I've tried using all the apps including uber maps, waze, apple maps (on lyft) and google maps. Most of the time the directions are going to be correct but then there's that 20 percent or less that are wrong and that is huge.
I use google maps now because all the streets are labeled in it unlike waze. Then i look at the street (passenger gives the address) in respect to where the final destination pin is at on google maps to see if there is a match. Sometimes it's off by 1 street, sometimes it tells you to go into an alley, and sometimes it's off even more but you have to check it. If the street matches, then you look at where the cross street is on google maps and mention it to the passenger if it's near where they need to go.
Sometimes the passenger has never gone to the address they put in so in this case you might want to use a backup GPS if you really want to nail it. If they have never gone to where they need to go and they are not familiar with the area, it's important to get the correct address because for example an address on wilshire in los angeles compared to an address on wilshire in santa monica can totally throw things off. Do not use the auto suggest feature in google maps either because a street name with Ln might show up when what you really need is the 1 with Dr in it, know what i mean?
The other thing that might be helpful is to use Waze as a backup when you know there are street closures. 1 of the things that i don't like about waze is that it asks you to do tough left turns at stop signs at busy intersections during rush hour but it does give you shortcuts and avoids routes that have street closures in it due to parade, etc.
I barely figured this out about 25 rides ago and my rating has gone from 4.64 to 4.74. I notice that i don't hardly get any comments as much compared to when i wasn't good at the navigation before. I don't even talk to the passengers much anymore, all that matters is that you get them to where they need to go safely and then you can get tips in lyft too. Of course if the passenger wants to talk to me we can have a conversation but if they don't i keep quiet and just focus on driving.
other things that might be easier for you on the navigation in google maps:
have your arrow at the bottom of your phone directly pointing up so that you can see the next streets coming up.
ask the passenger which direction would be best to head on out in order to start the navigation (when you first pick them up, the direction it's telling you to go right after can be confusing on the screen so if they know you are better at making a u-turn, great)
Some passengers like telling you where to go step by step so it would be best to find this out as soon as they get in the car too.
