restore it from the backup the day before where it was working fine.

It might be an issue but incorrect display of language in this case due to mandarin characters does create a problem. There are indeed luckily other alternatives to Google Maps but that shouldn’t be the solution to something that worked fine just before.

Dec 20, 2023

hi p,

welcome to the google maps community forum!

alternatives were not suggested as any sort of solution, just as exactly that - alternatives until problem resolved.

may be more complex than simply restoring from any back up.

Dec 20, 2023

Hey,

Ah. I see. Thank you for attempting to help in this matter. I think time will tell if they're able to revert back to how it previously was.

I sincerely appreciate you trying to help here as well!