Apple's 3D Maps and Imagery See Incremental Improvements

Just LOVE the way Apple Maps looks when it works, which ain't all that much here in Japan lol. Meanwhile I gotta depend on a Google icon to let me access maps and transportation directions (which has also improved BTW).

Can't wait till Cook gets done with Apple's, though, it really IS way more beautiful than Google's and CLEAR with nice route labels.

a0me said:

From what I've read so far, the people who are satisfied with Apple Maps live in the US, or about 1/3 of Apple total revenue.
From a business perspective it seems to make sense to prioritize the market that brings in 2/3 of your revenue.

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So, you see Apple's market as "the US", and everywhere else. Many complaints are coming from people who live in areas that are much less than 1/3 of Apple's market. Where would you put them on Apple's priority list?

janeyssteve said:

I'm not a New Yorker but I have am very familiar with the city. I also have not upgraded to IOS 6. But I believe the Statue of liberty is turned 90 degrees in the photo you provide at the start of this thread. When I have seen Miss Liberty in the past she had been looking out to sea not at Manhattan.

My apologies if this has already been pointed out

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It looks correct in the photos, and in the maps themselves.

I was playing around with maps when this was first posted to look for some improvements and found none. The statue of liberty was still displaying as flat. But today I looked and there have been some big improvements. Brooklyn, which at first was only 2D in flyover, is now 3D. Sure, Brooklyn is still a "major" city but it looks like less populated areas are beginning to see flyover. I also checked out my hometown in the Valley (population under 25,000, also mentioned in the post) and it was not flyover enabled on Friday but is now.

I think flyover will ultimately turn out to be a gimmick as it has very little usefulness when actually getting directions somewhere, but it is a fun feature and I'm glad to see more support for it. Too bad all of the 3D renderings look like total crap.

george-brooks said:

I think flyover will ultimately turn out to be a gimmick as it has very little usefulness when actually getting directions somewhere, but it is a fun feature and I'm glad to see more support for it. Too bad all of the 3D renderings look like total crap.

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I think you're wrong about flyover being a gimmick. Seeing an overview of the place I am traveling to is useful to me. Landmarks like parking lots, tall buildings, shopping centers, etc., stand out much more than they do with 2D Satellite view.

I know I won't be seeing the overhead view when I actually make the trips, but if overhead views were "useless", as some claim, then we wouldn't have maps or globes or scale models at all.

Take a look at this satellite view of San Francisco in Google Maps:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=san+francisco,+ca&hl=en&ll=37.79171,-122.422156&spn=0.012802,0.022209&hnear=San+Francisco,+California&t=h&z=16

It looks like a rectangular grid, similar to any other city. But view it with 3D terrain and buildings in Google Earth or Apple's Maps app, and you have a lot more information about the nature of the city.

The QuickTime VR StreetView is certainly useful also, but it can't tell you at a glance what is two blocks away, or even just around the corner.

MonkeySee.... said:

Someone on my road has, what it looks like, their own business working from their house. I know this as it looked weird but checked their website and it was legit so I ignored it.
lolz

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I've seen this in Google Maps many times, so it's not unique to Apple.

I think what often happens is that a small business owner's home address shows up instead of their business address. Maybe they register their home address with the City when they first open. Not sure...

redman042 said:

I've seen this in Google Maps many times, so it's not unique to Apple.

I think what often happens is that a small business owner's home address shows up instead of their business address. Maybe they register their home address with the City when they first open. Not sure...

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Let me guess... Hewlett Packard? Apple? Amazon? Is it one of those?

spazzcat said:

Did you check the app store for PT in your area?

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Already tried that. All of the free ones that I tried don't have any for my area. I am really hesitant to pay for the other ones

If steve wasn't dead...

the eiffel tower would be in 3D already... tim cook is just a simple american...

doelcm82 said:

So, you see Apple's market as "the US", and everywhere else. Many complaints are coming from people who live in areas that are much less than 1/3 of Apple's market. Where would you put them on Apple's priority list?

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As a business, priority should logically be given to the market that generates (and will continue to generate) the most revenue.

If you're in a country / area that falls under Apple's radar, the only hope is that Google Maps comes back to the App Store as soon as Apple let them.

tuna9720 said:

2 things Apple need to accomplish
1; when I click a direction link , iphone needs to take you to the maps app NOT to the google's map in safari. Come on iphone dont you recognize your native maps app

2; search bar in the maps either dont find any close stores around me or finds only a few.

These Features I use a lot.

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That has nothing to do with Apple or the iPhone. It opens a google maps link so it will show google maps, if the developer tells it to open in Apple maps then it will open in Apple maps.

Bubba Satori said:

Image

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Oooohhh... Pretty.


Slow......and steady, wins the race Apple did this in 'reverse'

However, it still not gonna make me switch.... I hate using anything while data is sucked up.

Why am I still not seeing the Statue of Liberty update? It's been more than a week!

Clear Apple Maps Cache will Reset All Settings

jimborockon said:

Why am I still not seeing the Statue of Liberty update? It's been more than a week!

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Settings->General->Reset->Reset All Settings

This will reset all settings. No data or media will be deleted.
This will clear the maps cache.

Who says Apple invented vector graphics?

And BTW, Apple sometime show the industry the way: smart phone GUI, App Store, sensors on phones, modern tablets, just to name a few.

Renzatic said:

Yeah! Those copycats! Apple innovates, everyone else imitates!

...cept that Google was showing off vector maps back in 2010. Hell, vectors in general aren't exactly new things. Windows has used vector art for their icons since Vista came out back in...what...2007? They're hardly the future. They've been around for quite awhile.

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firestarter said:

In another thread a comment had been made that Apple had failed to implement Japan's rather unique block and building numbering system... So while you could get to a general location, locating an individual premises on a block was impossible (and that's what my statement was based on). I'd be interested to hear if they'd started to fix that.

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I just searched for my own address, and it found it correctly, so it looks like whatever issues there were have been fixed (at least in metropolitan Tokyo).

a0me said:

Shinjuku station is used by an average of 3.7 million people per day, making it the world's busiest station. Shibuya is the fourth-busiest rail station in Japan (2.4 million passengers on an average weekday)

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Ah. That makes Shibuya station busy, not big.

(Not sure why, though. Shibuya Crossing is cool to see as a tourist, and its Apple Store is easier to get to than the one in Ginza, but otherwise I don't get the appeal of that place.)

Hahaha

Too little too late.

Adding 3D to the most famous landmark in the US isn't really addressing the problem. The problem is the other 99.99999999999% of the maps. Reliability is a real problem. Lack of points of interest. Outdated information.

Apple Maps are never going to be as good as Google Maps sadly.

golf1410 said:

Image

Hahaha

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lol, add a poop on top of that will be about right.

BuckusToothnail said:

Too little too late.

Adding 3D to the most famous landmark in the US isn't really addressing the problem. The problem is the other 99.99999999999% of the maps. Reliability is a real problem. Lack of points of interest. Outdated information.

Apple Maps are never going to be as good as Google Maps sadly.

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heh heh, one year from now, the tune will change... One year is a long time.. The map is already off the radar screen for the general user.. If IOS map does not work for someone, they would have move on and use one of the alternative map already..

Brazuca said:

Big chunks of Brooklyn, Queens and Bronx are in Flyover. Only Staten Island isn't (it stops at the end of the bridge).


NJ near NY is also.

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Thanks for mentioning this. Glad I'm not the only one who cared. I'm glad this was finally fixed. Staten Island flyover!!!