But...as mentioned above...it is also listed in the correct location, and that is the one that comes up first in a search. Not sure how it was even duplicated in the middle of a field....
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Wow. Apple Maps is a disaster.
- Thread starter b24pgg
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But...as mentioned above...it is also listed in the correct location, and that is the one that comes up first in a search. Not sure how it was even duplicated in the middle of a field....
But...as mentioned above...it is also listed in the correct location, and that is the one that comes up first in a search. Not sure how it was even duplicated in the middle of a field....
Apparently Apple's mapping team needs to undertake an excursion around the world, maybe "Around the world in 80 days", to see for themselves how terribly misplaced some POIs are in other countries. An great example is the one stated, they should visit the exact location & figure out how the heck can a hospital possibly exist on the landscape of an empty farmland...
Credit where credit's due - at least some of the satellite imagery for the UK seems to have been improved - Nottingham is no longer hidden under a cloudbank, and Luton Airport no longer looks as if it had been built in Minecraft.
We're still talking about how bad maps is? lol I figured this thread would be long dead by now.
iOS 6 Maps current state
So, what's the status of maps in iOS 6 these days? Has the data in Apple's Maps app improved enough that it's usable now? Does the web version of Google maps work well enough that it's a reasonable substitute? I've been avoiding upgrading up till now, but I'd like to do so if I can be reasonably sure of being able to use it for navigation one way or the other.
(Info from users in the Boston area is particularly appreciated, though I often use it in other places too, so general impressions are also welcome. Recommendations of alternative map apps, especially offline ones, would be appreciated, too.)
So, what's the status of maps in iOS 6 these days? Has the data in Apple's Maps app improved enough that it's usable now? Does the web version of Google maps work well enough that it's a reasonable substitute? I've been avoiding upgrading up till now, but I'd like to do so if I can be reasonably sure of being able to use it for navigation one way or the other.
(Info from users in the Boston area is particularly appreciated, though I often use it in other places too, so general impressions are also welcome. Recommendations of alternative map apps, especially offline ones, would be appreciated, too.)
There's definitely been plenty of improvements. I've noticed quite a bit of POI changes. It's always worked well for me though.
I'm in the Southern California region and the Map app works great. The turn-by-turn worked so well, we're most likely going to forgo NAV feature for future vehicle purchases despite how much I like having NAV.
IMO, anyone who lives in a major metropolitan area holding off on upgrading because of Maps is just plain silly. Don't believe everything you read on the internet. I've had multiple occasions where the original Maps powered by Google led me to the middle of nowhere in So. Cal. The only thing missing is street view, and since the images take a while to load, it's often useless when I'm driving. I usually use street view BEFORE I take off for a destination, not while I'm looking for it.
Clearly a case where it's blown WAY out of proportions and the intarweb lemmings all followed one another.
IMO, anyone who lives in a major metropolitan area holding off on upgrading because of Maps is just plain silly. Don't believe everything you read on the internet. I've had multiple occasions where the original Maps powered by Google led me to the middle of nowhere in So. Cal. The only thing missing is street view, and since the images take a while to load, it's often useless when I'm driving. I usually use street view BEFORE I take off for a destination, not while I'm looking for it.
Clearly a case where it's blown WAY out of proportions and the intarweb lemmings all followed one another.
Had my first bad experience with Apple Maps while on St. Simon's Island, Georgia. We were 1/8th mile away from where we wanted to go. Maps sent us 2 miles away and had us turn on a "road" that was a gated community.
This was from a while back but Japan now has generic 3D buildings!
The only problem is that it takes the building's footprint and extrudes it to match the tallest point of the building, making a solid block out of everything from towers to castles.
The only problem is that it takes the building's footprint and extrudes it to match the tallest point of the building, making a solid block out of everything from towers to castles.
You and a lot others figured that maps would be fixed by now - so there's that...
I think it will still be going in three years time
Such a balls up by apple. Still makes me wonder what the ****** they were thinking.
I think it will still be going in three years time
Such a balls up by apple. Still makes me wonder what the ****** they were thinking.
Yeah I concur with you. Never thought they'll actually release such shabby-quality material. Maybe because the people who tested it all tried it in America only...
There are plenty of problems with the maps in the US as well and, while I have seen some improvement, none of the errors Ive reported have been fixed.
The sad part is that they knew exactly how bad the maps were as practically everyone beta testing iOS 6 had said so. Apple just cared more about getting away from Google than it's customers.
Yeah the way they handle reports are also quite disconcerting. I have reported numerous reports for my area a few times already, to no avail because Apple didn't fix a single one.
And it seems they added a bigger "Report a problem" button in 6.1. Why even add that when you guys are not keen on fixing problems? Seeing the same low quality maps since beta days has made me slightly rancorous...
There was a good article about this in the Guardian last week (apologies if it's already been posted)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/nov/07/peak-apple
The key bit for me was:
That's what I find hard to forgive.
That way to look at it is just stupid. Apple wants to build a better software with TBT, vector maps and flyover. And they succeeded pretty much already. There is no way to get this completely right in the small amount of time they had, but leaving Google was a necessary step in offering us those features.
This sums it up much better:
"... Apple is discovering that mapping is one of those thankless tasks: people don't thank you when it's right, but criticise you when it's wrong. And getting it right, in a timely fashion, is extremely difficult and expensive."
About correcting POIs or other problems, people feel like it is some personal insult if their reports get not fixed, but they need to understand it isn't that easy. Apple has to develop an infrastructure for that and with the bigger button in 6.1 probably they did a step in that direction, as obviously the button size is not a meaningful change in itself.
I see changes in my area, even two I submitted, but I believe it is rather coincidence and the changes were reported by the respective companies at the same time.
This sums it up much better:
"... Apple is discovering that mapping is one of those thankless tasks: people don't thank you when it's right, but criticise you when it's wrong. And getting it right, in a timely fashion, is extremely difficult and expensive."
About correcting POIs or other problems, people feel like it is some personal insult if their reports get not fixed, but they need to understand it isn't that easy. Apple has to develop an infrastructure for that and with the bigger button in 6.1 probably they did a step in that direction, as obviously the button size is not a meaningful change in itself.
I see changes in my area, even two I submitted, but I believe it is rather coincidence and the changes were reported by the respective companies at the same time.
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The thing is, they had plenty of time. Apple's contract with Google for Maps data wasn't nearing its end. The powers that be at Apple shackled themselves with their own timeline that had no basis in reality.
That would've been fine if Apple Maps was fully baked and ready to roll this year, but it wasn't. Apple should have continued working on their own Maps app for one more year up to the point when the Google contract was actually due to expire.
A mapping application is only as good as the data it's pulling from. Apple should've spent another year negotiating map data contracts with better sources. The app itself is stable and renders the map data quickly, but I couldn't care less about that stuff if the map data itself is flawed.
could someone please tell me how to easily submit corrections to the travesty that is apple maps? i can't believe that after months of people knowing the problems there is not an effective way to report problems.
and i'm not talking about the very poor, hidden way within iOS 6 to do it... i'm talking about a way to make very specific corrections to points of interests, street names, etc. etc.
apple knows their maps is currently total garbage. and with as many people they have using their software, they could easily use crowdsourcing to fix it much, much faster than they have.
why on earth can we not access apple maps online and submit corrections similar to google mapmaker? am i missing something? something like this should have existed during the beta. when it became obvious there were tons of problems, releasing it to the public without a good way to fix errors is simply unforgivable.
what is apple doing?
and i'm not talking about the very poor, hidden way within iOS 6 to do it... i'm talking about a way to make very specific corrections to points of interests, street names, etc. etc.
apple knows their maps is currently total garbage. and with as many people they have using their software, they could easily use crowdsourcing to fix it much, much faster than they have.
why on earth can we not access apple maps online and submit corrections similar to google mapmaker? am i missing something? something like this should have existed during the beta. when it became obvious there were tons of problems, releasing it to the public without a good way to fix errors is simply unforgivable.
what is apple doing?
You can't submit changes outside the Maps app itself, it's insufficient. Apple clearly didn't know what they were getting into - but now things will change... the submit button in 6.1 is twice the size!
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No. I really don't take them being slow at correcting POI's as a personal insult - when the original job was so bad, the amount of submitted corrections going through the roof should be very foreseeable.
The insult is putting the app in IOS in the first place.
This post ownsss.. Gonna copy into my Notes app for later use.
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Kudos to you. Couldn't phrase in a better way myself.
Do people really believe getting Maps up to Google standards is a question of a year more of beta testing? It is not. You can improve software that way but not map/POI data in a timely manner.
They maybe should have taken a few month to implement an infrastructure for error reporting. But they probably just hadn't expected the *****torm the few unhappy would unleash.
Anyway, it doesn't mean they wanted to make bad software. It is one of the many examples where deadlines result in less than perfect software, just that in this case it is rather a problem of data and that is best fixed when released - which is what Google and other Satnav companies have been done for many years.
Agreed to
- takes more than a year
- users are in ridiculous overkill mode
- getting decent data
- management timelines do not endear quality
What surprises me is that Apple is not using crowdsourcing to get things better
Doing it solo seem not to get closure in the near future
- takes more than a year
- users are in ridiculous overkill mode
- getting decent data
- management timelines do not endear quality
What surprises me is that Apple is not using crowdsourcing to get things better
Doing it solo seem not to get closure in the near future