Tim Cook Publishes Open Letter on Maps for iOS 6

roadbloc said:

I bet otherwise. Have you had a look at some of the screenshots that people have posted? According to iOS 6 Maps, my area is under one massive cloud.

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I've seen the same 4 or 5 pictures posted about a million times....

The world is a big place. I understand it's frustrating if your area happens to have problems but realize that you aren't the only one in the world and Apple Maps works for a majority of people.

Obviously the ones who have problems are the loudest (and I'm SURE some Android fans/blogs have taken the Apple Maps debacle and have run with it as well).

It's never as bad as some people make it seem.

Love the Navigation

I for one like the new Apple maps; the navigation has been great for me.
The odd satellite images are humorous, the images near my home are poor at best. But these things will improve. I would like an online apple maps and a better way to report bugs though.

hasanahmad said:

actually they have been working on just 2 years.


Keyhole technologies which was bought by Google was working on KeyHole maps since 1999. Google bought Keyhole in 2004. in 2004 the state of Google Maps was as bad as the current Apple Maps so Apple has been able to achieve what Keyhole/Google did in 5 years in just 2 years

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Not a fair comparison as data and technology has changed since then.

Tiger8 said:

Yikes! You know things are bad when Tim Cook is recommending BING!

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He only suggested it to make Apple Maps look good. People will try it out and come running back with no further complaints.

Admitting defeat....... YOU ARE HOLDING IT WRONG.... That is an answer.

I apologize..... You just lost the battle right there....

I am sorry to say it, but this IP5 will be the first of many dissapointments for applers....

If you use Waze, I'm surprised that Maps doesn't fit the bill (at least based on my experience where I live). While I love the features of Waze, it's a bit disconcerting to see a map using data based on data derived mostly from driven data and not actual maps data. After all, how can you ignore the fact that just east of me is the junction between the mighty Fraser & Pitt river yet this barely shows on the map in a readily identifiable image?

samcraig said:

No - they could have re-negotiated with Google. They chose not to. No harm/no foul - but that doesn't mean they HAD to. Err on omission of truth.

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We may never know the full details of the conditions, but it's clear that Google was not letting Apple have turn-by-turn directions without some very serious concessions -- ones that might have impacted the user experience at least or, at worst, potentially giving Google creepy-Android-levels of personally identifying information.

I think it's fair to assume that Tim Cook knows more about what Google wanted and that he's an honest person. I'll take him at his word here.

Problem acknowledged, alternatives available and a very very large beta test group working & making recommending improvements...one year from now Maps will be "dialed."

No need to apologize Tim - I am using maps almost daily and havent had a single problem!!! Granted im not touring the US via Flyover to LOOK at buildings!! LOL...


The turn by turn directions have been excellent. They are so easy to use, and Siri actually does an incredible job of re-routing people; and it's much better than any GPS system!!

samcraig said:

Not a fair comparison as data and technology has changed since then.

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so you admit Apple will catch up to Google much faster than Google time to come to this juncture in their Maps

I've found Apple Maps to range from bad to excellent. It really lacks a _lot_ of POIs, and I've submitted quite a few corrections (such as towns being in completely the wrong place) but the map has yet to be fixed. The flyover in (very few) cities is excellent, much easier to find your bearings than simple top down map.

Navigation seems to work well too, though it's stupid that the iPhone 4 has another Apple-esque artificial restriction on using it. Hell, my iPhone 3G could do turn-by-turn just as well and all the processing was done on the phone, not on a server.

They could (should?) have kept Google Maps until iOS 6.1, then they wouldn't have been at risk of their Google contract expiring, and had extra time to fix more locations.

I think the real news story here is that Nokia actually has a maps system.

Did everyone know this and I was just oblivious, or did they really have a failed marketing on that?

What?!

A public acknowledgement that the service is not up to scratch and that it falls short of overall user expectation is admirable - but to recommend the use of alternative options - really?

Did he wake up in a sweat in the middle of the night to compose that and email it out before anyone else had the chance to see it? Would people have used other map systems anyway even if Tim Cook's 'permission' to use Google Maps hadn't been granted?

Surely the best option would be to sit tight while behind the scenes this was being frantically sorted out 25/8 and instead convince the people, in true reality-distortion-feel-the-force-field stylee that THEY can contribute to the future insane greatness of the app by feeding back on a constant basis with their issues. Right?

Has anyone not had issues with the new Maps app? Obviously there's a lot of people who have, but I'm wondering if this is universal problem or only related to certain areas.

Speaking only from personal experience, the new Maps app has yet to let me down. Every time I've used it, it takes me directly to my destination and the GPS itself seems very accurate. It seems more like a database issue than anything else, some areas just aren't mapped out as well as they could be.

Maybe he should post an open letter to all of the people who got a damaged iPhone 5 outta the box!

Wow! Apple finally owns up to something instead of saying, "You're mapping it wrong."

Good job, Cook!

A few points:

a) You don't crowdsource sat-nav - it's dangerous. Up to date, accurate depictions of public highways are available for purchase.

b) you can crowdsource POIs but there is no subsitute for purchase and careful implementation of 'unquestionable' data - like naming conventions and location conventions for subway stations for example. In London there is currently no logical hierarchy for naming tube stations. Sometimes it's just 'name' station, sometimes it's 'name' underground station, sometimes both, used interchangeably, never in the right places.

c) the world's land masses don't move enough to make mistakes like filled in harbours or unlikely extra bits of land acceptable.

d) areas that aren't parks shouldn't be shown as parks, ever. An unskilled human cross checking aerial photos against maps could eliminate this easily.

e) It's fair to assume that POIs relating to companies that closed over 5 years ago should no longer be POIs.

f) not all convenience stores are gas stations

g) when creating a new app for mapping - it's worthwhile ensuring that the aerial photos purchased for the apps are either as good or better than those you are replacing. Money spending helps with this objective

h) Android has many more users than iOS - therefore the maps on iOS will always contain better crowdsourced data - bigger crowd (sorry)

i) turn by turn navigation has existed on android for many years - welcome to the party and sorry if you end up driving onto a baseball pitch when looking for your steak.

j) manual intervention is required to ensure POI data and address data matches map data - a fact of life that ANY skilled cartographer would understand

k) a product with an unsubsidised price in excess of $500 should not work like a beta.

l) integration between desktop and mobile versions of a map ecosystem is very useful

Mundty said:

Has anyone not had issues with the new Maps app? Obviously there's a lot of people who have, but I'm wondering if this is universal problem or only related to certain areas.

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It's worked well for me, perhaps because I live an major urban area.

For anyone in the uk this mapping solution is horrendous, even some of he post codes are mapped to incorrect locations ... Not to mention made up city names etc... And the area that I live in apparently doesn't exist ....

Pathetic response from apple, ESP after they debuted it with such fanfare at the announcement the other week ... IMHO they should reinstate googlemaps app in an immediate update and actually get their own s/w working before releasing on such a grand scale

Well, there is it, an admission of how bad the Apple Maps are. At least Apple have publicly acknowledged this. Kudos to them.

Now, Apple must move forward from this mess and improve maps to the level of quality that is expected from Apple.

I don't think Maps is that bad. I'm sure Google Maps wasn't as great as it is now in it's infant days.

And with more use and feedback, their database will grow and it'll get better.

so where's the next open letter admitting piss poor battery life?

I've not used maps to any great degree yet other than to marvel at what is London in true (nearly!) 3D. However, looking within a few hundred yards of my home, there are a number of roads and locations that are shown in the wrong places, or just aren't there at all.

Worst part of the maps fiasco is reading the comments about transit stations and peoples general dumbness these days cause they need to wear dresses and have walking directions around their home town.

As spoiled as people have become and whiny as well, they should take everyone's toys away for a year so they can toughen up. I have driven through many states with no maps in my car at all, and I still can find my destinations. (stop at a station when I am getting close is all I needed)

O and the awesome "Apple Maps is going to kill people cause it doesn't show a body of water." Actually I may buy that since the full retard level has hit critical and smartphone users would keep driving thinking its just a big puddle.

For Tim: Hey look over there you got 120 billion lying around. The things you can get done with money to have things a little more tight for release is amazing.

Steve would have never allowed this. However, I think publishing an open letter of apology was the right thing to do.

Anecdotal experiences for all who give a care: Apple Maps on an iPad (3rd gen) got me to my destination just fine.