Map Update

I thought the newer Outbacks supported Android Auto. I find Google Maps, Here[WeGo], and Waze preferrable to TomTom, but then I prefer my phone over the head unit.

From where did you get the update to the head unit? That might not have include a maps update. Did you go to:

to get the maps update? While you can use the model year and trim to identify your car, best is to use its VIN to be sure you get matching data for the car you actually have. The map update manual is at:

Yes, I used the official update site. This is a quote from Subaru's email to me:

"There is a new map update available for your vehicle you can download. By downloading and installing the new map update, you can get the most recent map in your vehicle.

To download the new map update, please click the button below or copy and paste the map update URL into your browser."

I had signed up at the map site previously but, because my head-end had been replaced during the great freezup debacle and supposedly had the newest and greatest, I've never needed to actually go through the process before.

Google Maps has crews that drive around in vans with dome cameras atop. Not only do they record the street view but also track their travels to update their maps. They also take input from users for map corrections. I can't do it from the phone app, but I can using a web browser on my desktop PC.

TeleAtlas (acquired by TomTom) primary method is by a fleet of vehicles specifically outfitted with camera and tracking equipment to collect road information. TomTom mentions getting updates from their users.

Both seem to use similar methods to get map data. Alas, user reports to update maps probably aren't the most reliable data source. If they get data from city plats, those have proposed roads which may not exist and may never exist.

I have to wonder which camera/tracking fleet is bigger or which revisits the roads more often: Google's or Tele Atlas (TomTom). Errors won't get corrected by their fleet until it revisits a road. Both seem to rely, perhaps too much, on user reports to make corrections. At one time, like a decade ago, Tele Atlas had a deal with Google to get user corrections from the Google Maps community. A year later, Google stopped using map data from Tele Atlas (sorry, I don't know why).

Some claim Google is using Android phones (with the Google Maps app) as data probes to update their map data. I haven't looked into this. If you enable the TimeLine feature to show where you've been, users can make corrections (edit their timelines, like what was at an endpoint in a leg of travel) which could effect a map update report. I suspect Android phone users with Google Maps are more likely to submit correction reports than are TomTom users, plus TomTom users have to report corrections to Tele Atlas although I think TomTom hid this for ease-of-use via their Mapshare feature.

Have you ever used Mapshare to report map corrections? Whose going to sit in their parked car why trying to type on a head unit to report a map correction? In contrast, lots of users employ Google Maps on their Android phones where entering a report is eas(y|ier).

OpenStreetMaps is community driven. They get all their updates from user reports. I remember using an Android app that uses OpenStreetMap (might've been Maps.ME), was unimpressed, and uninstalled it.

I spent an unfruitful half hour trying to report a minor error, a street name change, to TomTom through their official Mapshare system. It is, IMHO, one of the more pathetic attempts at customer communications I've seen. I've come to the conclusion that they don't really want to know and I've come to the conclusion that I'll no longer try to educate them.

Are Subaru map updates free or do you have to pay?

While the vehicle is under warranty they are free. After that there is a charge but I don't know how much that might be.

Tried to google it up but you have to put your vehicle in to see the price. I recall someone telling me a couple of years ago that for his RAV4 it was $200.