Apple Maps Gradually Winning Over Google Maps Users, Report Suggests

[Radeon85]

Apple maps may have been pretty crap at launch but I've been using it for quite a few years now as my primary GPS navigation at home in the UK and abroad and overall it's been pretty damn good. It's not taken me on any bad roads and 99.9% of the time gets me to where I want to go.

I do occasionally use Waze, but haven't used Google maps in years for GPS navigation.

 

[MadDog31]

I've had a great experience overall with Apple Maps, although I've had weird next-turn issues on a few occasions driving into Boston on I-93N.

Once I'm approaching the tunnel (heading into the Government Center area as a destination), it just gives me the surface street name to turn left on rather than saying what exit number to take off I-93. I know it's Exit 17, but I'd like visual confirmation.

 

[johntherazz]

I have issues with both of them. Cycling on a busy public holiday they insist on sending me down canal towpaths heaving with pedestrians; walking through central London they only show me a handful of actual road names, with most of the arterial routes listed by number, rather than the common names that everyone knows them by (and most of those obscured by the names of every chicken shop or newsagent in the vicinity), if walking outside London, loss of phone signal means I can find myself stranded without directions due to the lack of downloadable maps; if I’m driving, Siri is literally useless - unable to correctly respond to even the simplest or most basic query, however plummily I speak or carefully I phrase it.
I love the way Apple Maps integrates with things like my calendar, but they both have a loooong way to go.

 

[dsdevries]

Having an alternative maps app on my phone isn’t any indication that I don’t like google maps. It just means that I have multiple maps apps on my device.

For example, I do have google maps installed, and I do sometimes use it (like when I am in a country where Apple services aren’t as prevalent, like Indonesia), but otherwise, I still default to Apple Maps, and it works well enough for my needs here in Singapore.

What’s probably more accurate is the power of “good enough”. Google maps having more features than the competition doesn’t necessarily mean anything if it’s not giving the user more of what they want. It’s just more bloat at the end of the day.

It isn't bloat when all of the included features work well. You never know when you might need those features. People are also not complaining about seatbelts and airbags in their cars because they are never in an accident right?
What is bloat is to have an app installed that you can not use because the feature you will be using the most does not work. It's also bloat to have two apps installed while most of the features are redundant and some of the features are only available in one app. I live in The Netherlands, and I'll mostly use a bike to get from a to b. Apple Maps not supporting cycling routes in The Netherlands is the main reason I deleted the app in favour of Google.

 

[CraigJDuffy]

I’m no hater, but Apple maps still has a ways to go before matching Google maps accuracy & efficiency.

Google Maps has a ways to go before matching Apple in terms of ease of use, and readability. I agree, Google is more accurate but I always use Apple Maps with CarPlay because I simply cannot read Google Maps at a glance.

 

[blairh]

I gave Apple Maps plenty of time to get good. It never was. Google Maps for me is far superior.

 

[polyphenol]

My biggest problem with everything Apple is their terrible approach to localization / internationalization and lack of support for languages.

I speak four languages, usually have my systems set to English, since most of my work and daily communication is in English, but live in Denmark and receive messages in English, Danish and German.

After all this time, Apple does not allow you to set map language to a local language and different from your system language. Neither does it detect messages’ language to read it out in that language.

Drive by voice is therefore useless since Danish, German, Swedish etc streets would be pronounced with English gibberish and so would any message read out loud for you. And so while driving, iOS only serves me to play music, listen to audio books or call people.

Unless I want to constantly check guidance on screen, I have to use other services such as “Here” maps which always had the feature to switch spoken guidance to any language. And since typing and reading are often prevented in the Car Play versions to keep you focused, searching for locations requires you to go to your device, since even user spoken words are interpreted in English. So I would have to talk the same mangled gibberish. This might work for people who are not able to speak the local language and would pronounce places like Apple, but come on …

Why is something like that so difficult for you Apple? Why can Google and Microsoft do it but not you?

Or maybe I miss something? Have overlooked a fantastic switch in settings?

Where I live we have some very odd language issues - I've got it set up such that all directions, alerts, etc. are in English. (My Welsh isn't good enough to be comfortable in Cymraeg.) But placenames on the map are in Welsh. Mostly.

If I search for Aberteifi, it shows me Cardigan, but Aberteifi on the map.

There are some places which are almost always known by their English names - Cardiff (rather than Caerdydd). And Swansea (rather than Abertawe) except among native Welsh-speakers. And Brecon Beacons have only very recently officially changed to Bannau Brycheiniog!

However, it would likely be much more difficult for anyone wholly unfamiliar with Wales and the placename differences. Driving to Fishguard or Pembroke Dock to get a ferry to Ireland, it wouldn't always be obvious why they are being sent to Abergwaun or Doc Penfro. And, going back to London, it won't always be obvious why the actual road signs show Llundain.

All in all, I am happy at the compromises. Everything works acceptably well for me.

 

[Kaulini]

I gladly use maps for alot of things, but not every buisness is registered there. Or the open hours.

I did submit updates yet apple hasnt made any.

 

[xxray]

I do prefer Apple Maps for navigation. Easier to understand both visually and audibly, it stays on Lock Screen, and it’s prettier. I also like that it respects my privacy more than Google does.

Offline maps has definitely been one of those items on my wishlist for Apple Maps. If they could just add in-house reviews and that Google Maps feature where they show the busiest hours of businesses and how busy it is right now, then I wouldn’t need Google Maps at all anymore.

 

[Skyscraperfan]

If you get "recommendations" from any app, you should always be sceptical. I just want the app to show me where all the bakeries, pharmacies and whatever are. Please no recommendations!

 

[ofarlig]

The entire purpose of using a Sat Nav Mapping system is to find a store that hasn’t been open for 5 years? Maybe I’m using maps wrong, or maybe you are.

If you talk to any business, it’s a nightmare on a phone call to change things like opening hours for google maps. For usability, Apple looks better and easier to navigate. The 3D City view is amazing. Yet Google has more function. They both have issues.

No but if I search for say a bakery I want the application to return me those that are current, Maps will return the status as it was 5 years ago with a few changes. So using Maps I have no idea if the bakery they say are there would still exist or not. Same goes for if I know where to go, then Maps will say it doesn’t exist and I have to use Google Maps to find the address first. Maps doesn’t have much usability on it’s own.

 

[Sami13496]

I’ve always used Google Maps. But just two months ago I switched to Apple Maps. I always try to use Apple apps if they are available and good. If not I use third party. Apple Maps has become good enough now for me. But the main reason I wanted away from Google Maps and downloaded Apple Maps to test it again, to give it a chance, was that Google Maps’ stupid annoying “Latest in the area” popup that cannot be disabled. I hate when they force that social crap.

 

[m7ammed]

I'm much prefer to use Apple maps in London. Google's interface is a mess in comparison so cluttered. I like the integration with the watch as well.

 

[MacBird]

As mentioned, calling people who prefer a different app hateful is embarrassing. Aside from that, I sometimes use both Apple and Google Maps in CarPlay to see which program picks up on traffic jams sooner and Google Maps is faster all the time. Apple Maps would lead me into traffic jams, Google suggests alternative routes in time. That makes the decision pretty easy.

 

[polyphenol]

The one real big annoyance I still have is the units used.

For almost everything I use metric units. Except road distances and driving and wind speeds. But I haven't found any way of achieving that so I live with kilometre distances and speeds.

Now, I'd be happy using km or km/h. (Though I've spent most of my driving life using miles, either is easy enough.) But too many others use miles - road signs, most forecasts. And that is why I'd like that additional option.

 

[Snørrbjørg]

Apple Maps want me to take my car on a dedicated cycle path to reach my home. Sattelite photos is something like five to eight years old in my daily areas. Waze is the one i prefer.

 

[rozgab]

Big problem with Apple Maps while driving is that it requires multiple taps to mute/unmute. Should be a button right there on the screen like Google Maps. Most car journeys, you only want the voiceover for 20% of the time.

 

[BvizioN]

Haters . Lol. That's what a blind idiot would say when somebody doesn't like an obviously much worse product that he himself prefers for some reason

Yeah, haters. The ones that you find plentiful around this forum. They also tend to go by the name CRITICS in order to not appear as obvious.

 

[NightFox]

Haters?? Critics of apple maps had good reasons... especially in the first few years where it was trash.

I hate(?) that 'haters' term; it sums up everything that's bad about online toxicity. It normalises a lazy and immature way of just invalidating different opinions out-of-hand without even considering them.

 

[Marresc]

The satellite imagery on Apple Maps of the (European) city where I'm living is 5 years old, which is ridiculous. So still using google maps.

 

[Jay Tee]

Why is nobody talking about Waze for navigation?

For me it’s the number one tool by a mile.

Used to Waze exclusively, but now mix it up with Apple Maps. If I'm in a rush, or doubt AM's ability to avoid traffic, I'll revet to Waze: its ability to crowdsource input from other drivers and re-route me, or warn me of speed traps/camers, keeps me coming back.

Plus, with Waze, I've noticed potholes getting fixed when I report them; not always, but quite often. I do wish the apps would expand reporting to include broken pavement or just badly paved roads as well. Some of the pavement work that gets done is despicable.

 

[visualseed]

Haters?? Critics of apple maps had good reasons... especially in the first few years where it was trash.

But never moving off square one when things changed over the years made many of their criticisms baseless.

 

[Steve121178]

Apple Maps is much improved and I use it as my default in CarPlay as I find the traffic data & speed camera announcements much better than Google Maps for the London area.

But for everything else, Google Maps is light years ahead of Apple Maps. I'm not sure Apple can ever catch up with the data Google has for even the smallest and remotest of locations. Google Maps has practically everything covered in fine detail.

 

[CyberGene]

I don't know how good/bad Apple Maps are in the US and big countries in Europe as Germany and UK but here in Bulgaria most of the time it's just useless. And when comparing it to Google Maps, have in mind that Google also own Waze which allows for crowd-sourced information regarding closures, etc. and Google Maps uses that data too. Good luck with Apple Maps knowing about constructions, closures and any other temporary or permanent changes.

I've been giving chance to Apple Maps on a regular basis with the hope of it finally becoming smarter but alas. For instance it tries to route me through a street that has the wrong direction stored. And when it detects that I am not following the route, it tries to reroute me there again. I mean, how stupid is that algorithm to at least not assume I can't follow the route to recalculate it?! And I've been sending reports about wrong maps using the functionality in the Maps app on my iPhone bringing a lot of details of what is wrong. They never get followed. I have three reports about a street in downtown Sofia (the capital) which has the wrong direction in Apple Maps and three years after my first reports, that street is still with the wrong direction there.

Am I hater? OK, call me a hater. I hope it's not Apple who call us "haters" because that attitude is the best shortcut to a company failure.

 

[jayducharme]

I’ve been very happy with Apple Maps. It’s steered me wrong only once, and it was only because I misspoke the city name when asking Siri. The result was pretty humorous. Siri steered me down a dead end street and said, “Park your car. Then get out and walk to your destination.”