So... Are Apple Maps improving yet?

[saving107]

I can't speak for them, but, around me, almost all addresses are off by a good amount, detail is lacking in all the maps, and there are minimal POI listed.

I'm sure the experience is different for all of us.

I on the other hand have had great success. Every location I search (family, friends, favorites restaurants, favorite places I visit all from various cities) have been very accurate.

I even search Mexican restaurants, sandwich shops, etc... it is giving me more results than Google Maps does (my brother still has his 2nd generation iPod touch) and for my location the satellite view is more up to date than Google was.

I've also used the Turn-by-Turn navigation 9 times now and it has gotten me to my destination just fine.

 

[matttye]

How exactly are they unusable, you haven't stated that yet.

I will say this though, I do agree that some of the 3D mapping is showing up distorted but I don't see it as an issue because to me the 3D mapping is more of a gimmick and is unpractical in a real use case scenario, its a feature to show off to people, but I don't see myself using it often, if ever.

There are so many errors and omissions that they simply can't be trusted.

- One of the main POIs in my town appears as just a blank area on the vector maps and the POI label doesn't show up until you zoom right in. You could quite easily miss it.
- My local pub is about 200 metres away from where it should be.
- My local supermarket is not on the map at all, nor are three of the other supermarkets in my city. Maps wants to send me about half an hour away to buy groceries even though there's a store within five minutes' walking distance.
- There's a Clinton Cards which is shown as being in the river.
- The Probation Service is listed as being where the Jobcentre is, and the Jobcentre isn't on the map at all.
- There's a town near me called "Duncaster" when it should be "Doncaster."
- Local searches bring up completely irrelevant results sometimes (not always).
- Some shops are incorrectly labelled as being petrol stations.
- Tube and train stations in London use the same icon so they're indistinguishable, neither use the National Rail/London Underground icons.

These are just problems that are relevant to me. I haven't mentioned ones that I've seen but don't affect me.

 

[cyks]

I'm sure the experience is different for all of us.

I on the other hand have had great success. Every location I search (family, friends, favorites restaurants, favorite places I visit all from various cities) have been very accurate.

Glad they work for you, but, since they do, why bother coming into a thread discussing if any fixes have been reported?

 

[Brazuca]

I noticed some odd behaviour with a particular POI in NYC.

It is of the Central Park Zoo. As expected, it is about 100m too far to the east. But I noticed that twice it has changed names from "Central Park" to "Central Park Zoo". Regardless of the zoom level, or angle, or direction of the map.

I wonder if this is part of some automatic updating of POIs that is picking up the wrong Yelp info sometimes and the right one other times. Weird.

Despite this flipping back and forth, I have reported the wrong location and still no fix.

 

[Brazuca]

They expanded flyover to most of NYC now. Before it stopped half-way across the bridges and only to 115th st. Also covers parts of NJ and all the bridges are complete.

Finally some improvement, albeit in flyover.

 

[joesegh]

I posted a couple of error reports because a search for my parents house (using the full syntax, including city, state, and ZIP code), was showing up in the next town over (which also has a street with the same name). Weirdly, if I searched just address and ZIP, it showed up properly.

Anyway, the full address search now returns the right approximate area, but it is down the street. Submitted another report.

I think once they start to get all the processes in place to actually analyze the data it is receiving from users, we will start to see more rapid improvements.

After using Apple maps while traveling to Montreal last week, I must say it's started to grow on me. Unfortunately, we just need to give it some time to start to incorporate the undoubtedly huge number of error reports they are receiving.

All that said, I still hate the styling of highway roadsigns on the maps, and the lack of a differentiation between "major city street" and "minor side-street".

 

[dv8r]

I've had some editions to my town (Aarhus) in the last couple of hours. Just after installing IOS6, I submitted two missing railway stations and those have just been added. They also moved over 50+ POI's and renamed roughly 15 - most POI's are still not at the right places though, but at least they're getting closer to where they a supposed to be.

 

[tekno]

You're disappointed by unrealistic expectations?

In fairness, have Apple given any indication of when it'll be up-to-par? Not unreasonable to expect it to happen asap.

----------

Using Tom Tom and teleatlas a few years ago with a standalone device it took years to see corrections. I imagine it will be similar, months at the soonest. There is just too much information to process quickly.

But then those companies are much smaller. We're talking about a company with 100m iOS users and $100bn sitting in the bank.

 

[kappaknight]

In fairness, have Apple given any indication of when it'll be up-to-par? Not unreasonable to expect it to happen asap.

----------



But then those companies are much smaller. We're talking about a company with 100m iOS users and $100bn sitting in the bank.

Have you ever worked in a corporate office? It doesn't matter how much money is in the bank - there is a process. This isn't Apple just going out into the streets and picking up a couple of random people, offer them a few million dollars and expect them to be fixed in 3 days. It's COMPLETELY UNREASONABLE to expect it to happen ASAP, or have it done tomorrow, or while you're reading this message.

Apple needs to research and seek the right candidates from the right companies, negotiate the right contracts/salaries, they need to give their two week notices, the people then have to be brought up to speed after they come on board, then a plan has to be devised, implemented, executed, and repeated. All of this stuff takes time. If done right, it may be months before the first updates are applied but once it starts rolling, the revisions should happen quickly and often.

Frankly I'm shocked at the lack of common sense here with regards to how things work in the real world.

 

[dv8r]

Apple needs to research and seek the right candidates from the right companies, negotiate the right contracts/salaries, they need to give their two week notices, the people then have to be brought up to speed after they come on board, then a plan has to be devised, implemented, executed, and repeated.

Does sound like something they should have done before starting their maps adventure, no?

They're scrambling to fix a mess so it's not unreasonable to expect some kind of faster pace on this. But it's a good thing that people now experience first hand that this thing won't be fixed or be up to speed within a couple of weeks/months - a lot of the users in these forums seem to think so.

 

[mnemonix]

I'm sure the experience is different for all of us.

I on the other hand have had great success. Every location I search (family, friends, favorites restaurants, favorite places I visit all from various cities) have been very accurate.

Your complete logic failure is thus:

You presumably know where all these places are, have checked them in maps and all seem to be where you expect. Excellent, I'm pleased for you.

However, given the rather large number of reports of inaccuracies you must surely accept the fact that such innacuracies also exist.

How then can you be sure next time you want to visit somewhere you don't already know it will be as Maps tells you?

If, for example, you wish to vacation in the UK there is a high probability you will end up in the wrong city, or the wrong part of the country entirely. Will that be acceptable to you having spent hours travelling there?

You may wish to check each and every location in advance, with a phonecall perhaps? (Just how do you phone a city to check it where you expect it to be by the way?) Could get expensive in a foreign country... Or perhaps just use an alternative mapping solution that is less error prone? Or come to your senses, accept what people are telling you about how poor maps is and lobby Apple to do something about them before you too, end up miles from anywhere without a paddle.

Your positive experience literally means nothing when functionality which by its nature has to be universally correct, is not.

 

[phpmaven]

Glad they work for you, but, since they do, why bother coming into a thread discussing if any fixes have been reported?

Usually when people make posts like this it's to try and bring some balance and reality into the discussion. That's usually why I make "it's working fine for me" posts. Not to discount that there are issues, which there are, but to counter the extreme points of view that many seem to take.

Having said that, it seems that there are far more issues in the UK than in the States. There are issues here as we'll. I'm in Hawaii at the moment and have been using the maps app and Ted's Bakery, which is a well known restaurant on Oahu, was shown in the correct spot but the turn by turn directions took you several miles in the wrong direction.

So for many of us, there are some issues but it seems to be working pretty well in most cases.

 

[OllyW]

Dudley is still miles away from where it should be...

 

[NT1440]

We all know that Apple has indicated they are working around the clock to fix the problems with Maps, but has anybody actually noticed improvements yet?

I reported a number of errors on iOS 6 release day but none of them have been fixed yet.

....

Learn how software works.

 

[BoxerGT2.5]

I'm sure the experience is different for all of us.

I on the other hand have had great success. Every location I search (family, friends, favorites restaurants, favorite places I visit all from various cities) have been very accurate.

I even search Mexican restaurants, sandwich shops, etc... it is giving me more results than Google Maps does (my brother still has his 2nd generation iPod touch) and for my location the satellite view is more up to date than Google was.

I've also used the Turn-by-Turn navigation 9 times now and it has gotten me to my destination just fine.

I would hope apple could at least get their home state right.

 

[tekno]

Have you ever worked in a corporate office? It doesn't matter how much money is in the bank - there is a process. This isn't Apple just going out into the streets and picking up a couple of random people, offer them a few million dollars and expect them to be fixed in 3 days. It's COMPLETELY UNREASONABLE to expect it to happen ASAP, or have it done tomorrow, or while you're reading this message.

Actually, I haven't ever worked in an office. But surely, if people are putting-forward corrections (as seems to be the case based on these forums) which, months later, aren't showing up, Apple need to employ more people to update the maps with people's suggestions? I'm sure I'm wrong, but I've always pictured Apple being a relatively small group of people and it wouldn't surprise me to learn that the Maps app is being developed by about six people.

As for it being "COMPLETELY UNREASONABLE", I think it is completely unreasonable that Apple didn't ensure the app was up-to-par before forcing it on their loyal users.

 

[The Phazer]

A bunch of "corrections" have been made in London today.

Most of them are still wrong. Sometimes in new ways.

 

[cyks]

It's COMPLETELY UNREASONABLE to expect it to happen ASAP, or have it done tomorrow, or while you're reading this message.

All of this stuff takes time. If done right, it may be months before the first updates are applied but once it starts rolling, the revisions should happen quickly and often.

Frankly I'm shocked at the lack of common sense here with regards to how things work in the real world.

As I pointed out earlier in the thread, Google, Bing, Waze, and others generally make changes to their maps within 2 weeks (often less).


Why is it unreasonable to expect Apple to work in the same time frame?

....

Learn how software works.

By all means, please enlighten us.

 

[Brazuca]

A bunch of "corrections" have been made in London today.

Most of them are still wrong. Sometimes in new ways.

They are having a hard time with you driving on the wrong side of the road

 

[mds]

They fixed the way the Brooklyn Bridge looks in flyover.

 

[rocknblogger]

Have you ever worked in a corporate office? It doesn't matter how much money is in the bank - there is a process. This isn't Apple just going out into the streets and picking up a couple of random people, offer them a few million dollars and expect them to be fixed in 3 days. It's COMPLETELY UNREASONABLE to expect it to happen ASAP, or have it done tomorrow, or while you're reading this message.

Apple needs to research and seek the right candidates from the right companies, negotiate the right contracts/salaries, they need to give their two week notices, the people then have to be brought up to speed after they come on board, then a plan has to be devised, implemented, executed, and repeated. All of this stuff takes time. If done right, it may be months before the first updates are applied but once it starts rolling, the revisions should happen quickly and often.

Frankly I'm shocked at the lack of common sense here with regards to how things work in the real world.

I agree with you 100%. Just want to add that not only do they have to put a new team together, there's a high probability that they have to completely recode the database and how the information is collated. For the most part Tomtom's maps are correct but the integration process is where the problems start. Here's a good post about the problems and challenges that Apple faces. The link was posted in another thread by a different user but everyone should read this. Especially those with high hopes for a quick fix.

http://blog.telemapics.com/?p=399

 

[kappaknight]

As I pointed out earlier in the thread, Google, Bing, Waze, and others generally make changes to their maps within 2 weeks (often less).

Why is it unreasonable to expect Apple to work in the same time frame?

You are naming companies that already have the staff and the infrastructure in place. Maps is a new venture for Apple. Sure, they have some staff but obviously the ones in place botched it up by most of your accounts - so hiring new, more senior people, and putting in a better way of updating/fixing things take time.

This doesn't even have to do with understanding corporate politics - but more, understanding common sense.

 

[rocknblogger]

As I pointed out earlier in the thread, Google, Bing, Waze, and others generally make changes to their maps within 2 weeks (often less).


Why is it unreasonable to expect Apple to work in the same time frame?





By all means, please enlighten us.

I don't know about Bing and Waze but Google has 7,000 people working on maps at any given time. With the amount of wrong data (in the millions?) and corrections coming in, it can take a very long time to see corrections. I read somewhere that Apple has about 200 people working on maps. I would guess that only a certain percentage check the incoming corrections. The math is overwhelming at this point in time.

 

[Brazuca]

I don't know about Bing and Waze but Google has 7,000 people working on maps at any given time. With the amount of wrong data (in the millions?) and corrections coming in, it can take a very long time to see corrections. I read somewhere that Apple has about 200 people working on maps. I would guess that only a certain percentage check the incoming corrections. The math is overwhelming at this point in time.

I have yet to see the original source for that 7000 number. It would be interesting if they are counting all the contractors, etc. Then you would have to count Yelp staff, TomTom, etc.

Does anyone have the source?

 

[kappaknight]

Actually, I haven't ever worked in an office. But surely, if people are putting-forward corrections (as seems to be the case based on these forums) which, months later, aren't showing up, Apple need to employ more people to update the maps with people's suggestions? I'm sure I'm wrong, but I've always pictured Apple being a relatively small group of people and it wouldn't surprise me to learn that the Maps app is being developed by about six people.

As for it being "COMPLETELY UNREASONABLE", I think it is completely unreasonable that Apple didn't ensure the app was up-to-par before forcing it on their loyal users.

If you what you claim is true, then you should know the importance of hiring the right 7th or 8th person to put on that team. It will take time to find the right candidates - certainly more than 10 days. Yes, Apple could hire a bunch of monkeys and have them punch random keys but I'm sure its users and its stock holders would have even less confidence in the team if they did that.

As for your second comment, I don't completely agree with you. If this was 30 years ago when products cannot be updated w/ a patch or software update, I would totally agree. However, we don't live in that era any more. All applications are being updated constantly and maps of all projects is the one thing that will forever be a work in progress. To say that Apple shouldn't release the maps until it's "done" would mean Apple and every other company should never release a map period.