Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Reportedly Had Over a Year Left on Maps Contract with Google

I really don't understand war like these who forgets user in the middle.
Samsung is building their Iphone but War.
Google is giving them Services but War.
Apple is going alone,end of the wars?
This is a solipsism,while markets are collective and while i understand patents and rights it think this is simply useless with no real need to do it.
A good advice said..take your friends close but your enemies more..,
if you let them living without you..they will start to consider to live that way.
And what if they live greatly than you thought or as you feared?Apple knows it
and thats why ,IMO,we saw those trials,but has no will to step back.
I think they should.
 
dugbug said:
I rather prefer apple maps. Not sure what the complaints are.
Click to expand...

Why don't you and the rest of the ignorant commenters stating 'it's ok for me', 'it'll only get better' or 'it just needs some user feedback' read the ***** comments then?

In the UK for example because I live here:

- entire towns wrongly located and even missing.

- Not one road in the entire country correctly colour coded and differentiated between motorways, A & B roads.

- satellite imagery low rez and black and white over the majority of the country

Need I go on? A country of millions, and these are NOT issues that should or even can, in some cases, be fixed by user feedback. It should never have been replaced Google at this point even if it was released as a trial. You CANNOT remove such an important feature as mapping from MILLIONS of users ok?

And before someone else says it, turn by turn was not an acceptable trade off. It is useless when the underlying maps are wrong, and it was already available to users as a 3rd party app. My 3G had working maps and turn by turn LAST WEEK. How is this an upgrade for me and my new iPhone 5?

----------
thewitt said:
Nonsense

The problems are with a minority of the users, and are being quickly resolved
Click to expand...

Are you retarded? Have you read the comments? The problems are with ENTIRE COUNTRIES OF PEOPLE, so yes the numbers are in the millions ok?
 
arn said:
Maps will be improved much faster with customer feedback than they could have been in private.

Being a software developer doesn't have anything to do with it. The software is done. It's the data that's lacking.
Click to expand...

I completely disagree. The data needs some work, but the main flaw is Apple's algorithm that creates the geographical information and points of interest.

If you compare Apple Maps with another area where the data is sourced by TomTom, the Tom Tom data will have the locations in the correct place (e.g. Luton, UK.) Flaws in Apple's algorithm are creating these howlers of missing and misplaced cities, or creating airports out of nowhere.

----------
 
Wow just wow... so some on here are blaming Google for Apple's crappy maps and lack of preparation?! Apple wanted a war with Google and they are getting it. One of the benefits of Android has been free turn-by-turn for several years. Why is Google wrong for holding a feature back for their OS? Apple has $100 Billion in the bank, they should have gotten the data right. Why do you all think that it is unfair that Google held back or "crippled" their maps app on iOS? Google isn't a charity, they have an interest in making their operating system a success.
 
toughboy said:
Every time you open the Maps app on a iOS5 device, it loads up from fresh start, right? Then, yea, it should stop working since there won't be any servers on the other end supporting the app. While I might be wrong, that's the simple logic talking..
Click to expand...

I believe the Gmaps app is connecting to the same server any maps app that uses Google Maps data is connecting to - i.e. the google maps server. Only the way the maps graphics are rendered is different, but that's a client-side difference, no?

What makes you think the app requires special servers to support it?
 
thewitt said:
Nonsense

The problems are with a minority of the users, and are being quickly resolved
Click to expand...

The search can't find a building you're stood right next to and you KNOW is on the Map. In my area, 99.% of the few POIs that are there are wrong. This junk is YEARS away from being as good as Bing Maps or Nokia Maps, let alone Google Maps.

I would can this whole project. Apple have failed in such a spectacular way that damage limitation is the order of the day.

Maps is important to vast numbers of smartphone users. Apple have signed their own death warrant - competitors can highlight the shiteness of Apple Maps over and over again.
 
As someone who left iOS earlier this year, all these shananigans are very satisfying to read. But I can't wait for the day that Apple start to fall from their dominant position and stop with all this self-important nonsense that ignores what's best for their customers.
 
I don't think there would have ever been a good time to release their mapping solution... I think they just has to bite the bullet and "go for it"... As far as google producing a stand alone maps app for the App Store... I don't believe for a second they were "caught on the hop"... They would have known about apples mapping a LONG time ago, and apple even officially announced it to the world months and months ago... You can't tell me google couldn't have done their own app in this time; google would have known apples solution would be imperfect out the box so it's possibly they made their own decision to not produce an App Store version as a strategic move as part of the silly war between them at the moment.
Apple maps is crap... No doubt, but I think apple were between a rock and a hard place on this one; I think they just had to go for it, and the software itself is pretty damn good, it's just the data that is rubbish; I just hope they can sort that fairly quickly (6-12 months); we will soon find out how committed they are to maps!
 
Apple Reportedly Had Over a Year Left on Maps Contract with Google

That sums the modern day Apple up. Yet again shoddy software launched prematurely. Shareholders should ask questions. A blatant waste of their money.

The analysts are saying the company has peaked - 2013 will see them slide backwards - unless they wake up.
 
wingsabre said:
It's not my job to update their maps. It is not the consumers job to fix Apple's screw up. It is also ridiculous to assume that consumers will be able to fix the problem, when the true problem is the 15-18 people processing the reported errors.
Click to expand...

I can't help but agree with this. It's a bit like how my Tom Tom asks me to confirm if speed cameras are still where it says they are and to input any new ones, just so Tom Tom can then sell the data back to me.

----------
charleswhalley said:
The analysts are saying the company has peaked - 2013 will see them slide backwards - unless they wake up.
Click to expand...

Do you have a link to something? I've not heard this before but it's what I believe so I'd be interested to read more.
 
iGrip said:
What a frigging boneheaded move. The person responsible should be questioned closely. And I daresay that Steve would never have released a new service that was worse than the old.
Click to expand...

iChrist said:
Yeah right, doof. Steve Jobs released Mobile Me, Ping, and Final Cut X. Enough said.
:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

You assume "doof" is taking about the actual Steve Jobs.

Imaginary Steve would never have released any of those things.

Imaginary Steve can be everything anyone wants him to be. Simultaneously.
 
I think apple should of used google maps as a toggle inside the maps (apple) app and still get reports to make maps better
 
globalist said:
I believe the Gmaps app is connecting to the same server any maps app that uses Google Maps data is connecting to - i.e. the google maps server. Only the way the maps graphics are rendered is different, but that's a client-side difference, no?

What makes you think the app requires special servers to support it?
Click to expand...

There was a taxation problem with Google and Turkish government which lead to temporary inability to reach Google services shortly about 1.5-2 years ago, however we could perfectly reach iOS Maps data those days. There are also many places in maps.google.com different than iOS app in Turkey. Many searches end up with different results somehow..
 
Bevz said:
Apple maps is crap... No doubt, but I think apple were between a rock and a hard place on this one; I think they just had to go for it, and the software itself is pretty damn good, it's just the data that is rubbish; I just hope they can sort that fairly quickly (6-12 months); we will soon find out how committed they are to maps!
Click to expand...

How is the software good? The search box is like something from the mid-90s 'no results found', 'no results found', 'no results found' ,'no results found' ,'no results found', 'no results found', 'no results found'...

And the vector maps may load fast but there's nothing to tell one type of road from another. The database is YELP (!) - some junky yellow pages thing that I've barely heard of.
 
Just in case...

you haven't seen it on Facebook

199564_511034898925099_1698259823_n.jpg
 
thewitt said:
Nonsense

The problems are with a minority of the users, and are being quickly resolved
Click to expand...

not really. while i think i am kind of apple fanboy, there are weird issues with maps. even in central london, typing in post codes doesnt always work (i had a firsthand experience with it yesterday). in smaller cities, post codes are not updated properly. i searched for one, it showed the place correctly. then i said i wanna go there. it took me two/three post codes away. these are tiny little things that can put off people when going to a completely unknown place (thats what maps are used for!)

----------
Adam22 said:
I think apple should of used google maps as a toggle inside the maps (apple) app and still get reports to make maps better
Click to expand...

nice but i doubt apple will bow to pressure :(
 
I do miss Google Maps, but Apple Maps by far have the greater potential. Just look at the 3D mapping - at some point, this is going to make street view look very sad and dated. It already does, IMO.

Lastly, I think there are two sorts of folk in the world - those who have the vision to see 'the next step' (the one after all the cards have been laid at the table) and the rest, who judge everything on 'the here and now'. It's only the former that progress the world, in any industry or institution - the latter simply follow, rabble rousing at first, joyous when the vision becomes reality to them. Don't be the latter, people. They kinda make it harder for everything to move forward.
 
AlterZgo said:
"Totally unusable" for "millions" of other iPhone owners? Please cite source or provide back up for this statement.

I'm not sure what the big deal is. Google maps never had turn by turn navigation or any of the updated features Android phones get. So, what's the problem?
Click to expand...

Well, just a hunch but given that there are millions of POIs missing, duplicated or in the wrong place, it's kind of hard to use turn by turn to navigate to them. Turn by turn is only useful if the map data is sufficiently comprehensive and accurate. It's not an either-or choice.
 
tekno said:
I can't help but agree with this. It's a bit like how my Tom Tom asks me to confirm if speed cameras are still where it says they are and to input any new ones, just so Tom Tom can then sell the data back to me.

----------



Do you have a link to something? I've not heard this before but it's what I believe so I'd be interested to read more.
Click to expand...

Really? You haven't heard this before.

:rolleyes:

Can't be that hard to find; analysts have been saying Apple is going down since the mid-nineties.

MacObserver maintains a list of articles on their Apple Death Knell Page

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/death_knell/
 
NeonGreenHermit said:
I do miss Google Maps, but Apple Maps by far have the greater potential. Just look at the 3D mapping - at some point, this is going to make street view look very sad and dated. It already does, IMO.
Click to expand...

Are you on crack? How is something useless like 3D going to replace something occasionally useful like Street View? 3D view looks terrible anyway - crudely-rendered buildings that look like they've been hit by an earthquake.

The only way Apple can get out of this mess is to open source apple maps completely. At least then they can get kudos for supporting open data and people won't feel so bad about doing Apple's work for them by reporting errors.

Apple have become like Microsoft of old. Doesn't matter if the stuff is crappy - people buy it anyway. Then the market changes and Google, or some new outfit no one's even heard of yet, displaces you.

Apple need to remove Tim Cook now or give him a mere accounting role. I can't believe a perfectionist like Jonny Ive was happy with releasing a 1% finished Apple Craps.
 
What a strange decision

I can't help but think this is the worst decision I've seen apple make since releasing the original iPhone 4 with a known antennae problem.

I'm all for Apple trying to develop a better maps app, and the new app does look quite nice (especially the turn by turn), but to cripple thousands of people like me who rely on that app for their work is very annoying.

I'll be eagerly awaiting Google's app!
 
SprSynJn said:
I'm in Japan and it works fine for me.
Click to expand...

I guess you haven't noticed large portions of the city being completely empty, the complete lack of detail around the world's busiest train stations, and the train stations erroneously placed in the middle of neighborhoods, rivers, etc. Check out the Seibu line between Ikebukuro and Tokorozawa sometime. Or Fuchuhonmachi Station (conveniently located right smack in the middle of Tama River). Yeah, perfectly acceptable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back