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

d21mike said:
First, I did not give a "percentage" when I said a majority. And I did say it was a guess because I did not know.
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Well a majority is more than 50% of the user base - and based on what's been posted here it seems like only Southern California and some lucky spots actually have "good" map data.

d21mike said:
But even if 10% of the people had a problem it would be a serious problem. However, those that say it can not be fixed in a reasonable amount of time just might be wrong.
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Sure - let's define "a reasonable amount of time" because "yersterday" is my preference and that ship has sailed. You pay a premium for the iPhone and Apple actively shuts out other map suppliers from the complete IOS experience (You can't select what default maps app you want to use - this is decided for you).

So Your suggestion is what? Days, weeks or years? Just ballpark it so we have a common reference.

d21mike said:
As we all know it is using the TomTom Database and based on reports the TomTom Database is fine in some of the problem areas so it should mean a software problem and not a Database problem.
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This is really odd, why would TomTom supply old map data to Apple and why would Apple even be interested in buying old and out of date map data? Roads and places that doesn't exist any more is a Database problem, not in structure but in content - and why would I even care about this being one thing or another? The information is wrong and needs to be fixed "in a reasonable amount of time"...

d21mike said:
So I believe that a software problem can be easier to fix then simply the data is just not available for that area. However, areas where the data is simply not available then my guess is it may be a very long time before you get service. Kind of like when will LTE come to my town. It may never come there.
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Data not being available is one problem and actually one I think users would be complaining less about if this was the case. But this shows another big problem with the maps app - other that text suggestions how do you participate? How do you improve this app? And if I was to sit at night and make suggestions could I do this through a browser? Is this functionality coming to OSX also or in general as a service through the web? Will Apple try to include other that IOS users in this?

Of course it will get better - but what is "better" and at what rate? Apple faces one of the best (of not THE best) in the mapping business so they kinda set the bar themselves and are getting (rightfully) burned far a lackluster product/experience. And their original stick of doing this within the Apple ecosystem alone can prove to be the downfall of the maps app because people will just use the alternatives and pay no attention to this thing - it will remain a hassle in the background and this will mean user participation will be in low numbers and if Google launches a full maps app for IOS do You then think users will be submitting improvements in both apps or just in the one they use at the time (Wuze, MapQuest, Google, whatever).

I'm still having a hard time seeing how this can end up as a winner for Apple if this thing isn't seeing drastic improvements in a really fast pace (in my view days or a few weeks and not in months and years) and it's not the first time Apple deliberately has trashed working software for their users (Final Cut X the Podcast thing).

Edit: someone posted this little nugget in the Forums: http://blog.telemapics.com/?p=399
 
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I normally don't post but enjoy reading all the fanatical posts! Anyway, I am posting because this new Maps app really doesn't cut it!

I did the normal thing I always did with Google maps, open it up, searched for a business that has been in town for over 15 years to get the pull out and call them... It couldn't find the business...

While the maps are better looking, they don't even have my road... My road was built in 1989.

Good UI isn't just about the applications anymore, it is also about the quality of data. If you cannot trust the quality of data, the application is well... I will leave it up to you to decide...

One frustrated UI designer....
 
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Shaun said:
Interesting thought. They did the same last year with Siri. I wonder if they think the iPhone is so popular that they're fire proof or that it simply won't hurt the sales. Clearly they're trying to hit back at Google but I can't believe this is the way to do it. They pretty much winged it with Siri and got away with it so maybe they think they can do the same with the Maps. Judging by the lines around the world maybe they are right.

Steve was a perfectionist. I find it hard to believe he would have let this happen. Sometimes I think Tim et al should ask themselves "what would Steve do?" then maybe we wouldn't have problems like this. Am I the only one who really doesn't like the way Tim is changing things at Apple?
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Steve was obviously heavily involved with Siri, so using your logic ho would have been willing to do the same with maps.

I'm assuming you are aware of the interview Tim did where he says that Steve specifically told him not to ask each other "what would Steve do?". Perhaps you are suggesting that they should do that regardless. I'm sure that they do think that way even if they don't say it out load. It would seem pretty hard not to with how engrained his thinking is in their "DNA"
 
Sora said:
Like I have posted before - it's Apple's first foray in this new forum - mapping. They are novices in this domain. The customer doesn't understand this. In this world where things are fast, hot, now, instant - that's all we understand. And I don't blame us. If I go to McDonalds and have to wait more than 90 seconds for my burger, fries, and drink - I know there is a problem. God help me if I ever go to a real restaurant and have to sit, order and wait for food to be made.
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But the point is, it's cooked when it gets to your table, even if it took a while to prepare. They don't overhype the meal then throw a raw steak in a blender to serve you in order to meet a deadline and then hope no one notices.
 
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samcraig said:
I'm following the conversation fine unless I missed a post. So if you could take a break from name calling merely to incite another poster (against forum rules BTW) perhaps you can quote where he said he was considering switching. Thanks
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And the clever little comments about android users aren't meant to incite anyone.
 
No map service is 100% perfect, and the odd omission - especially out in the sticks - might be acceptable and understandable.

BUT to have serious errors in places like London, Tokyo and Mumbai - cities that are among the largest in the world - seems incredibly strange.

One would think that Apple at least would prioritize to have something like the 100 largest cities in the world (which would cover the 'home'-area of hundreds of millions of potential map users and millions of tourists that rely on digital maps when visiting a new place) reasonably correct before releasing.
 
Since there always were better maps apps on iOS than the old gmaps, all Apple needs to do for now is to allow apps to use 3rd party map apps for the map data. Then everyone will use mapquest for default and all this whining will be over until Apple can improve on their solution.

The app itself isn't the problem since there are free 3rd party alternatives which are better. The only issue is the interaction between other apps and the maps app.
 
dv8r said:
This is really odd, why would TomTom supply old map data to Apple and why would Apple even be interested in buying old and out of date map data?
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Not sure what point you are trying to make here. Of course I do not think TomTom provided Apple with old map data.

If you want to see for yourself just hit the lower right hand corner and just above "Drop Pin" you will see in very dim text.

"DATA FROM TOMTOM". You can click on the link and you will see the "copyright 2006-2012 TomTom". And below that a bunch of other copyright notices of where the data comes from.
 
d21mike said:
Not sure what point you are trying to make here. Of course I do not think TomTom provided Apple with old map data.
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Why is there a difference between them then? Either they got other data from TomTom (the examples I have seen are older data) or Apple didn't use it, and TomTom wouldn't come up as a data provider.
 
Smallworld69 said:
You would carry around a GPS unit??.... Funny, every person I k ow keeps them in their car, or the car has it built in. And the iPhones maps app has always sucked. So I will gladly take a work in progress over the same old *****...
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Wow. Someone gets very angry over nothing.
 
iBug2 said:
Since there always were better maps apps on iOS than the old gmaps, all Apple needs to do for now is to allow apps to use 3rd party map apps for the map data. Then everyone will use mapquest for default and all this whining will be over until Apple can improve on their solution.

The app itself isn't the problem since there are free 3rd party alternatives which are better. The only issue is the interaction between other apps and the maps app.
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That's the last thing Apple needs to do. Those maps would have to be re-written to allow themselves to be the target of the apps that use map data.

The third-party apps are, and should be, available as standalone apps, but Apple needs to focus on addressing the inaccuracies reported through their Maps app as quickly as possible.
 
Ok, so I just noticed that the apple maps app is partnered with TomTom... So I have faith that it will pull through! The phone hasn't even been out for 12 hours!

People, chill the hell out and relax!
 
If Steve was still around, oh boy... Imagine what he would do to the Maps team...
 
JDBaughman said:
Ok, so I just noticed that the apple maps app is partnered with TomTom... So I have faith that it will pull through! The phone hasn't even been out for 12 hours!

People, chill the hell out and relax!
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You're not my real dad! You can't tell me what to do!
 
Apple tried to be smart and sourced base maps from different vendor in different regions like TOMTOM... They also sourced geographical data from yelp... Using this multi-source maps/data they tried to develop their own algorithm for routing/360 degree rotation/3D.

They never realized they cannot simply develop an algorithm using base maps, and companies like Google/NAVTEQ/TomTom/Nokia layer additional data points for their algorithm to work.

You will notice this if you toggle 3D on Apple maps or if you try to rotate the map a little.

So collection and layering of data on top of base map is labor intensive, there is no automated way to do this. Google has a team in India who does just this.

Also end result of a map or navi function is visual, some has to manually verify, and when it doesn't work the way it supposed to, they tweak data layer and algorithm if required.

So how ever smart Apple's designers and programmers are, without laborious manual testing results will be odd.
 
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