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Like others, I use Waze whilst driving and that is Google Maps. We were on vacation in Europe a few weeks back and we wanted to use public transport as it was more convenient than hiring a car. Tried Apple Maps ...not great so started using Google Maps and it appeared fully integrated into the public transport system ( We were in Tenerife) and worked.

I am not a huge fan of Google so come on Apple "get a wiggle on " and sort these issues out.
 
Been using Apple Maps since it launched and progress has been sporadic but in the last few years it has worked very well (for me). I live in London, I don't drive loads but never have any issues driving locally or further afield in the UK. We also drive to France, Germany, Switzerland a few times a year and never had any issues on those trips either.

I cycle a lot but don't use it really for cycling directions. I use cycle.travel or Komoot. On foot, I find it works great and the tap notifications on my watch allowing me to put my phone away are really good. Recently I've started using Maps for public transport too in UK and Germany and found no issues.

However, the POI data is clearly not great. I find it generally fine for established businesses but I wouldn't ever try and search for e.g. somewhere to eat in an area. I'll usually search online to find something and then put it into Maps.
 


Apple Maps has been providing navigational guidance to Apple users for almost 13 and a half years now, and much has changed about the app in that time. However, according to data from Canalys, the overwhelming majority of iPhones in the U.S. still have Google Maps downloaded as an alternative to Apple Maps, which comes preinstalled on all iPhones. We want to hear from MacRumors readers. Which do you prefer to get you from A to B?

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Launched in September 2012, Apple Maps was quickly criticized for having incomplete and inaccurate mapping data, which led some iPhone users on dangerous routes. Apple CEO Tim Cook offered a rare public apology for the frustration it caused customers, and iOS chief Scott Forstall was ousted just one month later.

Since then, Apple has made significant improvements to Apple Maps, building in new features and correcting lingering errors. Real-time traffic information and navigation options for pedestrians were added to Maps in 2013, which is also the same year Maps was extended to OS X. In 2015, Maps was updated with "Nearby," a feature that offers up local points of interest and transit directions in a handful of cities.

In early 2020, Apple completed an overhaul of its maps in the United States, adding significantly greater detail including updated buildings, parks, sports fields, pools, and more. A Look Around feature in select cities is similar to Google's Street View, and the updated maps have been rolling out to more countries in the time since. In iOS 15, Apple introduced immersive walking directions shown in augmented reality, curated guides for select cities, real-time transit updates, and more road details for enhanced driving navigation. In iOS 16 it gained multi-stop routing. And in iOS 17, Apple made it possible to download maps for offline use – something Google Maps users have been able to do for quite some time.

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Have Apple's incremental improvements been enough for it to be considered an equal to Google Maps in users' eyes? Of course, Google developers have not stood idly by watching Apple Maps' gradual evolution. Google has introduced several enhancements aimed at enriching the user experience through advanced AI technology and more immersive visualization tools, and has even taken a leaf or two out of Apple's book.

One notable recent update in this regard is the Immersive View for Routes, which provides a comprehensive preview of a user's journey, whether they are driving, walking, or cycling. Launched last year, the tool combines billions of Street View and aerial images to create an intricate digital representation of the world, allowing users to visually navigate through bike lanes, sidewalks, intersections, and parking spaces along their route. It also includes a dynamic time slider indicating how conditions such as air quality and weather change throughout the day, helping users plan their trips with more precision.

Another significant improvement is the integration of Lens in Maps, an evolution of the Search with Live View feature. Leveraging AI and augmented reality, Lens in Maps helps users get their bearings in a new location by providing information about nearby amenities like ATMs, transit stations, and dining options. The feature has since been expanded to over 50 cities.

Google Maps has also rolled out updates to make navigation maps more reflective of real-world conditions. These include more detailed and realistic representations of buildings and improved lane guidance on highways. For electric vehicle owners, Google Maps also offers information on charging stations, including compatibility details, charger speed, and the last usage time.

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Despite these concurrent improvements to Google Maps, their combined effect hasn't stopped users coming away impressed by how far Apple's navigational guidance has come. Based on anecdotal reports, the app is increasingly recommended by users for its cleaner view versus the more cluttered design of Google Maps.

Likely thanks to its disastrous launch, Apple Maps still gets a bad rap among some users, but Apple's continued efforts to improve the app appear to have helped reverse some of those opinions. "Maps has come a long way, and people have noticed," Craig Federighi, Apple's head of software, said at WWDC 2023. Are you more or less likely to use Apple Maps these days? Let us know in the comments.

Article Link: Apple Maps vs. Google Maps: Which Is Better?
Unfortunately, Apple Maps isn’t there yet. Wish I could dump Google/Waze but not yet.
 
True, but google is closer in most countries other than the US. Apple Maps is years out of date in some regions such as Latin America, where google maps is more up to date.
Google was collecting map data 20 years before Apple started. As long as they keep up the pace, they can mostly likely stay ahead. But, Apple has been improving at a pretty significant rate. Can you imagine if MapQuest had stayed in the game?
 
On the Mac, using Maps, there are 2 menu items you may want to use - Maps -> Report Something Missing... and Maps -> Report an Issue...

The something missing feature allows you to create a POI.

On iPhone, you can do the same thing, and more - at the very bottom of the app, there is a button, "Report an Issue" and with that comes 5 options:

Report Something Missing
Report Street Issue
Report Place Issue
Report Route Issue
Repot an Incident [which can also be accessed while in navigation mode much quicker].

Apple is extremely quick at replying and updating the Maps database with fixes to POIs and inaccuracies to the road data, and they will send a push notice when they've updated the database, and e.mail you if they have followup questions.

Regarding the app itself, and enhancements such as better language support, that is more of an iOS Maps feedback related thing, in the eyes of Apple. I'd recommend submitting your comments about that to Apple at:


While they won't reply to all feedback, I have found that they do reply when they have questions they want to followup on. The Maps team is extremely responsive, in my experience.

yes. apple responds swiftly to the requests for missing location. i guess they use robots or any automated system to reply hence per my experience their response, in a nos of cases, were off and far from my expectation, e.g. duplicated locations, misplaced locations, the same place marked at diff locations for diff lang (eng & local lang).

i accept they are slow to build up POI database in contrast to the crowdsourcing approach adopted by google map, however, apple's POI accuracy is not satisfactory compared to google.

btw, IOS does not provide systemwide support to POI. in calendar app, when an users input a known location (POI, landmarks) in the location, it prompts to search for map locations and history then replace the location name (e.g. building name) with a street addr to be filled in the event. that's really not comprehensive and user friendly!
 
Google are faster at updating their maps in my experience. There is a junction in Wales where the road layout changed on
Sunday, Google has already documented this change and Apple Maps has the old layout. This is why I could not rely on it because things change all the time and you need your map provided to be on top of it.

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In my experience, Google Maps is better in foreign countries (especially less developed places, like where I live in Guatemala). I'd prefer to get rid of it and use Apple Maps, but it's less robust in terms of correctly identifying locations.
Saludos Chapin !!!!
 
Google are faster at updating their maps in my experience. There is a junction in Wales where the road layout changed on
Sunday, Google has already documented this change and Apple Maps has the old layout. This is why I could not rely on it because things change all the time and you need your map provided to be on top of it.

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Sometimes, Google is so fast, they add things to their map before it actually gets built.
 
Does anyone know where Apple maps sources its alerts for speed traps, accidents, and other similar events? I always assumed it pulled from Waze, but when it asks if the event has cleared, I wonder where that’s being submitted to; because I am never asked to report on events, only if they are still there.
 
Does anyone know where Apple maps sources its alerts for speed traps, accidents, and other similar events? I always assumed it pulled from Waze, but when it asks if the event has cleared, I wonder where that’s being submitted to; because I am never asked to report on events, only if they are still there.
Waze is owned by Google and has been for over 10 years now, so Waze is not sharing that data with Apple. Apple Maps has had reporting like Waze for several years now. I posted a few times in this thread how to access it - it seems most users don't know it exists!

To access it, while navigating, tap the ^ on the lower right corner of the app, then Report an Incident - then tap on Crash, Hazard, or Speed Check.

To access it when not navigating, scroll down to the bottom of the app and tap the Report an Issue and go from there. It allows you to give lots more details since you're not actively navigating so the app assumes you're not driving.
 
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yes. apple responds swiftly to the requests for missing location.
Perhaps for missing locations but not for bad routings. At least 3 times I’ve reported that the directions Apple provides to a large hospital takes people to the staff parking lot which is RFID access only. The routing takes one right past the main entrance to get to the restricted access parking.

After multiple reporting of issues, years later nothing has changed.

Maps routings are terrible. If Apple changes anything it’s been for the worst. But the interface is pretty, the 3D buildings awesome and the conversations Maps generates about the artwork show enthusiasm. But as an app useful for navigation, it still has a ways to go.
 
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Anybody know how remove “home” from Map? Or make the app to forget the home location?

I had removed the home addr in the contact app (My Card). Tried soft reset (vol up & down button then long press power button).

Still, the “home” is still searchable in Map.
 

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Perhaps for missing locations but not for bad routings. At least 3 times I’ve reported that the directions Apple provides to a large hospital takes people to the staff parking lot which is RFID access only. The routing takes one right past the main entrance to get to the restricted access parking.

After multiple reporting of issues, years later nothing has changed.

Maps routings are terrible. If Apple changes anything it’s been for the worst. But the interface is pretty, the 3D buildings awesome and the conversations Maps generates about the artwork show enthusiasm. But as an app useful for navigation, it still has a ways to go.
yes. same for misplaced locations. they obviously did it by robot, hence a nos of mistakes did not make sense at all, e.g. duplicated locations, a bakery in shopping mall mistakenly placed in apartment buildings!
 
Anybody know how remove “home” from Map? Or make the app to forget the home location?

I had removed the home addr in the contact app (My Card). Tried soft reset (vol up & down button then long press power button).

Still, the “home” is still searchable in Map.

I think I do. Go to maps and tap your home icon on the map (or search for home and tap on it). Then tap on ‘remove from favorites’ all the way at the bottom of the listing. That should do the trick.
 
I think I do. Go to maps and tap your home icon on the map (or search for home and tap on it). Then tap on ‘remove from favorites’ all the way at the bottom of the listing. That should do the trick.
Tks for your reply.

It is even not one of the favourite locations.😅

Also, the “move” button does not work (no effect for home/office, but fine for other custom locations)
 

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For my older Macs running OCLP Google Maps is better, because Apple Maps doesn't work properly with non-metal GPUs. You can launch it but it freezes and the only way to kill it is with Force Quit.

Another brilliant proprietary idea brought to you by Apple.
 
I try and use AM as much as possible here in Portugal. Unfortunately, some of the street addresses don't show up, so I have to find them on GM. I usually walk and the GM UI has so much clutter. I hate using it and the response time is slower than AM. I love using it on my watch and don't have to pull out my phone all the time. So AM 90% of the time. Plus I haven't figured out how to use GM on CarPlay.
 
I always use Apple Maps for my job which gets me to the correct address 99.99% of the time. Google Maps is always off by two houses every time.

There was one time when Apple and Google were both wrong and had no idea where the address was. I had to use my cars built in navigation which is Garmin and that got it right.
 
Anybody know how remove “home” from Map? Or make the app to forget the home location?

I had removed the home addr in the contact app (My Card). Tried soft reset (vol up & down button then long press power button).

Still, the “home” is still searchable in Map.
I've been dealing with some very low level Maps issue on my Mac, so I am learning [thank you Apple Tech Support] more about the database structure of Maps [I've been having an iCloud syncing issue for *years* with Maps not syncing to my Mac due to a corruption in the SQLite database that stores Favorites, Guides, etc].

Since Home and Work are linked to your My Card entry in Contacts [make sure you did edit your My Card, in case you have multiple entries for yourself in Contacts], forcing Contacts to sync/unsync/sync can help. In Settings, under the iCloud section, disable Contacts from syncing, restart iPhone, then reenable syncing of Contacts. Wait a bit, then open up Contacts to make sure there is no Home for your My Card entry, and then open up Maps. If you still have Home there, then do the same procedure you did with Contacts, with Maps - disable iCloud syncing for Maps, reboot, reenable, wait a bit, then see if Home is finally gone].

If it is still there, then you may have a similar corruption issue that I have. One way to confirm this is by seeing if any other Apple device you own shows Home in Maps - eg: your Mac or iPad. If they don't have Home there, then your SQLite database on your iPhone is corrupt, which is a major bummer if you have lots of favorites or Guides.

Another idea which is unrelated to Maps database corruption - create a new My Card for yourself in Contacts. Eg: delete your current My Card, then create a brand new one and mark that contact as Me/My Card. In fact, as that is the least time consuming of all these steps, I would do that first! :)
 
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