Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

bed

macrumors member
May 26, 2008
97
2
My biggest *laugh* moment with Apple Maps (also in Victoria Australia) was going from Melbourne to the hot springs on the Mornington Penisular. In this case the locations were 100% accurate and the route it wanted me to take was extremely efficient, or at least it would have been, if the new Penisular Link Highway that it wanted me to take was finished and open to traffic yet. Which it isn't. Usually the problems are that the new roads aren't recognised for years... in this case it thought the UNFINISHED HIGHWAY was ready to be driven on. I reported the problem like a good Apple Citizen, and weeks later its still wanting me to take the same route.
 

Beeplance

macrumors 68000
Jul 29, 2012
1,564
500
The 2 people in the Maps team is actually working very hard to correct the hundreds of millions of wrong POI in Apple's Map.

The Onion said Apple is changing the world to make their Maps app correct! Stay tuned! :D

THERE'RE ONLY 2 PEOPLE IN APPLE MAPS TEAM? YOU SERIOUS?? :eek:
 

skellener

macrumors 68000
Jun 23, 2003
1,786
543
So. Cal.
Apple should really just stop. They have never delivered services well - and Maps is now one of the biggest embarrassments to date.

Whatever they are spending to do their own Maps - it still must have been cheaper to simply use Google's data. Even if Maps gets to the point that becomes usable, how long is Apple committed to the service? A few years? Five tops? Google is obviously in it for the long haul. Streetview? Where is it Apple? Do you think the Google self-driving car is simply for R&D??? Nope - eventually those autonomous cars will be all electric, driverless and will be grabbing updated Streetviews monthly if not weekly. Apple are you ready to compete on that level? I doubt it. Apple Maps will eventually go the way of Ping or Dot Mac and everyone will forget about it. It's just another poorly implemented Apple service that will see no follow through.

Apple, save some money, stop fighting Google and just work WITH them. The combination of Google data and services with Apple interface and design works so well. It's such a missed opportunity to make everything better. Stop fighting!
 

MacFan782040

macrumors 65816
Dec 1, 2003
1,014
671
For me, directions are OK... but locations of places are horrible. 50% of the time pins are not in the correct location.

I searched "pizza" near me, and only about 6 or 7 pins appeared. There must be at least 20 pizza shops in that area, if not more. I picked the closest one to my apartment, called, and ordered a pie. When I went to pick it up, it wasn't 2 streets over, it was about a mile and a half from where it said it was. I literately had to stop and ask for directions at a gas station. Google, hurry up on your map app.
 

cdmoore74

macrumors 68020
Jun 24, 2010
2,413
711
Google is laughing right now along with every Android user. How embarrassing is it to have law enforcement warn against your bread and butter feature on your 3 month old phone.
The solution is to get Google maps back NOW!!!
 

tmofee

macrumors regular
Sep 27, 2009
204
0
Mildura
My biggest *laugh* moment with Apple Maps (also in Victoria Australia) was going from Melbourne to the hot springs on the Mornington Penisular. In this case the locations were 100% accurate and the route it wanted me to take was extremely efficient, or at least it would have been, if the new Penisular Link Highway that it wanted me to take was finished and open to traffic yet. Which it isn't. Usually the problems are that the new roads aren't recognised for years... in this case it thought the UNFINISHED HIGHWAY was ready to be driven on. I reported the problem like a good Apple Citizen, and weeks later its still wanting me to take the same route.

it's an absolute joke. i went to adelaide a few months back, and while im comfortable getting there from mildura, not so with the city and suburbs, etc etc. at the time turn by turn still hadn't been turned on so i bit the bullet and purchased the tom tom app. apart from the battery drain, I'm glad i did it. didn't have a single hiccup while i was there. i had to drop a friend into the city at about 10pm and not once on the drive back to her place by myself was I worried in getting lost ..
 

whatever

macrumors 6502a
Dec 12, 2001
880
0
South of Boston, MA
So far, Apple's maps has worked perfectly for me. I've only tested it in MA, VA, NY, CA, and NH. In most cases I know where I'm going, but I map it just for fun and so far it has gotten me where I was going.

In the past both MapQuest and Google Maps had me take lefts when I should have gone right and after driving around I finally figured out what happened.
 

swingerofbirch

macrumors 68040
I knew this wouldn't turn out well. Apple is one of the most closed companies and they've never "gotten" Internet services or been able to maintain one for more than a few years without shuttering it and starting over (except for the iTunes Store). There's a long string of failures. They didn't even get that something like iDisk was a cloud service people expect to exist indefinitely. I've not even heard of smaller companies shuttering a service and making customers download information they were paying for a company to store for them, let alone the world's biggest tech company.

Google is a company that will go out and work with anyone. They will do whatever it takes to make something work. They make partners and friends. They're like a really big university. Apple is like a historic, very small liberal arts college that decided to open a medical school in a tiny historic building with 5 foot ceilings and no indoor lighting or plumbing and wants to leave it that way to preserve the character of the building. I don't know how else to say it. They've never gotten Internet services. Their offerings have been unreliable, awkward, and slow. And the only really interesting part is that they thought they could do a mapping system.

But their vision again is so small. They didn't even want to do an mapping system the world could use. It's only on some of their devices—not even all of their devices, let alone anyone else's. It's not even a web-service, so it doesn't even work with their own apps like Contacts for example on the Mac. A company that is serious about making a mapping system would have it available in a browser, available in beta for a long time for everyone. Right now it's an *exclusive* to people who buy their newest devices, but it turned out to be an exclusive that people wish they could switch to the old system. In fact it was supposed to be one of the main features of their new products.

The other funny thing besides Apple thinking it could do maps is that other people take Apple seriously with mapping. I am fairly certain that Google Maps will be around in 20 years. I am fairly certain that Apple Maps will not be around in 20 years. Apple gives up on this stuff all the time. I don't get why Apple thought they could do it, and I don't get why other people thought they could either.

Does Apple really want to be a mapping company indefinitely? Or was this just an act of hubris? It's not what they're good at. It's not in their "DNA" to borrow an over-used phrase!

This is an area where they need to partner.
 

aerok

macrumors 65816
Oct 29, 2011
1,491
139
Google is laughing right now along with every Android user. How embarrassing is it to have law enforcement warn against your bread and butter feature on your 3 month old phone.
The solution is to get Google maps back NOW!!!

Approving Google Maps is not the solution as many people don'teven download apps on their iphones. They will rely on anything that is already available in their device. Apple just needs to hire a good amount of people to fix those errors ASAP.
 

entropys

macrumors 65816
Jan 5, 2007
1,226
2,327
Brisbane, Australia
The strange thing is that the data the apple app is based on is supposed to be tomtom's data. My tomtom's app has them right.

I do a lot of country driving, and the mildura example is quite common. Look up Georgetown in Queensland as another example, it has the same problem. The town location off by about 40 Kms. I sent in a problem notice about that one about eight weeks ago, and it is still there.
 

cdmoore74

macrumors 68020
Jun 24, 2010
2,413
711
I wonder what the chances are of getting the Map App recalled by the government if Apple is not quick enough to fix these issues? Same problem could happen in the US. I can see it now:

"Single mother of 3 young children stranded in no where Texas with no food or water because the mother followed Apple Maps."

Tim Cook's apology will not save his butt when he knowingly left a faulty product on the market. The dummy admitted that the product was no good.
 

Eric E. Schmidt

macrumors member
Nov 14, 2012
77
0
Calif
i see the severe issues with maps (and the pending lawsuit), but don't people plan their excursions anymore? or have a sense of direction, at least? it's all "get in the car, type in destination, trust blindly…"

when it comes to escape from civilization trips you should always bring an up-to-date paper map and a compass.
 

jctevere

macrumors 6502
Feb 7, 2009
277
26
LMFAO... How the hell could Apple have screwed up this badly? It was one thing if they started from scratch - but they didn't, they bought and were given existing mapping information from Waze and TomTom...

Stuff will start to get real when Apple starts getting sued for "negligence". They have tons of cash - just go and pay a bunch of Chinese laborers to get it done - they'll have it more accurate than Google Maps in 24 hours for 10 cents an hour - sounds like a bargain.

For that matter - what's to stop Apple from just comparing their data to Google's data and just reconciling that way and correcting mistakes? Obviously it is "against the law". But just hire a bunch of people to search Google Maps for POI people send error reports for and search Apple Maps for the same POI's and fix the data. Pretty untraceable.
 
Last edited:

GT0336

macrumors newbie
Jul 5, 2012
9
0
QLD
My biggest *laugh* moment with Apple Maps (also in Victoria Australia) was going from Melbourne to the hot springs on the Mornington Penisular. In this case the locations were 100% accurate and the route it wanted me to take was extremely efficient, or at least it would have been, if the new Penisular Link Highway that it wanted me to take was finished and open to traffic yet. Which it isn't. Usually the problems are that the new roads aren't recognised for years... in this case it thought the UNFINISHED HIGHWAY was ready to be driven on. I reported the problem like a good Apple Citizen, and weeks later its still wanting me to take the same route.

Had the same issue on a recent trip to the Mornington.
 

tmofee

macrumors regular
Sep 27, 2009
204
0
Mildura
The strange thing is that the data the apple app is based on is supposed to be tomtom's data. My tomtom's app has them right.

and i got my tom tom app updated with the latest maps a couple of weeks ago. how long until the apple maps are updated, you think? ;)
 

JayLenochiniMac

macrumors G5
Nov 7, 2007
12,819
2,389
New Sanfrakota
I don't think they were prepared to go into the mountain or forest......read the article again....they end up there due to wrong directions

That's beside the point. If I find myself going into the mountain and forest, I switch to or turn on the NAV, not continue to rely on the iPhone with potential loss of reception. Looks like some people are lacking in common sense.
 

iOzzie

macrumors regular
Feb 22, 2010
136
15
Melbourne
As a Victorian, it's good that this story will help people of the US actually understand how bad Maps is outside the US.

I will never use it, I don't have an iDevice with me, someone do a search for Bendigo (3rd biggest town in Victoria BTW), I searched for it a while ago with an iPhone 5 and was shocked with it's supposed "location"

See if that has been fixed also, here is the correct location - https://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=b...44531&t=h&hnear=Bendigo+Victoria&z=11&iwloc=A
 

bluespark

macrumors 68040
Jul 11, 2009
3,088
3,990
Chicago
Also, it sucks being in NYC without having the native Google Maps App's transit info. I know there's other apps, but Google Maps was so detailed. The Web App SUCKS.

Download iTrans NYC -- it has incredible Subway information, right down to showing all of the alternate entrance staircases for each station. That said, you're right: the lack of this information in the default Maps app is inexcusable, especially given that we're taken to this app if we click any online map link. At the very least, Maps needs to show each NYC Subway station and what trains stop there (see Google Maps). Otherwise, Maps is nearly useless to the millions of New Yorkers who take the train rather than driving.
 

entropys

macrumors 65816
Jan 5, 2007
1,226
2,327
Brisbane, Australia
.....

Does Apple really want to be a mapping company indefinitely? Or was this just an act of hubris? It's not what they're good at. It's not in their "DNA" to borrow an over-used phrase!

This is an area where they need to partner.
Your post is quite insightful, but I do think they need to control certain apps on the iPhone, and mapping us become on of them. But yes it should be wide.y accessible, like the 'gasp' google one. And they should partner, but not with google. That would come with too many strings. Google wants your data. They aren't providing a service to you out of the goodness of their hearts, but because they want a lot of data on you to sell to advertisers, who are their true customers. I am not happy with that. At least with apple the relationship is more, direct. If they must partner with someone, buy out tomtom, garmin
Or whichever mapping company works best in which country. He'll,why not the lot? Or I have heard there is this struggling Scandinavian phone company that might be bought that has pretty good mapping.
 

cdmoore74

macrumors 68020
Jun 24, 2010
2,413
711
If Apple can sue Samsung for bouncy effects and multitouch (ideas that Steve Jobs stole from prior art) then these people should sue for having maps put them in danger. Sounds fair right?
 

Jess23

macrumors newbie
Dec 9, 2012
1
0
I have been pretty reasonable with Apple concerning maps. Sure it was something new, but the fact that these kind of issues still exist is frustrating. A month before Apple released iOS 6 I reported the relocation of I-40 running through Oklahoma City which took effect early this year. To this day they have yet to relocate the interstate! I do not expect a updated satellite image right away, but get an updated location on the standard map view. This is a high traffic interstate....not some side street. The traffic feature is useless in the area because of this.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.