Apple maps functions great as a maps app, but I think it’s disingenuous to imply these are just maps apps. They’re also sources of business information, opening hours, details, reviews, website links etc. This is where Apple fails miserably. I can’t rely on the information here like I can with Google. It’s always outdated.
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Apple Maps vs. Google Maps: Which Is Better?
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Waze is pretty fantastic - I will use it for more granular traffic updates over Apple Maps (even though AM is my main driver). But the Waze interface is absolutely horrendous and way too cluttered for to look at everday 🤮
Apple Maps all the way. It does what I need it to do well, no sponsored search results (aka ads), and I trust Apple's stance on privacy more than Google's.
That is a totally subjective opinion and many completely disagree with you, myself included.
I agree - that is probably the main reason why, according to the article, the overwhelming majority of iPhones still have Google Maps downloaded.
Apple Maps - even in its crappy early stages - always had a much better, less cluttered UI that made its use as a car navigation device better than Google Maps. This continues to be the case today. But now I rarely ever turn to Google Maps - mainly in the rare case when Apple can't find a business I need the address to. Until Apple Maps introduced downloadable maps, I would use Google Maps when we were on international trips (to save cellular data, we'd download the cities we were visiting), but now they've pretty much reached parity there. Incidentally, neither would let me download Chinese cities on a recent trip - I guess it's some sort of licensing issue there?
Waze UI interface is a joke and their routing algorithms will send you in turns and twists just to save 2 extra minutes on a 1 hour journey. And you cannot even plan your trip in advance with Waze, as you cannot choose a starting point, except for your current location.
I always use Apple Maps. Google Maps has been deleted from my iPhone.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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ok so you can actually use Apple Maps on browser... cool I guess I better bookmark it.
duckduckgo.com
map at DuckDuckGo
Apple maps is nice and I like to use it, especially when I already know my way around or am pretty sure it's right.
But in the end, when it comes to navigation, google is the better navigation app. It knows closed roads & one-ways better, address entry is much better and it often knows adresses of businesses or places Apple Maps doesn't.
The situation is kind of like Apple Music vs. Spotify. In it's core functionality, Spotify is just better. Although Apple seems not to try hard enough with Music, with maps it seems like they are worse because they have less data to work with.
But in the end, when it comes to navigation, google is the better navigation app. It knows closed roads & one-ways better, address entry is much better and it often knows adresses of businesses or places Apple Maps doesn't.
The situation is kind of like Apple Music vs. Spotify. In it's core functionality, Spotify is just better. Although Apple seems not to try hard enough with Music, with maps it seems like they are worse because they have less data to work with.
I only use google maps when looking for businesses or point of interest as it has better reviews, hours of operation, etc. for everything else I use Apple Maps as it has a better UI and overall I haven’t noticed the routing to be any different than what google maps gives you.
Tomtom Go is my navigation app of choice mostly due to fully offline maps as I‘m in the Scottish highlands and it’s not unusual to be starting a navigation session with zero WiFi or phone signal. Apple Maps is my second choice if I’m just quickly clicking on a navigation link from a calendar event or the like. Only ever use google maps for nosing around on street view, I havent used it for directions for years.
"For everything else" excluded a lot of pretty useful stuff you mentioned up front there!
Agree. I use Apple Maps exclusively and when I pull up a POI I want to be able to click on the picture to bring it full screen, not open a browser window that asks me to download the yelp app. That is the only frustrating thing about Apple Maps to me. Everything else works perfectly for my situation. Get rid of Yelp and it would be perfect.
Where I live, one map app is just as good as the next where routing is concerned. Where AM falls flat is that when you use it to find a business, the data is often woefully out of date. GM seems better at that, as well as the volume of reviews.
I gave Apple Maps another chance after they added offline maps... and quickly returned to Google. Example - directions/ETA to LAX airport:
Google will ask which terminal (shows options) and duly considers the arduous final stretch which adds quite a bit of time. Shortcuts to T5+ are used if appropriate.
Apple asks nothing, takes one to the big LAX sign before the terminals and is done... but you're not there yet and the ETA was grossly optimistic. With friends like these...
Google will ask which terminal (shows options) and duly considers the arduous final stretch which adds quite a bit of time. Shortcuts to T5+ are used if appropriate.
Apple asks nothing, takes one to the big LAX sign before the terminals and is done... but you're not there yet and the ETA was grossly optimistic. With friends like these...
Google Maps is the real thing. Apple maps is like a joke, it’s a never ending nightmare.
I use both, but AM most often when driving. GM for POI. Waze occasionally for roadside info, law enforcement, etc., but AM has added a bit of that as well. AM for walking, especially inside malls or airports. I’ve had several glitches with GM, including dubious “faster” detours on the Tri-State Tollway that took me through tollbooths ($) then immediately back onto the Tollway; and then telling me to go straight at EVERY exit on I-80in eastern Iowa. Also don’t like GM’s new color scheme—it’s pastels and all blends together making it harder to find things.
AM's feedback system has been good. I noticed that a route they wanted to send me went through a gated community, so I reported it, then got a request to send proof (pics) which I did. Haven’t been routed that way since.
AM's feedback system has been good. I noticed that a route they wanted to send me went through a gated community, so I reported it, then got a request to send proof (pics) which I did. Haven’t been routed that way since.