Eli5: Why does gps like waze or Google maps give a certain time and distance, but change the time and distance once you hit navigate?
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Conditions change. These programs use real-time traffic data to make their routing choices, and that can change the plan and its likely time. To save battery in your phone, they update much less frequently when you are just “looking around” than they do when you are following their directions. The change reflects something that happened on the road before you hit “Start”.
Along with what’s also mentioned, there is your speed. I’m pretty sure before you start traveling, map apps use the speed limit in the equation to figure out ETA. So if you’re going 85 and the speed limit is 70 it will update the ETA accordingly.
I take a lot of road trips and the travel time is almost always on the long end.
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