Apple Confirms 'Applebot' as In-House Web Crawler for Services Like Siri and Spotlight

[0098386]

I would downvote you if I could.
Apple and google maps are good at different things. google search though is just a paid service where google chooses some of the higher bidders to get better search results. It's not an unbiased internet search.

I know what you mean. Apple maps consistently gives me wrong info (nearest restaurant, nearest chain stores, thinks paths are roads) but it's nice to fly around in 3D if your area is supported! Whereas Google, well their maps info is right and works loads better but they... um... their 3D maps aren't as highly detailed as Apples? I guess that's something!

 

[a0me]

I would downvote you if I could.
Apple and google maps are good at different things. google search though is just a paid service where google chooses some of the higher bidders to get better search results. It's not an unbiased internet search.

Please. Google Maps has partnered with mapping companies which provide maps that are way more accurate than whatever Apple Maps uses.

 

[mdelvecchio]

Interesting. But just as Apple Maps is no match for Google Maps,

funny, people like to say that, but all i use is AM. and per the net traffic, the stat counters say the majority of iOS users just use AM.

 

[SusanK]

Remember when Apple was spun as focusing on a few things and doing them really well?

I heard a rumor that next week Apple is going to get into the business of making oven mits and salsa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA3qAVOLIsU

New sheriff in town.

 

[Thunderhawks]

Next:

Apple Sauce

With all the services that don't work well in one folder, so we don't have to hide them or remove from the dock.

 

[mdelvecchio]

Don’t be ridiculous. Apple Maps is only available on Apple devices IIAC. Google maps is available everywhere on every platform.

hes not being ridiculous -- on the iOS platform, apple has stolen the maps market share. heres a story on it from two years ago:

https://www.macrumors.com/2013/11/1...-all-other-ios-mapping-apps-including-google/

...that will only have continued to get worse for GM on iOS.

----------

The first thing Steve Jobs did upon his return to Apple was significantly cut the number of products they offered and forced the company to focus on what it did well. The sheer number of SKU's currently between the iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch alone seem to suggest history is repeating itself.

Does the average consumer (not the average reader of this blog) really have any idea what the difference between the iPhone 5s, 5c, 6, and 6 Plus is - or even care?

yes, the consumer knows the difference in sizes -- and thats what most of those are. nobody counts the number of different sizes in the macbook lines, so your comparison is off.

 

[bbydon]

This is Apple's product line up. Everything else supports these guys. It is already focused.

 

[TallManNY]

The iPhone can easily be broken down into 4 products right now: 5C, 5S, 6, 6+. Most customers don't know the difference. The iPad can be broken down in iPad and iPad Mini, with an iPad Pro on the horizon. The Apple Watch has 3 models. Then they have 3 iPod lines.

The Mac lines currently have at least 6 products, but I would actually argue that the MacBook Pro is 3 lines (13", 13" retina, and 15"), and that the iMac is also 3 lines (21", 27", 27" retina). So you arrive at 10 different Mac lines there.

The only product line that doesn't seem muddled is the Apple TV.

So all together they've got 23 different product lines (+ the iPad Pro is coming, so 24). I think it's too many. As someone else said, when Steve Jobs came back to Apple, he cut down the number of product lines from dozens down to just 4.

It'd be interesting to see how many product lines Apple had when Steve Jobs died vs how many they have now... but I don't have the time to go back and see which exact product lines they had at the time of his death. I expect I'd find it was less than 18, though.

Come on, you think the average consumer can't tell the difference between the 6 and 6+? The difference is size. The difference between the 5s and the 6? The difference is the 5s was the one sold last year. 5c? Okay, a bit more difficult to tell, but it is the plastic one with colors and it is cheap. This isn't complicated.

The Mac line is a bit complicated, but then this is a serious purchase to last many years. And Apple pretty much makes the price point be a helpful guide. Spend more and you will get a better computer. It is generally that simple. So people put in some work before they buy their computer.

The watch is simple as well. All the watches have exactly the same functionality, differences between them are entirely cosmetic with the one difference being that the sapphire screen is a bit more durable than the ION-X screen.

iPad is simple as well. Mini or Air, old model or current model, there are two choices to make (setting aside storage space, which is also a very simple decision).

Apple makes very few products when you consider the size of the company the size of the stores it sells out of.

 

[till213]

I would downvote you if I could.
Apple and google maps are good at different things. google search though is just a paid service where google chooses some of the higher bidders to get better search results. It's not an unbiased internet search.

I would downvote you if I could.

There is so much fail in this post! You are confusing Google search results in the main column with paid advertised search results on the right column.

You cannot - I repeat - you cannot influence the normal search results with money! There are hundreds of criteria how Google calculates the "page ranking" (download speed of the page itself, distribution of key words, links from other sites, ...)... but money is not one of them!

 

[69Mustang]

This! I have switched over to DuckDuckGo and it works just fine and has a way better privacy policy. Apple could buy and improve on their technology. And I am not aware of any Patent disputes with DDG, which could be important.

You mean buy DDG and turn it into an Apple exclusive? Uh, no thanks.

 

[till213]

Don’t be ridiculous. Apple Maps is only available on Apple devices IIAC.

And even there I prefer the Google solution. Way more accurate. Includes time tables from buses, trains etc. - a must-have for urban people!

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

The first thing Steve Jobs did upon his return to Apple was significantly cut the number of products they offered and forced the company to focus on what it did well. The sheer number of SKU's currently between the iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch alone seem to suggest history is repeating itself.

Exactly and that's the point. Apple is much bigger than back then so they necessarily need to be developing and marketing more things. But they can still be relatively focused on a smaller mix of things rather than sometimes appearing to be trying to become a competitor in (too) many things well outside of what seems to be their core. That doesn't mean they can't do something radically different (such as the rumored iCar) but why are they messing around in stuff like this (if this actually would turn out to be an Apple search engine) or an alternative to Spotify/Pandora, etc. If such thrusts are important to bigger picture objectives, buy out established competitors rather than being late to the party.

But that's just my opinion; others will certainly vary. And, of course if Apple rolls out any home grown challenger to well established solutions in the marketplace, many of us will quickly crown it "perfection" and "99.9% don't need anything else" and begin a steady campaign of poo-pooing the long-established, effective solution that is objectively still superior (I'm looking at you Maps at what- about 4-5 years after launch and still taking me to wrong locations from time to time).

 

[StoneJack]

The first thing Steve Jobs did upon his return to Apple was significantly cut the number of products they offered and forced the company to focus on what it did well. The sheer number of SKU's currently between the iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch alone seem to suggest history is repeating itself.

Does the average consumer (not the average reader of this blog) really have any idea what the difference between the iPhone 5s, 5c, 6, and 6 Plus is - or even care? Even the Apple Watch is a mash up of SKU's. Leave Google search as the default, keep Beats out of my iPhone, and focus on building the best iPhone you can.

You are forgetting that then Apple didn't produce smartphones, mp3 players, hifi players, hadn't software and music stores, didn't produce TV boxes, tablets - all products pioneered and supported by Jobs. So, the focusing was in computer era, not in later electronics era.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

This is Apple's product line up. Everything else supports these guys. It is already focused.

Does the black background in that image symbolically represent iCloud and all of the services that Apple seems to be trying to manage, enter and/or dominate... stuff like iTunes Store, both App Stores, iTunes Match, iRadio, Siri, iAd, Maps, Healthkit, Homekit, Swift, all things iCloud and so on?

Or do you just ignore them to try to imply that Apple really is very focused on just 5 product lines?

The gripe is not against the concept that Apple makes watch, iPhone, tablet, laptops & desktops. It's all these seeming tangents that pop up- like this one- when we're still dealing with iOS 8 or OS X bugs long after the latest incarnations of both are out. Again, not saying that Apple shouldn't strive to become more but this is the kind of thread that makes it look like Apple is trying to get into all kinds of things when some such stuff is probably already best covered by established players.

Could Apple build a better search engine than Google? Maybe? Probably? But I just got lost again by following Apple Maps yesterday. Could Apple maybe "catch up" with Google Maps before trying to become Google Search? iPad Mini just crashed yesterday in Safari. Could iOS bugs that yield crashes get squashed before trying to roll out a premium Spotify (does anyone with an objective mind actually want a premium-priced Spotify?). Etc.

 

[zedsdead]

Apple should use http://www.siri.com for search.

Siri is already a known brand.

But Apple's services are hit or miss, so I am not so eager about this Applebot news anyway.

My biggest problem...if you misspell something, the search stops...really? They can't figure this out yet.

 

[AdonisSMU]

The first thing Steve Jobs did upon his return to Apple was significantly cut the number of products they offered and forced the company to focus on what it did well. The sheer number of SKU's currently between the iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch alone seem to suggest history is repeating itself.

Does the average consumer (not the average reader of this blog) really have any idea what the difference between the iPhone 5s, 5c, 6, and 6 Plus is - or even care? Even the Apple Watch is a mash up of SKU's. Leave Google search as the default, keep Beats out of my iPhone, and focus on building the best iPhone you can.

It's a different consumer base. You can take some lessons from history but not all of them apply. Consumers are infinitely more tech savvy now then they were previously.

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Apple should use http://www.siri.com for search.

Siri is already a known brand.

But Apple's services are hit or miss, so I am not so eager about this Applebot news anyway.

My biggest problem...if you misspell something, the search stops...really? They can't figure this out yet.

i really think web and other software services is where Apple can make the biggest gains.

 

[ThisIsNotMe]

Tough to compete with Google, especially in its bread and butter. But just like Apple Maps has taken huge market share from Google Maps (and I believe growing as iPhone takes market share from PCs and Android Smart Phones), I suspect this search will take market share from Google.

Not to mention that Google abused it monopoly position when launching Google Maps.

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so i like the ability to use duckduckgo with chrome.

lol.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Not to mention that Google abused it monopoly position when launching Google Maps.

Are you implying Apple doesn't "abuse" it's powers as lord of iDevices and iOS?

If the point was about Google Maps for iOS leading to Apple Maps, if you go back and read the actual details, it was never about holding back features for the iDevice version... just that Google wanted a better deal from Apple. Instead of Apple paying for the best, they decided to roll their own. We users still pay the price each time Apple Maps takes us to wrong place and we pull up Google Maps to get us to the right place (just happened to me again yesterday).

Does Google sometimes flex it's muscles in pursuit of more revenue & profit? Certainly. But so does Apple. I don't see one as more of an abuser than another- just two very capable companies good at what they do trying to be as successful as they can be... even if sometimes we- their users- are the casualties of the decisions they make.

 

[rekhyt]

Bup bup bup! Apple is shaking things up.

Google did Android, Apple will do 'Apple Search' (Or a new moniker like 'Wayfinder' or something like that).

Google's having a lot of trouble 'becoming like Apple' (Chromebook Pixel: Too expensive, poor sales. Android hardware division destroyed after Hugo Barra went to Xiaomi after the situation with Brin), but Apple's steadily gaining on Google's home turf (iCloud, after its many revisions... iTools, .Mac, MobileMe, iCloud... is finally decent. The web interface is good, the online productivity apps is very, very good, and the underlying infrastructure is getting there (with iCloud Drive being the last piece of the puzzle). Apple Maps is slowly gaining as well as it is used more.)

With Apple being able to form amicable partnerships with social networks (Twitter, Facebook, ... Meanwhile, the other social networks are very reluctant to give Google access to their data, due to the threat that the big 'G' poses.), Apple will be able to catch up and surpass Google very easily.

Online browser-based search was big in the 2000s.

Mobile, tablet and apps-based search will be big in the latter half of the 2010s.

 

[citysnaps]

Does the black background in that image symbolically represent iCloud and all of the services that Apple seems to be trying to manage, enter and/or dominate... stuff like iTunes Store, both App Stores, iTunes Match, iRadio, Siri, iAd, Maps, Healthkit, Homekit, Swift, all things iCloud and so on?

Or do you just ignore them to try to imply that Apple really is very focused on just 5 product lines?

The gripe is not against the concept that Apple makes watch, iPhone, tablet, laptops & desktops. It's all these seeming tangents that pop up- like this one- when we're still dealing with iOS 8 or OS X bugs long after the latest incarnations of both are out. Again, not saying that Apple shouldn't strive to become more but this is the kind of thread that makes it look like Apple is trying to get into all kinds of things when some such stuff is probably already best covered by established players.

Could Apple build a better search engine than Google? Maybe? Probably? But I just got lost again by following Apple Maps yesterday. Could Apple maybe "catch up" with Google Maps before trying to become Google Search? iPad Mini just crashed yesterday in Safari. Could iOS bugs that yield crashes get squashed before trying to roll out a premium Spotify (does anyone with an objective mind actually want a premium-priced Spotify?). Etc.

Some people, usually people who frequent and live on tech forums, seem to routinely have problems with their devices. Yet tens/hundreds of millions of others don't and are pleased every day. For the last two years Maps hasn't lead me astray, and my iPhones and iPads have not crashed over multiple generations.

That's the nature of anecdotal comments - they really aren't worth much other than to those those who like to get on forums and have something, anything, to say.

What counts, are people who repeatedly open their wallets and buy Apple products and who continue to be delighted over the years, propelling Apple with extraordinary sales and profits quarter after quarter.

The rest is mere noise.

 

[firewood]

Why not just buy Google?

Anti-trust laws.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Some people, usually people who frequent and live on tech forums, seem to routinely have problems with their devices. Yet tens/hundreds of millions of others don't and are pleased every day. For the last two years Maps hasn't lead me astray, and my iPhones and iPads have not crashed over multiple generations.

That's the nature of anecdotal comments - they really aren't worth much other than to those those who like to get on forums and have something, anything, to say.

What counts, are people who repeatedly open their wallets and buy Apple products and who continue to be delighted over the years, propelling Apple with extraordinary sales and profits quarter after quarter.

The rest is mere noise.

OK, I appreciate the "millions and millions can't be wrong" argument. Millions and millions of people smoke and do drugs too so I guess them "opening their wallets to buy" and "continue to be delighted over the years" makes those products at least as good as anything from Apple as well.

On a personal level, I bet I own more Apple stuff than you, so apparently, my opinion probably counts at least as much as your opinion. I'm happy that you never have a problem with Apple Maps and that your iPhones and iPads never crash. How wonderful for you. Unfortunately, I am not so lucky (or blind).

I think people who post comments that are not Apple "rah rah" are not necessarily doing so to waste their time or as part of "living on tech forums". Instead, I think they post because they care... they want their products to work better or wonder if maybe others in the community might have a way to resolve issues. If every thread here reflected your experiences:
-that you never have any issues with Maps
-that you never have any issues with iDevice's crashing
etc, this community would quickly die of sheer boredom. 500 posts of "rah rah Apple" for every thread would get old fast. All positive or all negative posts to everything Apple would also get old fast.

In a survey of 2 here- you and me- you allegedly never have a single problem with Apple software and I have some problems with Apple software. Unless you or I are a complete anomaly, I would guess that "millions and millions" probably share in our experiences of either Apple perfection or Apple Not Quite (perfection). Overall the experience of owning and buying Apple yields either perfection and "delight" for those like you or "happy enough" with the whole experience to put up with some issues for people like me. It doesn't necessarily mean that millions and millions have replications of your or my experiences with our Apple stuff.

 

[TMRJIJ]

Does the black background in that image symbolically represent iCloud and all of the services that Apple seems to be trying to manage, enter and/or dominate... stuff like iTunes Store, both App Stores, iTunes Match, iRadio, Siri, iAd, Maps, Healthkit, Homekit, Swift, all things iCloud and so on?

Or do you just ignore them to try to imply that Apple really is very focused on just 5 product lines?

The gripe is not against the concept that Apple makes watch, iPhone, tablet, laptops & desktops. It's all these seeming tangents that pop up- like this one- when we're still dealing with iOS 8 or OS X bugs long after the latest incarnations of both are out. Again, not saying that Apple shouldn't strive to become more but this is the kind of thread that makes it look like Apple is trying to get into all kinds of things when some such stuff is probably already best covered by established players.

Could Apple build a better search engine than Google? Maybe? Probably? But I just got lost again by following Apple Maps yesterday. Could Apple maybe "catch up" with Google Maps before trying to become Google Search? iPad Mini just crashed yesterday in Safari. Could iOS bugs that yield crashes get squashed before trying to roll out a premium Spotify (does anyone with an objective mind actually want a premium-priced Spotify?). Etc.

You are aware that there are teams/divisions at Apple. The people who are working on Apple Maps are different from the people who are working on your bug fixes. Then they probably submit their work to another team that puts it all together. It's not like the engineers are going back and forward between iCloud, Map, iTunes, and now this.

Plus I can't much of your third paragraph seriously since you complain about iOS 8 and OS X bugs when history showed that they had some bad bugs and releases in the past even with a few product and service lines.

 

[firewood]

I guess maybe no lessons were learned from Apple Maps vs Google maps.

The lesson learned is that it takes a few years of making bad maps before creating good maps. So if consumers want to create competition for a better search experience than Google currently provides, expect to be hit with a few years of bad default search by Apple. They plan for the long run.

Lesson learned.

 

[Proven-PPC-Mgr]

Why not just buy Google?

Apple and Duck Duck Go have similar philosophies about user privacy. That's why it makes sense for them to acquire Duck Duck Go instead of Google, Bing, or Yahoo.

One of the core principles of Duck Duck Go is that their search engine does not track users:

https://duckduckgo.com/about

Their motto is "The search engine that doesn't track you." Duck Duck Go would be a great fit for Apple's culture.