Everyone knows that Apple invented GPS navigation. Google and Mapquest copied Apple, retroactively.
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Apple Exec Explains Why You Should Use Apple Maps
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So if we develop with say Dart/Flutter and deploy to both iOS & Android, can we use Apple Maps API in Android apps too? If not, that is an issue.
Why? Because you said that you can forget about using it in Europe. I have used Apple Maps for driving in Portugal, Sweden, Poland, Czech Republic, Greece without issues. Also you didn’t say anything about Eastern Europe - you said ”Europe”. Poland and Czech Republic would include Eastern Europe in my experience friend.
The heart breaking thing about using apple maps is that it is now very good. A lot of work has gone into making it better. Yet, you can’t turn the labels off, which makes navigating or exploring incredibly cluttered, especially when in a city.
I am still using Google maps. More reliable maps and data, prefer the GUI, locations reviews, real-time traffic data based on more users, and last but not least; just like with Facetime or iMessage, Apple focuses too much on their US customers (combined with vendor lock-in). I can't stand that arrogance, and many Europeans agree with me. So I surely don't use all their offered services.
I bicycle year round as my only mode of transportation and apple doesn’t support this in Minnesota so I’m stuck using google maps. For a company that talks about being environmentally conscious I’m amazed at how they only seem to care about car driving directions.
It makes sense, actually: you are not a threat to the environment if you take the long way around
Apple needs to spend some money making it available in Latam, it’s useless in here.
Apple Maps Product Lead David Dorn and Design Lead Meg Frost recently did an interview with CNN to explain the Apple Maps features that were introduced with the iOS 15 update and to explain why iPhone users should choose Apple Maps over other mapping apps like Google and Waze.
According to Dorn, there are three major reasons why Apple Maps is the best choice.
Apple's effort into improving the Maps app can be seen in iOS 15, an update that added new 3D city details in select areas like London, New York, Los Angeles, and the San Francisco Bay Area. There are also navigation updates that add more detail at complex interchanges. Frost said that Apple wanted to make maps "both safer and visually satisfying to navigate."
- Apple is making serious investments into Maps to improve it.
- Privacy is central and Apple isn't tracking your location for data purposes when you use Apple Maps.
- Maps is part of the Apple ecosystem and integrates well with other Apple devices and services.
As for the 3D landmarks added in the update, each landmark is created by hand. "We pick the amount of detail we find appropriate and create a 3D mesh of the building landmark itself. And we apply it to the base map," Frost told CNN.
The full Apple Maps interview can be read over on CNN's website, and it provides more detail on features like Share ETA, CarPlay, real-time AR walking directions, and more.
Article Link: Apple Exec Explains Why You Should Use Apple Maps
Well, I would give the current French iteration about 5-6 out of 10.
I regularly use AM, Google Maps and Waze, mostly for driving. AM can be ok for walking in cities too, but you cannot rely on it in less populated areas yet. Say, walking in the woods would be impossible here, while Google does the job very well.
I believe that Apple’s fundamental mistake while developing their Maps was focusing from the start on the appearances while missing out on the core mapping services, like a solid, accurate and logical POI database, allowing us to find places nearby, not in a different country or continent.
I also like AM appearance the most and happy to see that at least now they are correcting my submitted errors within about a week, as opposed to hardly ever before.
I will not abandon AM just of its sheer eye candy, but there is still a lot of work to be done and the competition is not sleeping either.
This is a good article about the latest developments between Apple & Google mapping efforts:
Timeline of Countries Covered by Google’s & Apple’s Proprietary Map Data
www.justinobeirne.com
Exactly. And that's useless. Especially when Google Maps is a 9-10 out of 10.
I like Apple Maps, and I do my best to use it whenever I can. But most of the time, despite my best intentions, I end up cursing it and having to open Google Maps instead.
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