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Apple Exec Explains Why You Should Use Apple Maps
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Apple really dropped the ball by not buying Waze before Google did.
I think Apple Maps has come a long way and looks aesthetically superior to Google Maps and Waze. However, Google Maps torches them on POIs and Waze gets my vote for distance driving due to the reporting feature (mainly cops). Waze is also the goto app when I'm driving but don't necessarily need navigation and just want to see if any hazards are coming along the route.
One area where Apple came out on top in my experience was back when I did some UberEats on the side. Apple tends to be more accurate when directing you to the exact location of residencies and other buildings with the 3D feature.
I think Apple Maps has come a long way and looks aesthetically superior to Google Maps and Waze. However, Google Maps torches them on POIs and Waze gets my vote for distance driving due to the reporting feature (mainly cops). Waze is also the goto app when I'm driving but don't necessarily need navigation and just want to see if any hazards are coming along the route.
One area where Apple came out on top in my experience was back when I did some UberEats on the side. Apple tends to be more accurate when directing you to the exact location of residencies and other buildings with the 3D feature.
Accuracy of the survey notwithstanding, I don't deny that google maps is an excellent service, but that doesn't mean that Apple Maps is all that bad. It's pretty reliable in my country (Singapore), and I think that's really the key threat to Google. That Apple Maps is good enough that people decide they don't really need all the extra bells and whistles that come from Google Maps, and are content to use the preinstalled default on their iPhone because really, what most people need from a maps app is to be able to tell them how to get from A to B.
One cool thing is that I can go "Hey Siri, how do I get to XX location" on my Apple Watch and it will bring up turn by turn walking directions on my wrist. It's those little refinements that Google services don't get to enjoy by virtue of being relegated to a third party app on the iOS platform. And looking at the google services I do use, many of them are more out of necessity than any "pure joy". And as I type out this response to you, I remember that a lot of my ambivalence towards google products is primarily due to the poor state of support for their iOS apps.
For example, I use the gmail app because that's the only app that works with my school's google account, but it lacks basic stuff like supporting group emails (I ended up using Cardhop to get around this), and support for the files app only came recently. I use chrome on my Mac because my school uses google docs a lot and it's better than IE on my windows device, but I prefer Safari on iOS for ad-blockers and reading list. Speaking of which, their google drive apps are very bare-bones compared to the browser variant. Passable for viewing documents, impossible to get any serious work done, which is the opposite of Apple's approach (excellent native apps, crappy browser versions of their apps and services), and I find this goes a long way towards reinforcing my decision to go all-in on the Apple ecosystem. Everything is just more seamless.
I use google classroom for posting assignments to my students, but the app is noticeably missing the ability to reply to students' comments. I watch YouTube a lot (because that's where all the creator content is), and I pay for Premium so I don't have to deal with annoying ads, but it took Youtube a good 5 years to support PIP, and they especially went out of their way to neuter the apps (like Protube) that did. Youtube Music is a joke (no split-screen support), and you would think that my music video playlists or listening history in YouTube would find a way to sync over, but no.
Google assistant is a non-starter for iOS users. I have also switched to DDG for Safari, and the instance there is any opening for me to replace another google service with an Apple-equivalent one, I will.
Agree that Apple Maps is pretty. It’s the nicest looking now but I’m just far enough outside London (about 8 miles) that the real detail is not there (hardly in the wilderness).
One thing Apple Maps could do that no other mapping service does or takes seriously is allow you to avoid single track roads. Again this is where being US-centric is a pain for the rest of the world. You can no doubt travel 400 miles on a single track road in North America and not encounter an oncoming vehicle. The UK is much more densely populated and it would be a huge improvement to be able to avoid single track roads in places you’re unfamiliar.
Yep, I've tried Apple Maps a few times, but a map is useless if it is out of date and also can't even find all the locations I'm searching for, even if they've existed for decades. Google Maps still rules the roost.
I find the new driving aids in Apple Maps extremely helpful. Turn at the next traffic lights etc, the graphics are nice as well. The search is not very good and quite often gives the wrong location or gives a lot of different locations. In general, AM has improved a lot, and happy to use AM for most of my diving.
Most of Apple’s search sucks. They don’t even use the same search or list sorting algorithms across in house applications or in macOS and iOS.
I want to switch but sorry Apple Maps still has a while to reach Waze...Waze works better for me using CarPlay
Same idea applies for basic google search for rest of world. Apple doesn’t bother with a search engine because google pays them billions.
I mean what kind of title is this? “Apple Exec says you should use Apple Maps”. Imagine that. Well I’m sure an executive working for Apple isn’t going to say use Google Maps or something other than their own company’s maps.
It does! However, I can say that even though I’ve been reporting speed checks often for over a year I only received my first “speed check ahead”notification last month. Glad to see they’re finally getting better at announcing the data users input, but I understand why Waze users find it subpar.
You may not have realized it, but that feature is available in Apple maps already…
Works fine for me. I know I can’t get away from google services totally but I do try to minimise it.
Have used it on 3 continents and probably close to 15 countries (granted this wasn’t in the last 2 years) without any major problems.
Have used it on 3 continents and probably close to 15 countries (granted this wasn’t in the last 2 years) without any major problems.
I use AM only because it integrates nicely with my Apple Watch; the watch gives me an audible alert and buzzes on my wrist in different patterns to indicate an upcoming left/right turn.
Still lags Google Maps. I say this as a guy who has had scores of Apple devices for years and shares in the company. Apple still struggles to find the right routes and its POIs are wanting. I spent a month in Greece this year and their POIs over there were non-existent. I loathe Google so please give me a reason to ditch their Maps.
Ho to fix Apple Maps:
1. Pay Google $NBillion dollars/year for access to the Place database that backs Google Maps
That's it. It's fixed. Seriously, the amount of incorrect and missing information in Apple Maps in major US cities is completely inexcusable.
1. Pay Google $NBillion dollars/year for access to the Place database that backs Google Maps
That's it. It's fixed. Seriously, the amount of incorrect and missing information in Apple Maps in major US cities is completely inexcusable.