Apple Maps to Include Transit Directions, Improved Points of Interest Data in iOS 8

[numlock]

I'm referring to the fact that Apple is under a microscope and that any supposed screw-up--no matter how large or small--tends to get blown out of proportion.

sure i can agree to that but being successful is a double edged sword. i would not however say that they got unfair amount of criticism for their maps app.

apple and its drones (gruber etc) built up the expectations before the release and the reality was that it was a disappointment and as i said many posts ago they are still playing catchup.

 

[doelcm82]

I was hopping iOS 8 would be more exiting than one or two updates to maps....

Well, keep hopping...

Apple generally updates more than one thing in a major update to iOS, so don't take a rumor about some of the changes Apple is working on to mean that they are the ONLY things Apple is working on.

 

[AppleWarMachine]

I'll stick with Google for maps, they're the Best (I don't care if they track me)

 

[Nevaborn]

I rarely try to speak for all users but in this case I think I can say that yes all improvements and features are welcome but the thing we want and meed most is more up to date accurate map data. My city in the Uk is still using 7 year old maps.

 

[CEmajr]

The improvements will be welcome. POI data is the main reason why I still have to occasionally use Google Maps. In addition to the fact that when new roads are built or existing ones modified, Google Maps updates their maps a lot quicker than Apple does.

 

[CaryMacGuy]

This may seem silly to people but I notice that Apple Maps doesn't handle situations where a road has two route numbers...an example would be the Capital Beltway. There is a large section that is signed I-495/I-95. Apple Maps just picks one of those to display and that is incorrect... I want them to fix that. Also I want them to be better about updating the maps for when new roads are built.

 

[wxman2003]

deleted

 

[NMBob]

I can't help myself

That's the exception more than the norm. In most cases, any serious UI problem you can expect to wait a year until the next release for them to fix. I think if iOS 7 had OS X's user base we'd still be waiting for any UI changes.

I like the part where a company that used to be obsessed about simplifying things to the point of having a mouse/trackpad with no buttons comes out with a UI that now needs 3 contrast settings to get things back to the way they were, whereas none were needed for 6 versions before. And it's all jokingly under "Accessibility". Go look at iOS6 Accessibility settings and see how many of them didn't have anything to do with people with disabilities. The answer is none. Apple has serious problems. What happened to their UI guidelines? Cook needs to start throwing some lawn chairs, but I don't think he will.

pOS7. Think Wrong.

 

[Jimmy James]

The Apple maps slogan should be "Life is a journey, not a destination".

Brilliant!

 

[Todd B.]

i dont care how long it took google maps to get were they were in fall 2012. that was what the customers had become used to and to replace it with a lesser product reeks of contempt for the customers. this kind of comparison you made is nonsense. is the tesla comparable with the model t? does tesla hide behind that kind of excuses or do they compare themselves with the contemporary market?

apple maps dosent even have directions where i live.

Apple Maps didn't replace Google Maps because Google Maps was never on iOS; it replaced the default mapping app.

Blame Google for not having a maps app ready to go despite having how many months of notice?

 

[IJ Reilly]

Really? You do? Because I just typed in "Golden Gate Bridge" in Google Maps and lo and behold, it's the Golden Gate Bridge.

Really, I do. I don't see the point in trying to duplicate the one instance you suggest, but no question I often get very poorly prioritized results in Google Maps. Typing in local street addresses often if not mostly prioritizes matches on the other side of the country, if not outside of the country. I have no idea how it decides what should go first, but it doesn't work well for the places I care about.

Don't get me started on Google Maps. They just replaced their really awful web interface with a perfectly dreadful interface, and at the same time deleted a whole bunch of useful features. Nice going, Google. Hey but we got "Peg Man" so that makes up for it. I hope Apple gives them a good run for their money. I am tired of hearing about how Google Maps is the "gold standard," when in reality it sucks in so many ways.

 

[nazaar]

sorry... not impressed.

 

[mdelvecchio]

LOL, the fallacy of updating apps that are tied to the OS only once a year. This is why Apple is STILL behind and why people use alternative apps.

er, except iOS users use Apple Maps over Google Maps 6:1, due to it being the default built-in app.

http://9to5mac.com/2013/11/11/googl...d-as-most-iphone-users-stick-with-apple-maps/

...i myself only use GM if i cant find a POI in AM. and then i only use it to paste the addy into AM.

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I also gave Apple Maps a try while vacationing in San Francisco. I typed in "Golden Gate Bridge" and it gave me directions to a diner. C'mon Apple. You prominently show the GGB in the background of your page for CarPlay, yet can't even take people to it when they type it in?

works here. im in Louisiana and it properly brings up the bridge in SF. are you typing it wrong?

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oh great. Leave it looking like **** half finished and move on. All that money for what???

what on earth are you talking about? it looks incredibly nice, nowhere like "s***".

i swear some of you have such odd hate-attachments to apple products. its as if you actually invested something or had something at stake in this...

 

[numlock]

Apple Maps didn't replace Google Maps because Google Maps was never on iOS; it replaced the default mapping app.

Blame Google for not having a maps app ready to go despite having how many months of notice?

semantics.

google has nothing to do with apple releasing a lesser product. how do you even figure that?

 

[The Phazer]

So not being dependent on a fierce rival for a critical service is now considered "an ego trip?"

Apple are still dependent on Google for a critical service - Apple Maps is unusable ****, and therefore anyone with any sense has to use Google Maps instead.

All Apple managed to do was make it's own OS considerably worse by constantly providing unchangeable, default applications with junk data.

 

[PlanetFree]

In the UK, right now. The business listings are absolutely APPALING for Apple Maps.

It's a deal breaker for me. They need to have the same coverage as Google for it to work out!

Im in London UK and Apple maps are excellent for bisiness listing i find what im looking for first time every time.

 

[Nimrad]

Report here http://www.tomtom.com/mapshare/tools/ Apple maps based on TomTom maps. I have reported via Apple maps 100 times and nothing. Reported via TomTom, they verified and after two weeks it was on Apple maps

Not possible to tell TomTom that Apple has placed a McDonalds in their maps that doesn't exist. You can tall TomTom that an address is at the wrong place etc., but Apple placed the McDonalds on their own.

 

[n-evo]

How about learning Siri more languages? I can't get over the fact it still doesn't support Dutch even though Google Now supports it perfectly.

 

[oliversl]

Light cyan s*cks

 

[flux73]

Last night I typed in "Hollywood" while trying to find a map in Los Angeles, and of course Apple Maps took me to Hollywood, FL instead by default.

Is that a first-world problem? Absolutely. But it's little quirks like that which still make it feel like a completely counter-intuitive app. So I hope it does continue to improve.

Edit: I also gave Apple Maps a try while vacationing in San Francisco. I typed in "Golden Gate Bridge" and it gave me directions to a diner. C'mon Apple. You prominently show the GGB in the background of your page for CarPlay, yet can't even take people to it when they type it in?

I was curious whether what you said was true or not. So I opened up Apple Maps on my Macbook Pro to try it out. I live in Portland, OR so that's where Maps opened up first.

I first typed "golden gate bridge", it immediately dropped a pin dead center on the Golden Gate Bridge in SF.

I then type "hollywood", and showed dozens of pins of places in SF with Hollywood in its name, that included a cafe, a bakery/restaurant, a launderette, a market and deli, dog groomer, video stores, and Frederick's (of Hollywood). I considered that fair since my map was in SF when I entered the search.

So then I entered "hollywood, ca" which then took me to the Hollywood neighborhood in San Leandro, CA (East Bay Area). We happen to have a Hollywood District in Portland as well, so I tested it by going back to Portland, and re-entering "hollywood". Sure enough, it dropped a pin into the middle of the Hollywood District of Portland. Which makes sense. If I live in Portland and type in "hollywood", it is far more likely that I am looking for the local Hollywood, not the one in LA.

Next, I entered "los angeles", which takes you where you expect. Then entered "hollywood", which dropped a pin on the Hollywood Hills. Pretty good. Then I entered "hollywood sign" which dropped a pin right on the Hollywood Sign with an address: 4014–4030 Mount Lee Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90068.

For the final test, I went back to Portland, and entered "hollywood sign los angeles". It went all the way back to the right place in LA.

Don't know why you ran into an issue or *when* this was an issue, but it seems to be working exactly as it should for me. Perhaps you should have verified your own easily testable issue before declaring it doesn't work. It took me less than a minute. So expect a lot of well-deserved flack.

 

[The Phazer]

Im in London UK and Apple maps are excellent for bisiness listing i find what im looking for first time every time.

Your truth telling skills are as famed as your spelling.

 

[springsup]

I wish they would fix the issues I report.

Stop telling me to exit the highway, do a U-turn, get back on the highway going the other way, exit it again, do another U-turn, get back on the highway going the other way (ETC...).

Stop telling me to turn down Street A, do a U-turn, turn on Street B, make a right on Street C, then "arrive at my destination", which is actually back on Street A.

Stop telling me to go down random road X, park, and "prepare to walk" the quarter of a mile through a field instead of having me drive directly to my destination.

Report a Problem -> "Location is missing"

"Drag the pin to the correct location." OK. How? I can drag a pin, but it was placed 20 miles away from the incorrect location. Do you know how long it would take to drag the pin, pan the map, drag the pin, pan the map, etc. Why not just have a "drop pin" button so I can find the spot and then pin it?

Report a Problem -> "My problem isn't listed"

Just fill in some text and hit Send. No, no one will look at it. I've been trying to report the same problems for years. I don't think anyone ever reads what you submit.

Report a Problem -> "Problem with directions"

Please select one of the few listed routes you've taken. The problem route not listed? Too bad. The problem route listed? Just fill in this comments box and hit "Send" to have it promptly deleted. No one will review the issue.

Report a Problem -> "Street or other label is incorrect"

"Tap the incorrectly labeled street or feature"
HA! When it HAS NO STREET LISTED (even though a street has been there for 30+ years), you cannot tap on the "blank" space. You cannot hit "Next" until you tap on the street. You cannot tap on a street that isn't listed. See the problem?

Report a Problem -> "Search results are incorrect"
It simply lists some of your previous searches. How can you search for a street that isn't listed? You have to search for something that isn't there before you can submit a problem that it isn't listed??

Apple Maps are a COMPLETE JOKE

I second this. I'd been reporting a major bug in Apple's maps in London for about a year and half; they listed my university as a hospital, and the actual hospital nearby was totally unmarked.

I emailed Tim Cook; and a week later it was fixed.

That 'report a problem' button is a psychological experiment; it makes you feel good, that somebody's working on it. In reality it all gets tossed in a big heap and nobody ever looks at it again.

 

[nagromme]

apple and its drones (gruber etc) built up the expectations before the release and the reality was that it was a disappointment and as i said many posts ago they are still playing catchup.

Examples? I don't recall that happening. Somebody out there certainly looked forward to it unquestioningly, maybe even somebody with an audience (not, I think, Gruber, who constantly points out Apple challenges and pitfalls) but was such advance praise widespread enough to actually affect public expectations? I recall only a sense of a big question mark. Apple tends to draw a certain pre-conceived narrative, and "drones" and "zealots" fit that, but do the facts?

 

[flux73]

I wish Apple would just go back to using Google Maps. Their maps app is just ridiculous.

Give us a few examples of "ridiculous" results you got from Apple Maps. Keep it real please.

 

[ATC]

Report here http://www.tomtom.com/mapshare/tools/ Apple maps based on TomTom maps. I have reported via Apple maps 100 times and nothing. Reported via TomTom, they verified and after two weeks it was on Apple maps

Thanks for the link. I suspect you might be right. I can't even estimate the number of reports I've submitted through the app and I know none of them were fixed. I sure hope the reports that all of us submitted via the Map app weren't for nothing and that maybe they can be retrieved and verified for a future maps update.

I mean I can just imagine the millions upon millions of genuine map error reports submitted by users through the app since its launch. That's a pretty big screw-up if all along we were only supposed to go to TomTom's site for error reporting.

In any case, I'm testing your theory now. I just submitted two errors on the TomTom site and we'll see if the results are different this time around.