Wow. Apple Maps is a disaster.

[HenryDJP]

Originally Posted by throAU

Different destinations.

. Well that's not the same as Maps "working" then "not working". If the user knows that Apple's maps are having issues and that user themselves had issues, then they try it again at one location and it works then but it doesn't work in another location then that falls into the category of "Fool me once shame on you, Fool me twice, shame on me".
No need to come here and complain about it when said user was having problems with Maps in the first place when they continue to allow themselves to step into poop. Apple hasn't issued a major fix as of yet and the fact that Google maps is now available per Apple's blessing that should prove that we won't see any major overhaul until iOS7.

Now, yes, while this thread is entitled "Apple Maps is a disaster", the people who continue to use it when they've had issues and come here barking about another dead-end that Maps routed them to makes them look a bit foolish. I highly doubt Apple is here collecting a bunch of info. Macrumors isn't Apple's main source for customer feedback, they have a section on their website for that and their own forums. Since I have to use my maps for real work I'll happily continue using proven technology, Garmin Street Pilot on demand.

[zioxide]

Originally Posted by Beeplance

Probably incompetence and complacency of a company sleeping on a S120 billion cash mattress. And this still happens despite the CEO issuing a letter of apology.

I know it may take some time to make corrections, but we should at least see some improvements by now. Apparently I don't see any in my area...

You do realize there are 7 billion people and 150 million square km of land on this planet and it's going to take a while for Apple's Maps team to map out everything. They could have 1,000 programmers working on it every day and it still would take time.

Be patient. There are more important things in life than a maps application on your cell phone.


There are also millions of people (me included) who use maps all of the time and have yet to encounter one problem with it.

[DaffyDuck]

Originally Posted by Beeplance

Probably incompetence and complacency of a company sleeping on a S120 billion cash mattress. And this still happens despite the CEO issuing a letter of apology.

I know it may take some time to make corrections, but we should at least see some improvements by now. Apparently I don't see any in my area...

I've posted about this many times but it's not as simple as you think to make corrections. Since they are merging many data sources, they likely can't just make changes to the final merged database. They have to either correct the algorithms that merge the data or submit changes to the data source in question and wait for them to send back a fresh set of data, which they can then re-merge into their database. Since Google is in full control of their data, they can make changes much faster. They don't have to do any, or at least as much, merging of 3rd party data. That means they can just go into their database and tweak it without worrying what would happen on a merge of fresh data from a provider. You have to realize that Yelp and TomTom are changing their data regularly and Apple has to be able to integrate those changes. They didn't just buy one set of data, merge it into their database, and then call it theirs. They have to send changes they want made to these providers, instead of just changing themselves within Apple maps so stuff doesn't get undone, duplicated, or whatever, when they merge new datasets.

[shandyman]

Originally Posted by wilsonlaidlaw

I have just checked Apple maps for my home location for the first time in a few months. I was apparently previously living in the middle of a featureless green blur when I last looked around October. Things have now improved. I actually have a semi-decent satellite picture. However, it is a surprisingly old image. It is showing a huge Cupressus hedge we cut down around 9 years ago and a car I sold in 2005. We have had two updates of our satellite imagery on Google since this. I would have thought that, when Apple was bringing out their "all singing; all dancing" version of Maps, at least when they finally did purchase satellite imagery, they would have bought up to date but it seems not. Is this down to incompetence or penny pinching?

It's the other way round for me. Apples maps are less than 6 months old here as the roundabout was changed to red road back in June. Google maps still shows my housing estate as only just starting to be built, which was about 10 years ago....

[wilsonlaidlaw]

Originally Posted by shandyman

It's the other way round for me. Apples maps are less than 6 months old here as the roundabout was changed to red road back in June. Google maps still shows my housing estate as only just starting to be built, which was about 10 years ago....

This is very odd. You would have thought that at least for one country, these companies would purchase one set of data with imagery within a few weeks or at least months of other data for that country. I don't know how much of this data is satellite and how much aerial photography. If a lot of it is aerial, it is more understandable, as different aerial mapping companies will be involved.

[WeegieMac]

I personally have replaced Apple's maps app with Google Maps, but not because I dislike Apple's maps app or I feel it doesn't work. My problem with Apple's maps app is that it's too "gimmicky", and by that I am referring to Flyover/3D.

I'll always take Street View over Flyover, because in my own opinion it's simply more usable within the context of what a Maps app should be used for. Flyover is great to showoff fully rendered 3D cities, but if you're going somewhere for the first time or have agreed to buy something from a seller on Gumtree, Street View is far more useful than Flyover for finding the street and checking it out before heading there.

I also don't require a Turn By Turn feature as I've owned the standalone, and far superior, TomTom app for over a year now. The UI for Apple's turn by turn is superb compared to Google Maps, although Google Maps turn by turn is also in beta according to the warning on first boot.

To each their own, but I don't think Apple's maps app is "a disaster" now after some months of work. Feature wise however, the combination of Google Maps and TomTom is far superior and more useful for me.

[aramelus]

In germany it is still a total disaster. I just looked again to see if something improved... still nothing changed at all. There are railway stations at the complete wrong position (moved directly into the city center, kilometers away from the actual railway line, which is however correct in the map).

Furthermore the application doesn't differentiate between state highways and federal highways (Staatsstraße/Bundesstraße). Sometimes the much more often used federal highway number disappears when zooming out and the smaller state highway is shown as more important street and so on.

The coolest thing in my town is, they even invented street names for highways

[throAU]

Originally Posted by HenryDJP

. Well that's not the same as Maps "working" then "not working".

You misunderstand my point.

The point is - for some destinations it works. This leads you up the garden path towards trusting it - only to discover that actually no it is still garbage.

I'm not claiming that it is unreliable or exhibits different behaviour from day to day for a single destination.

I'm claiming that it is not consistently accurate enough to risk using and that even if you can look up the address within the maps application for a place of business, it doesn't mean that apple maps can actually get you there.

If the user knows that Apple's maps are having issues and that user themselves had issues, then they try it again at one location and it works then but it doesn't work in another location then that falls into the category of "Fool me once shame on you, Fool me twice, shame on me".
No need to come here and complain about it when said user was having problems with Maps in the first place when they continue to allow themselves to step into poop. Apple hasn't issued a major fix as of yet and the fact that Google maps is now available per Apple's blessing that should prove that we won't see any major overhaul until iOS7.

I was merely reporting that it is still unreliable. I'm fully aware of the other options, and I was ready to use google maps IF it failed. I'm giving Apple Maps every chance I can, rather than just jump on the bandwagon and bitch about it without actually using it.

Apple claim to be working to fix maps ASAP. IOS7 is nothing to do with it as it is due to inaccurate cloud data, which is NOT embedded into iOS. I.e., the accuracy of Maps, and the release of iOS has nothing to do with one another.

Blaming the user for faults in the application is not going to resolve the issue or alert others to the problems the application still has.

[MozMan68]

Originally Posted by throAU

Apple claim to be working to fix maps ASAP. IOS7 is nothing to do with it as it is due to inaccurate cloud data, which is NOT embedded into iOS. I.e., the accuracy of Maps, and the release of iOS has nothing to do with one another.

I don't think anyone can say that with certainty at this point.

While your statement is true in the sense that they can fix/update continuously...and I believe there have been some improvements...since Google Maps has now been released, it is now in Apple's best interest to have a singular "fix" release from a strictly pr standpoint. I think they will do a large announcement, probably tied into ios7, that showcases new partnerships to fix the majority of the complaints "while we continue to make changes...blah blah blah..."

[The Phazer]

that showcases new partnerships to fix the majority of the complaints "while we continue to make changes...blah blah blah...

If that's Apple's strategy then they're truly screwed, there's nobody with the right data to partner with. It's all just a waste of resources that could be used to build something better.

I just had a look at one of my old corrections, that had been "fixed" incorrectly. It's been "fixed" again. Again incorrectly. The town hall that was a kebab shop or a closed down night club depending on your zoom and then was a chemist is now a church. Or the closed down nightclub again.

[m00min]

Originally Posted by The Phazer

If that's Apple's strategy then they're truly screwed, there's nobody with the right data to partner with. It's all just a waste of resources that could be used to build something better.

I just had a look at one of my old corrections, that had been "fixed" incorrectly. It's been "fixed" again. Again incorrectly. The town hall that was a kebab shop or a closed down night club depending on your zoom and then was a chemist is now a church. Or the closed down nightclub again.

It's the classic "not invented here" syndrome. A bit worrying really, I love my 4S but I keep having the nagging suspicion it may be my last iPhone. Not that I've admitted this to my Android-toting friends because I know I'd never hear the end of it. The lack of innovation (software and hardware) in favour of making stuff thinner, and the lack of a jailbreak so I can have some of the things Apple seem content to ignore (easily accessible wifi toggles, etc) might end up pushing me away.

[HenryDJP]

Originally Posted by MozMan68

I don't think anyone can say that with certainty at this point.

While your statement is true in the sense that they can fix/update continuously...and I believe there have been some improvements...since Google Maps has now been released, it is now in Apple's best interest to have a singular "fix" release from a strictly pr standpoint. I think they will do a large announcement, probably tied into ios7, that showcases new partnerships to fix the majority of the complaints "while we continue to make changes...blah blah blah..."

Yes, Apple along with many other companies wants more sales and they will use a "fix" to get you to buy new hardware. They did that with the iPhone 4. Antenna issues were "fixed" in iPhone 4S. Leopard issues were "fixed" in Snow Leopard. I don't personally see Apple fixing Maps so fast that we'll see it in iOS6. It's not like it's just a few bugs, a major overhaul is going to be required.

[CTHarrryH]

The problem with the maps is the data and not the application (for the most part) - that data sits in the "cloud" and doesn't require application or IOS updates.

This doesn't mean that Apple isn't holding some stuff back but the job of finding, VERIFYING and then updating all the map data is huge.

[sk24iam]

I was in a cab a few weeks ago and was heading to someone's house using the Apple Maps navigation. Long story short, the app directed us to the wrong side of town and cost me an increased cab fare. If it wasn't for someone else in the car that had google maps naviagation, it could have been worse.

[MasterHowl]

I used Maps today to get from Hudderseifld to a small town called Whitby (here in the UK). It was ~90 miles, and involved motorways, minor roads, A roads, loads of roundabouts etc.

Maps worked flawlessly! The graphical interface for the turn-by-turn was super easy to get info from at a glance (4S on a dashboard holder), Siri spoke clear instructions at the right times (not too early, not too late).

I can't fault maps where turn-by-turn is concerned, which is where I use it most. Granted, the satellite images of the city I passed on the way (York) is black and white, but since turn by turn is all vector graphics by Apple, that didnt matter.

I even started off the journey home by saying "Siri, show me the way home please" and it worked flawlessly. Can't fault it (as I say, where turn-by-turn is concerned). I've used it before to get to places I already knew the way to (just to see how accurate it was), and it worked every time. Today was the first time I went somewhere I'd never been before with it.

[moonman239]

I took a trip to another building. Apple Maps thought I could get to my destination not by turning onto the street the building is on, but by going down a little more until I was directly downhill from it. Luckily, I knew better.

Maps seems to work perfectly for Chuck Norris. The phone knows not to mess with him. He never visits the wrong house, you answer the wrong door.

[SprSynJn]

I got to test Maps out versus Google's yesterday. While Google's was able to locate a donut chain that Maps could not, Maps was able to find a burger chain that Google's could not. So I guess each one has their own priority. Will have to give the navigation a try.

[avanpelt]

Originally Posted by WeegieMac

I'll always take Street View over Flyover, because in my own opinion it's simply more usable within the context of what a Maps app should be used for. Flyover is great to showoff fully rendered 3D cities, but if you're going somewhere for the first time or have agreed to buy something from a seller on Gumtree, Street View is far more useful than Flyover for finding the street and checking it out before heading there.

You're 100% correct. Flyover would be useful if I was in a low-flying plane, perhaps; but since I get places by driving, Street View is much more useful because it gives me the perspective I'll actually have.

[Am3r1ca16]

If 3D maps doesn't improve by OS updates when do we get more 3D maps? I've seen the same 3D maps and no new ones.

[Nyy8]

I think flyover is quite cool tbh, if only it came to more cities/towns.

[tigertazz]

This is where apple thinks I live

next is where google says I live

apple maps usefulness

[shandyman]

Originally Posted by tigertazz

This is where apple thinks I live

Well from the look of it that's a GPS issue rather than apples maps.

[aristobrat]

Originally Posted by shandyman

Well from the look of it that's a GPS issue rather than apples maps.

Unless there are now houses build on that field.

[garybUK]

Originally Posted by aramelus

In germany it is still a total disaster. I just looked again to see if something improved... still nothing changed at all. There are railway stations at the complete wrong position (moved directly into the city center, kilometers away from the actual railway line, which is however correct in the map).

Furthermore the application doesn't differentiate between state highways and federal highways (Staatsstraße/Bundesstraße). Sometimes the much more often used federal highway number disappears when zooming out and the smaller state highway is shown as more important street and so on.

The coolest thing in my town is, they even invented street names for highways

I have no problem using it with the Bundesstraße 3 from Walldorf to Frankfurt using Apple Maps ?? even knows when i need to get off and head onto the autobahn, e35 or the 3.

[shandyman]

Originally Posted by aristobrat

Unless there are now houses build on that field.

Well without more detail from the person that posted, you're speculating, I was going on the details in the post, thus I said "from the looks.." Inviting him to give more info so we can actually know for sure. I did check the postcode in the search box on the screenshot but that's not iras both apple maps and google maps show it as the same as the other.