Apple Maps Cycling Directions Now Available in Chicago, Detroit, and More US Cities

[GtrDude]

Using Apple Maps for me has been a nightmare.
Every time I zoom out to see more of the area around my car it zooms right back in.
Maybe I'm doing something wrong but the fact that I can't even leave the Maps at a zoom that I want and Apple is taking over and feels again like they always know best is very frustrating.
This is one of many reasons why so many Apple users download Google Maps on their phones.

 

[chenks]

Adding "Apple apologist" in to each statement you make, doesn't help with your backtracking, or indeed do anything than make you look like a child.

You clearly inferred that Apple could use all existing information regarding routes, when it's just not necessarily the case.

no inference was made.
you choosing to read it like that says more about you really.

 

[Robert.Walter]

Bike happy Switzerland has long been awaiting this.

Need to step things up Apple!

 

[chenks]

This is where I ask you to provide those mapping companies and sources (outside of Google Maps, which publicly made quite a hefty donation 10 years ago to partner with Sustran and use their data).

And correct me if I'm wrong, but Sustran only provides "routes" and not the detailed elevation data and "stairs" options Apple Maps has been providing when they release cycling directions, right?

I get that you want to have Sustran data on Apple Maps, but Apple does things their way and it seems they have made the correct decision on Maps to the point where Google is furiously trying to copy Apple Maps to catch up on the UX side of things (adding visual terrain data, adding stop signs/traffic lights, adding building outlines to routing). Apple may already be partnering with Sustran to use their data, but I doubt it.

again, you've totally missed the point.

at no point did i say i wanted sustran data on apple maps. the link i posted was solely to point out that we have a
nationally advertised cycle AND walking route.

what i was pointing out that apple already knows that those paths exists in some form as it uses them for walking directions.

the UX side of things (adding visual terrain data, adding stop signs/traffic lights, adding building outlines to routing) is just flannel in the classic "form over function" apple ideal.

get the basics working first, add the icing later.

 

[DougieS]

again, you've totally missed the point.

at no point did i say i wanted sustran data on apple maps. the link i posted was solely to point out that we have a
nationally advertised cycle AND walking route.

what i was pointing out that apple already knows that those paths exists in some form as it uses them for walking directions.

the UX side of things (adding visual terrain data, adding stop signs/traffic lights, adding building outlines to routing) is just flannel in the classic "form over function" apple ideal.

get the basics working first, add the icing later.

I often cycle in the UK. Apple Maps walking directions is not suitable.
It will take me through paths I cannot access with a bicycle. It might know some cycle ways but it does not know them all.

Yes, walking directions can sometimes be useful but it isn’t ideal and often not suitable for cycling.

My favourite app for routing is ‘CycleMaps’ - awful UI but this app always generates me the best routes for cycling.
Run the same route on Apple Maps walking and it takes me the long way on dangerous roads when there is a cycle path nearby…

All the form over function features will be actually very good. So many times I missed a turn off due to poor visual representation.
All the new visual features will be incredibly useful.

Unfortunately your argument does not stand well.

 

[MozMan68]

I appreciate Apple’s effort, but who the hell is going risk riding a bike in Detroit?!

They only mention Detroit because it is a large city. The whole lower peninsula of the state of Michigan now has cycling directions.

 

[MozMan68]

again, you've totally missed the point.

at no point did i say i wanted sustran data on apple maps. the link i posted was solely to point out that we have a
nationally advertised cycle AND walking route.

what i was pointing out that apple already knows that those paths exists in some form as it uses them for walking directions.

the UX side of things (adding visual terrain data, adding stop signs/traffic lights, adding building outlines to routing) is just flannel in the classic "form over function" apple ideal.

get the basics working first, add the icing later.

Boy…okay…

You are on a thread about cycling being launched and I think most would agree you are “complaining” that cycling and walking data exists on Sustran and asking, “Apple obviously is using the walking data, why not the cycling?”

A) you are inferring Apple is getting their walking data from Sustran…you have mentioned it in two posts (including the one I have quoted) despite me showing you there is no evidence they got that info from them.

Apple DOES have the capability to get walking path info on their own or from other sources…and it may even match what Sustran has.

B) Adding visual terrain data, traffic lights/stop signs and building outlines are NOT secondary to navigation. As Apple is showing (and Google is copying) people feel these are quite important factors in navigating.

Of course, Google has stop signs and traffic lights, but they are nothing more than a visual reference on the map and u like Apple/Siri, do not even tie into the audio instructions given.

Are you telling me people prefer to see blank maps with just roads and without buildings? I mean, people typically are navigating to open fields, not buildings or houses, right? /S

People prefer to see a visual reference on the map as they are referencing outside their car window or their bike. Probably why Google offers satellite view while routing on Maps. Apple has deferred to creating a 3D representation of the world as it is easier to change and avoids visual clutter on the screen (why I hate satellite view while routing with Google).

It’s actually okay to prefer Apple Maps or at least admit that while they do not cover the same areas as Google and are even catching up on data/POI’s in some cases while acknowledging they are better in MANY ways.

If they weren’t, people wouldn’t be complaining so much that they don’t have Apple Maps or Maps features in their area…they would just sit back and use Google, right?

 

[ehrens]

I wasn't inb4 all the comments about "why risk biking in [insert city/metro bigger than where you live]" but man are these comments tiresome. if Detroit/Chicago/Atlanta/et al isn't perceived by you as safe enough, don't go there and keep your yap shut about it.

that being said, I'm surprised there aren't biking directions for the Twin Cities as it has a fairly large cyclist community

 

[sos47]

apple should license strava heatmaps or garmin heatmaps. Routes for cycling would be integrated in apple maps worldwide within a year or less. https://www.strava.com/heatmap#7.00/-120.90000/38.36000/hot/all

 

[Mugglesby]

Yeah … and we’ll eat pie in the sky when we die. ?

 

[44267547]

Bikes lanes are such a waste of space in Detroit. It’s freezing here half the year and even in the “summer” its very rare you ever see anyone use them. All they did was make traffic worse.

Totally agreed. And being a native myself, bikers don’t follow laws, if they can’t do that, it’s their problem if they get hit. They need to follow the ‘rules of the road’ just like everybody else does.

 

[xraydoc]

They only mention Detroit because it is a large city. The whole lower peninsula of the state of Michigan now has cycling directions.

I guess that’s better than just Detroit. That would have been a waste. And I lived in MI for over 30 years.

 

[svish]

Good to know. Will be nice if this is available in more regions outside US. At least some major cities.

 

[Karllake]

Not seeing how it’s ‘unfortunate’, being that this is a very tedious process to piece together specifically for biking that requires accuracies.

And living in Detroit, I can tell you everything is a one-way street, where biking routes are not clearly marked, so that alone is a factor when designating a project when you look at the magnitude of this update.

It may take resource but apple has ridiculous cash reserves, the America centric roll out of features angers the rest of the world when we're still paying full price for the hardware.

 

[CarlJ]

I've never understood this reflexive comment by some whenever Chicago is mentioned.

It's because some people get their daily news from sources that intentionally spew misinformation, who portray a lot of large cities as horrible, rough, dangerous places, hyping up any new incident that happens there, to reinforce their viewer's beliefs that large cities are awful and filled with bad people while small towns and rural areas are all peaceful and serene and full of only good people. They've been constantly told that Chicago, in particular, is pretty much a post-apocalyptic hellhole, full of crime, death, and corruption, and nothing else. Funny, I didn't see any of that the last time I visited, though it has been a while. But if they were to ask the people they see each day, in their small town, who all consume the same misinformation, well "everybody" "knows" that Chicago is like a scene from Mad Max and no one should go there.

 

[MozMan68]

It may take resource but apple has ridiculous cash reserves, the America centric roll out of features angers the rest of the world when we're still paying full price for the hardware.

So angry that they continue to buy all of their products making them the top selling phone in the world.

An EXTREMELY small minority is “angry”….the rest enjoy the seamless operation, great apps and “functioning” Maps (depending on where they live) or alternative map apps.

It’s really that simple.

USA! USA! USA!

 

[iMacDragon]

It still frustrates me you can't at least opt to use the walking directions as cycle directions with a hefty warning that you're on your own.

Here, for example, outside maybe center of capital, almost all footpaths are also cycle allowed, so walking directions are 95% of time exactly same. Yet If I use walking directions manually to try and get myself optimal approximate cycling route, and for some reason have to deviate, it will almost certainly assume I'm driving and switch to driving instructions, and route me some longer way round.