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

KnightWRX said:
People in the ADP learned in June of Apple maps just like everyone else. 4 months is not enough time to provide a full map application, unless you're going to implement it using Map Kit... which doesn't solve the back-end problem, which is the core issue here.

Map kit has been migrated to Apple Maps in iOS 6.
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Unfortunately, if you look at Apple's acquisitions from just a few years ago I think people in "the know" have seen it coming. When I first saw the C9 demo (or whatever the company was called) on an iPad I thought, why would I want to use that? I don't own or could fly a helicopter.

I'd still prefer street view.
 
I've said it before, but Apple should have beta tested maps first. After they were announced in June, they should have put the app on the App Store for people to begin testing. They could have kept Google Maps on the phone a little while longer, then removed them and added their own maps in a 6.x update. Beta tests are around for a reason
 
I heard Apple plans to release the iOS5 Maps app on iOS6 via the app store later this week. Only $4.99 :p
 
I don't care

Just fix the maps. I don't care how much is left on their license. I don't care what they could have done. They just need to fix the app.
 
samcraig said:
Are you remotely aware how software/hardware teams work. Or how different project managers/teams work? Because your comment above indicates you don't have a clue.

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The difference is in the integration of the mapping service with other apps. Maybe you don't use any apps that rely on map kit. Which is fortunate for you. Many of us do.
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Funny seeing how I do software development for living, so I would say I do know how it works. And I'm willing to bet they are now in ramp up for map team. The OS team will be in ramp down until spring when they will start getting OS 7 ready for beta.

I use several apps that use map kit, again no issues...
 
the jailbreak needs to come out asap and save us already, its always up to them to fix things for some reason.

i hate being stuck on a outdated OS but i just cant with the default set up since 2008


emwgradstudent said:
I've said it before, but Apple should have beta tested maps first. After they were announced in June, they should have put the app on the App Store for people to begin testing. They could have kept Google Maps on the phone a little while longer, then removed them and added their own maps in a 6.x update. Beta tests are around for a reason
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they needed at least one "feature" to make iOS6 stand out from 5 ;)
 
samcraig said:
1. A feature is not the same as bad data in a core app
2. a feature isn't the same as bad data in a core app
3. a problem solved with a bumper for those affected is not the same as bad data in a core app

Your analogies aren't remotely relevant.
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An analogy will never be 100% equivalent to the real situation, and of course it will be meaningless if you stretch it far enough.

My analogies are meaningfull, I believe, if one is willing to consider:

1. Both in my analogies and in the maps situation at hand, they were/are new problems to Apple.
2. Both result in poorer products/experences than the user expected and/or felt entitled to.
3. None of them are issues any longer, and user experience doesn't suffer anymore because of them.

All those analogies poit to, I believe, to Apple's ability to solve problems. Why wouldn't I believe they can solve a problem with bad data in a core app?
 
spazzcat said:
Most people will not change unless you force them.
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Again you ignore that elephant in the room that is the OS 9 to OS X transition. 11 years ago, at a time when Mac market share was basement bottom. They got plenty of willing "beta testers" for that, received tons of very good feedback and made OS X one of the best darn OSes around and the only viable consumer Unix system out there from it.

Millions would have jumped at the chance of using Apple Maps as a preview and would have used it side-by-side happilly with the existing maps. Now instead you're stuck with a PR nightmare and plenty of pissed users. You're also probably not getting any more feedback or maybe even less.
 
spazzcat said:
Funny seeing how I do software development for living, so I would say I do know how it works. And I'm willing to bet they are now in ramp up for map team. The OS team will be in ramp down until spring when they will start getting OS 7 ready for beta.

I use several apps that use map kit, again no issues...
Click to expand...

Funny indeed.

Maybe you don't work on large scope projects. If you did - you'd realize that there would be dedicated teams and it's very unlikely that "concentration" would go towards one aspect vs another - but that they would be simultaneously working on all aspects/features/etc.

You'd be willing to bet they are now in ramp up for the map team? Of course they are - you don't have to have a magic 8 ball to know that. They've listed several job opportunities on their website and have issued a press release that says they are in lockdown mode.

And the OS team isn't in ramp down mode until OS 7 - software development is an ongoing and continual process in situations like this. It's not a one off or single project.

You might have experience with software development. But I sincerely question your concept of project management, governance and methodology.
 
sazivad said:
I'd actually like to know, can app developers use Apple Maps (which, by the way, just decreased iOS customer satisfaction for the first time in history) in their apps?
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Map Kit having been migrated, you're basically stuck using it unless your mapping provider has shipped a iOS API or you're a mapping provider that can write your own framework to use (to download map tiles/vectors, render them out to a UIView, provide searching of POIs and geolocation mapping, etc..).

sazivad said:
Is that the only option, i.e., is Google Maps no longer an official, or even unofficial, alternative?
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Google Maps cannot be used for Map Kit using apps (whcih is pretty much all of the side apps like Fitness, real-estate, store/restaurant locators or even Find my iPhone/Friends). Google has not had time to provide a seperate Google Maps iOS framework as far as I know, so Google Maps is not an option on iOS 6 at all for now.

Google now has 2 fronts :

- A new Maps app using their backend
- A new Maps framework using their backend for developers.
 
Mapmonkey said:
Naive or what. You have no idea how complex this is to put right.

I'll save this post and remind you in 3 to 4 months when it's still pants.
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They will be pushing out updates, guessing a lot of them over the few months. The biggest issue is they need to replace Yelp as a data source, but that doesn't effect fixing things like missing roads.
 
cycomiko said:
Who gives a **** how huge the undertaking is. If I want a filet mignon, I do not expect low quality cos its sorta hard to get a cow from the field to my plate.

Apple replaced a working product with a worse product. Oh poor Apple, it was really hard. Sure, you sit back and we can rub your shoulders.

Nobody should get a free ride for creating a worse product. Not Apple, not Microsoft, not Amazon or Google.
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Then switch to a service that better serves your needs rather than complaining about a should be beta service... Hope you don't get lost with the broken map app.
 
Speaking of...

KnightWRX said:
But if you use Map Kit enabled apps, those apps are now stuck using Apple Maps. Let's say you like RunKeeper. What good is it if all your normal run routes are now missing from Apple's maps when they weren't in Google Maps ?

Can't keep your runs if you can't map them out.

The problem is just that, Maps.google.com cannot replace Map Kit. It's not just the maps app per se that's gotten a downgrade here, it's the whole Map Kit framework.
Click to expand...

Anyone want to make some money? Invent an app that will make locations in Google Places work / translate into a list for Apple Maps. As far as I know something like this doesn't exist yet aside from just manual entry.
 
samcraig said:
Funny indeed.

Maybe you don't work on large scope projects. If you did - you'd realize that there would be dedicated teams and it's very unlikely that "concentration" would go towards one aspect vs another - but that they would be simultaneously working on all aspects/features/etc.

You'd be willing to bet they are now in ramp up for the map team? Of course they are - you don't have to have a magic 8 ball to know that. They've listed several job opportunities on their website and have issued a press release that says they are in lockdown mode.

And the OS team isn't in ramp down mode until OS 7 - software development is an ongoing and continual process in situations like this. It's not a one off or single project.

You might have experience with software development. But I sincerely question your concept of project management, governance and methodology.
Click to expand...

Project teams don't run full speed/full staffed 12 months a year. They have ramp up and ramp down periods. They have core people that work on the projects, but people move around on teams all the time.
 
Scrub175 said:
Then switch to a service that better serves your needs rather than complaining about a should be beta service... Hope you don't get lost with the broken map app.
Click to expand...

If people don't "complain" nothing will get done. Is complaining SOLELY on a message board productive. Debatable. For one - there is strength in numbers and when people google/bing search issues they are having and see they aren't alone, it helps them. I am sure there are people that work for Apple that visit these sites whether it's officially or unofficially. Word gets back. It's inevitable.


Complaining TO Apple is, of course, the best and most direct route.
 
samcraig said:
Funny indeed.

Maybe you don't work on large scope projects. If you did - you'd realize that there would be dedicated teams and it's very unlikely that "concentration" would go towards one aspect vs another - but that they would be simultaneously working on all aspects/features/etc.

You'd be willing to bet they are now in ramp up for the map team? Of course they are - you don't have to have a magic 8 ball to know that. They've listed several job opportunities on their website and have issued a press release that says they are in lockdown mode.

And the OS team isn't in ramp down mode until OS 7 - software development is an ongoing and continual process in situations like this. It's not a one off or single project.

You might have experience with software development. But I sincerely question your concept of project management, governance and methodology.
Click to expand...

We need time off between projects. It's like running a horse. Run that horse too hard and too long, and the horse dies. I've been on a year long cycle of project after project and was not happy.
 
spazzcat said:
Project teams don't run full speed/full staffed 12 months a year. They have ramp up and ramp down periods. They have core people that work on the projects, but people move around on teams all the time.
Click to expand...

You don't ramp up teams after shipping though, you ramp them up prior to. Especially since this doesn't even carry a beta tag. Anyway, what good is a bunch of OS kernel/UI programmers to a team in need of mapping and GIS experience ?

I think Apple putting out tons of mapping / GIS positions to fill shows that they now understand where their issues lie : lack of expertise.

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samcraig said:
Complaining TO Apple is, of course, the best and most direct route.
Click to expand...

PR nightmares, althought not really the best thing, also help Apple move. Antenna Keynote/Free Bumpers ? Yeap, no use in "whining" and throwing a "PR *****torm" uh ? ;)
 
KnightWRX said:
Just like no one used Mac OS X when Apple released it as an optional OS right ? Right ?

Oh wait, wrong. ;) Plenty of Apple heads would have jumped onto a Maps preview and started giving feedback on day 1.
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Problem is that neither you or Apple know that for sure. To begin with, this is a different device. The vast majority of iPhone users are not 'iPhone heads' or 'Apple heads'; they're every day consumers who would carry on using the Google app.

There is also the question of numbers: Apple could probably get away with just a relatively small number of keen Mac folk testing early versions of OSX; the numbers they need to test Maps adequately are considerably more.
 
Caught off guard?

I'm surprised to hear that Google was "caught off guard" by Apple's decision. How could that possibly be the case when iOS 6 with Apple maps was previewed months ago and the subject of so much industry conjecture even before then?
 
I havent had any issues with the maps app. Every time I have used it I have been extremely happy. I havent used it as along as google, but I like it better than googles so far.
 
spazzcat said:
Project teams don't run full speed/full staffed 12 months a year. They have ramp up and ramp down periods. They have core people that work on the projects, but people move around on teams all the time.
Click to expand...

I didn't realize you knew exactly how Apple's iOS/Core Apps team works.

And I didn't realize you know how every project/company handles their software and hardware development as far as staffing and methodology.

But let's move on, shall we - it's pretty irrelevant/not germane to this topic.
 
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