Apple Issues Statement Over Day 1 'Maps' Glitches, Maps Team Reportedly Under Lockdown to Fix Issues

[Pilgrim1099]

As you use it, you're supposed to submit business listings for places you go, reviews, and fixes to street names, cities, and locations to Apple. As more and more users submit this data, Apple can update the back-end data and make it more accurate.

I'm looking at the Maps app (Apple version) and do not see a link or option to submit data. How is one supposed to do that if this feature or option is lacking on iOS 6?

I know that Google has that data mining/crowd sourcing option because I've seen it on the desktop version (probably portable as well). Although, the ONLY thing I can see on Maps is the 'report a problem' link to Apple. That's it.

 

[samcraig]

I tried navigating.. it wanted me to drive through someone's backyard in order to get on to a road.

Therefore I have no confidence in Apple Maps navigation.. so why I'm I going to use it again?

When I search for locations, often it won't find them.. and then will find them on repeat attempts, or give suggestions for a place in another city instead of the location where I live. Not exactly inspiring stuff...

I used my co-workers iPhone which he updated. Our work address was about 5 miles off and my home address about the same.

I'm in NYC btw.

 

[DaffyDuck]

sucked all around compared to what?? altavista maps?, Askjeeves maps? a mapbook? my son can draw a map of our area and label where everything is along with the right angles of all the streets and side streets. He's one clever orange.

Yeah, Google became more trustworthy for driving directions than mapquest after maybe a year from release.

 

[movieator]

All I know is if Google's app doesn't get approved, I am going to invest heavily in an good Atlas and hire someone to sit in the passenger seat and give me turn by turn.

 

[samcraig]

All I know is if Google's app doesn't get approved, I am going to invest heavily in an good Atlas and hire someone to it in the passenger seat and give me turn by turn.

Or you can buy a garmin

 

[movieator]

Or you can buy a garmin

Well, if you're going to use logic....

 

[coolbreeze]

LOL. So Tim Cook says they think the maps app is great during the keynote and a day after the release of iOS 6 they have to issue a statement to explain why it sucks. Pure comedy. Almost as funny as the EPEAT fiasco.

Apple, the richest company in the world with over $100 billion dollars in reserve puts out the crappiest map ever. Way to slap the customer. Is this a joke or do they think their customers are that gullible? Maybe it is the latter.

Apple is supposed to be about polished products that have been reviewed from every angle before being released. Now we get Siri that works nothing like the commercials (like the beta tag gives them an out) and the giant turd known as Apple maps.

And the biggest joke are the people buying the iPhone 5. The giant drilled holes by the speaker and mic scream cost cutting vs. the 4S' mesh and look like ass. The camera hole isn't concentric with the outer phone radius looks terrible. The 5 is barely any different thant the 4S other than being uglier and cheaper looking. It also comes with an inferior mapping solution vs the 4S. And the connector is non-compatible with any other current iPhone accessory. Nice *downgrade*.

It's going to be sad to see Tim Cook and the rest of the bean counting dorks at Apple run it into the ground. Again. It won't happen overnight but you can already see the cracks in Apple's armor.

Cook is no Jobs. And no Jobs = no Apple.

I was talking with the VP of Sales for the *large* company I work with tonight. He was telling a story about his venture in Manhattan yesterday to a clothing store. He used Google maps on his iOS5 phone (street view, etc). He had nothing but praise for the device and app getting him where he needed to go without issue.

He's in for a surprise when he updates to iOS6. And he won't be happy...

The stakes are incredibly high for Apple. I wish them the best (hugs Android phone, which helps me every day all over the US with navigation).

 

[lilo777]

All I know is if Google's app doesn't get approved, I am going to invest heavily in an good Atlas and hire someone to it in the passenger seat and give me turn by turn.

Don't worry Apple already started hiring developers to "fix" maps app (check their job postings, search for "maps"). In five years they will be almost as good as Google was tree years ago.

 

[robertcoogan]

So-so

The 3-D is spotty at best. It doesn't always render objects cleanly, and an overpass in LA looked like Salvador Dali wouldn't go near it. Navigation itself is ok, not to shabby. But I am sticking with MotionX GPS Drive for now. Much more featured-filled.

 

[Pilgrim1099]

But the maps app isn't the only GPS on the market, and if you really spend that much time using your phone for GPS you should probably invest in a good stand alone GPS unit.

I agree. I like standalone GPS units because they do one thing very well and it's free to use entirely, after you buy the device. Rather, I see people paying a monthly fee or 3G subscription in order to use the GPS software on the phones or tablets.

After all, GPS got its start in the military-industrial complex years ago before it became mainstream. It takes a few moments for my GPS to connect to the radio frequencies/satellites to kick in and start navigating.

This is why I don't like to use the iphone for GPS navigation because if you drive and suddenly, remove it just to text or make a call, you can get pulled over by a cop who sees that.

A cop knows the difference between a GPS device and a smartphone. He'll be asking "Sir, do you know why I pulled you over?"

"Uh yeah. I was trying to restore my GPS"

"Umm. No, you were trying to make a phone call, and that sir, is an iphone. Not a GPS device".

Busted.

 

[movieator]

I agree. I like standalone GPS units because they do one thing very well and it's free to use entirely, after you buy the device. Rather, I see people paying a monthly fee or 3G subscription in order to use the GPS software on the phones or tablets.

After all, GPS got its start in the military-industrial complex years ago before it became mainstream. It takes a few moments for my GPS to connect to the radio frequencies/satellites to kick in and start navigating.

This is why I don't like to use the iphone for GPS navigation because if you drive and suddenly, remove it just to text or make a call, you can get pulled over by a cop who sees that.

A cop knows the difference between a GPS device and a smartphone. He'll be asking "Sir, do you know why I pulled you over?"

"Uh yeah. I was trying to restore my GPS"

"Umm. No, you were trying to make a phone call, and that sir, is an iphone. Not a GPS device".

Busted.

I live in LA. and from what I see on the freeway, I'm pretty sure the cops don't give a crap.

 

[chaosconan]

Here is google maps icon on the AppStore.

 

[Getitdone]

I used my co-workers iPhone which he updated. Our work address was about 5 miles off and my home address about the same.

I'm in NYC btw.

I just checked my NY apt. address and it put me in Brooklyn. I had to include the zip code to get the correct location.

 

[Lancer]

Had a play with the maps on an iPad at the phone shop, waiting for someone else to get the new iPhone

Put in my home address and it tried to take me back on a road that hasn't existed for years. I'm sure they will clear up the bugs soon

So for now my 3Gs will keep iOS5 complete with Google maps and built in YouTube!

 

[pmallgood]

Nice!

I sure hope that during this lockdown they are given access to water fountains and meal vouchers.

Hahahaha! Lol lol lol Dont forget the free 13th month of pay!!!

 

[KdParker]

It's going to take time no one can just create an entire database of the world in one day.

not bad for the first try out of the gate. Hopefully this will get better.

That being said, I have been using apple maps for since the summer, and albeit I am not a heavy user of maps (loved google maps) I didn't find myself missing google maps as all.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Well... I don't think that's fair. You don't get to be the most valuable company on the planet by not caring what your customers think. They obviously knew there was going to be some backlash, but figured they would be able to weather it and still come out on top.

IOS 6 has only been out for less than 2 days, so I'm sure they have something up their sleeve. I bet in a few weeks things will look very different.

Apple has been about what Steve wanted, not what the consumer wanted. Of course they want satisfied customers, but in the past year or so they have laid a rotten egg with the new Final Cut Pro and now this. And to be honest, Siri really isn't so hot either.

 

[KdParker]

Had a play with the maps on an iPad at the phone shop, waiting for someone else to get the new iPhone

Put in my home address and it tried to take me back on a road that hasn't existed for years. I'm sure they will clear up the bugs soon

So for now my 3Gs will keep iOS5 complete with Google maps and built in YouTube!

This is consistent with what was heard during the beta phases of IOS 6, especially outside the US. But this did clear up with each beta release so, I would expect these issues to be cleaned up.

As far as youtube is concerned. Who cares if there is an app for this, web works just fine.

 

[Drunken Master]

Of course if "street view" is the most important thing for you I can understand you saying it is crap for not having it. But apparently Apple does not feel that is the primary use of this App.

Doubtful; if anything they probably don't want to deal with the legal liabilities and negative backlash that creating a street view database entails.

Street view is extremely useful though.

 

[samcraig]

I just checked my NY apt. address and it put me in Brooklyn. I had to include the zip code to get the correct location.

one doesn't always know, does one?

 

[Pilgrim1099]

I live in LA. and from what I see on the freeway, I'm pretty sure the cops don't give a crap.

I'm sure they don't over there, but there is serious crackdown on texting (or calling) and driving epidemics in certain parts of the USA. It's been banned in some states now. I still would'nt use a smartphone for GPS navigation anyway.

Dedicated GPS units are the way to go for driving or using transportation in the air or water. But when it comes to street walking to localities, this is different.

HOWEVER, I do know that some of Garmin's latest GPS devices can do street navigation but they are expensive. StreetPilot for iphone (or any iOS device) might do the trick.

Something like this: https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=73472

It appears to be brand new as I only have an older model from two years ago. But the live traffic cams on that GPS is sick and incredible.

So Apple needs to somehow split the Maps app. One for vehicular navigation and one for local exploration by foot. The latter is something I would want but the former is un-necessary as that need is met by my standalone GPS.

Actually here's a good one: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/garmin-streetpilot-ondemand/id440326367

 

[moldy lunchbox]

Many features are country or language-specific. iOS caters to a world audience so you will never use many of those features.

Alot of "features" are things like moved Bluetooth to the top of 'Settings', Calendar shows date instead of time...crap you'd really be hard pressed to call a feature, but Wikipedia will spell out all 200 of them if you look up iOS6.

 

[movieator]

I'm sure they don't over there, but there is serious crackdown on texting (or calling) and driving epidemics in certain parts of the USA. It's been banned in some states now. I still would'nt use a smartphone for GPS navigation anyway.

Dedicated GPS units are the way to go for driving or using transportation in the air or water. But when it comes to street walking to localities, this is different.

HOWEVER, I do know that some of Garmin's latest GPS devices can do street navigation but they are expensive. StreetPilot for iphone (or any iOS device) might do the trick.

Something like this: https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=73472

It appears to be brand new as I only have an older model from two years ago. But the live traffic cams on that GPS is sick and incredible.

So Apple needs to somehow split the Maps app. One for vehicular navigation and one for local exploration by foot. The latter is something I would want but the former is un-necessary as that need is met by my standalone GPS.

Oh, it's against the law here. But no one gives a damn. Not even the cops. And the fine is only $149, which is a joke.

 

[ipedro]

Hardly year 5. And Apple has had about 3 years so far if memory serves when they first bought their first mapping company.

At present - most people I know who have upgraded find it completely unusable.

I was always under the impression that Apple wasn't always first - but when they released something it was polished and "better" than the competition. At least that's what MR posters have "taught" me

I've been using iOS Maps in iOS6 for about a month now and even in Beta it was completely useable. There are some oddities as have been found around the globe but so far in daily use it has taken me from Point A to B and that's all that matters, not that we can find some Easter Eggs.

 

[movieator]

"Apple Maps: You take your chances."