Apple's Maps App Directs Alaska Drivers onto Airport Taxiway

[rosujin]

I'm definitely an Apple supporter, but the Maps app has let me down several times.

Earlier this year, I mapped a route to the Anaheim Convention Center in SoCal, and the directions led me directly into the Disneyland parking lot!!

It was a one-way street so I had to drive all the way into the parking lot and tell the guy a the booth that "my iPhone screwed me!". A Disneyland staffer had to walk next to my car all the way back to the street.

On the subject of disappointing Apple tech, Siri seems to have gotten worse since coming out of beta!!

 

[Dontazemebro]

I recall, back when Apple Maps made its debut (and we were denied Google Maps on our iPhones for a few months), I complained loudly about how Apple Maps sucked in comparison to Google Maps. And I don't even live in Alaska.

There were, of course (as is always the case on this site's forums) dozens of Apple defenders rushing to explain to me why I should no longer have my choice of map apps.

This article made me chuckle. Why the religious die-hards insist that my iPhone should only use an Apple product as my map, I'll never really understand, but it became a moot point several minutes after the new Google Maps app became available. It's still much better, by the way, and thanks very much.

Fanbois, save your breath. The oxygen is wasted upon you.

Much like they're rushing to the defense of Apple in this thread when it's definitely not needed. Everyone knows maps sucks sans the States for the most part, not like it's news.

 

[mavis]

It sounds like Apple Maps at least gets people to the airport, but from there they're winging it.

 

[eliaz]

I'm stationed south of North Pole, AK and regularly fly out of FAI... I've never had it route me onto the taxiway. Just saying. It'll route you on an awkward road next to the taxiway, but I've never seen it tell me to turn anywhere I'm not allowed to go. I see it now. It's telling me to take a road that I would never take. There's no reason to be down there if you don't love in the houses right next to the airport. This area has nothing, like no hotels that someone would be staying at to come visit the obnoxious giant plaster Santa in town and then get lost on the way to the airport. Well... I stand corrected. Guess I just have a little common sense

 

[Rot'nApple]

What?

Turning onto a runway, without getting permission from the tower? What would the FAA say?

RGDS,

Fill out NASA's Aviation Safety Report to CYA...

http://asrs.arc.nasa.gov/report/caveat.html

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[haruhiko]

Yeah, you'd have to give up your address, phone number, wifi password, and search history to get that kind of accuracy.

I don't think Google has got any WiFi password just by driving around. I think the problem was that they linked the WiFi network to a physical address which caused privacy concern. I'm a huge Apple fan but I can't figure out a way to defend Apple Maps. Now it only resides in the corner of my navigation apps folder (thanks to iOS 7 which allows more than one page of apps in folders).

 

[IGregory]

I thought the airports were secure. How can anyone get through the gates? Even so, how stupid can one be?

 

[lincolntran]

Absolutely not!!! Google has ads everywhere. I searched for my bank and had 5 ads that showed up for refinancing a house. I will take Apple maps anytime. Granted, the directions have been perfect for me in CO.

Afterwards I got ads for bank of the west, which is my bank. Nice that google remembered that and kept throwing me ads. Google maps finally defeated privacy.

100% agreed. Apple Map app has been pretty good for me. I'm happy with it. It gives me the correct direction every time.

We only get complains when things go wrong. Why don't we have praise when Apple Map gives correct data????????????????????????????????????????????

I use anything that's not google. It doesn't have to be from Apple.

 

[Rot'nApple]

It sounds like Apple Maps at least gets people to the airport, but from there they're winging it.

Anything that bypasses being groped by TSA... Thank you Apple.
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[haruhiko]

100% agreed. Apple Map app has been pretty good for me. I'm happy with it. It gives me the correct direction every time.

We only get complains when things go wrong. Why don't we have praise when Apple Map gives correct data????????????????????????????????????????????

I use anything that's not google. It doesn't have to be from Apple.

We "praised" Apple when we gave them our real money purchasing an iPhone! And it is supposed to "just work".

 

[GermanPenguin]

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”
― Albert Einstein

 

[Bill Killer]

I think it's funny how Apple fanboys warn the world against the evils of ads. Just such horrors. Thank God iTunes Radio isn't stooping to such a low level.

 

[dpg69]

I don't understand why this is front page news?

You don't understand because you can't acknowledge that Apple can stuff anything up

 

[Otago Lad]

Apple should have just paid google instead of going through this inefficient route. Tom tom will never be as good.

This is not an issue with TomTom - I've used TomTom for years in Europe/UK, the USA, Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand and have had few if any issues.

In fact I've tried to replicate the issues Apple Maps has by putting a number of locations into TomTom when I've been in the same town, state or country and TomTom doesn't replicate them - this shows that Apple Maps is not using the TomTom mapping information for all of its service.

Don't blame TomTom for Apple's issues.

P.S. I don't work for TomTom but I do like their products/software

 

[Anonymous Freak]

How did they get through the gate?

International airports in the US required access-controlled gates to get on airport grounds. (Not that it's particularly difficult to bypass, but it would be a bit of a red flag. "Huh, why am I at a gate that requires a code or a badge to get in?")

 

[Renzatic]

What surprised me is that after the debut of Google Maps in the App Store why would anybody still use Apple Maps?

Cuz it's chunkity on the iPad.

Apple Maps might eventually lead me to my death, but at least it scrolls smoothly.

 

[nagromme]

I tried the route--it's actually a nice shortcut. I'm going to use it every time!

P.S. I'm not really in Alaska, but where I am, Apple Maps has fewer errors that Google. I expected I'd use both, but I rarely touch Google in practice. Apple Maps is even better for my transit searches--and then it hands me off automatically to Google's app to get the times/directions.

I will not defend Apple Maps where I don't live (I'm in the US) but I know that problems make headlines while satisfied users don't.

 

[WhackyNinja]

I gave Apple Maps a chance in iOS 6. And it failed me recently so now I use Google Maps and Im not disappointed.

 

[munkery]

You can sit and wait for TomTom to "get their act together", whatever that means (if you ever sampled GPS's pre-phone-directions-era, you knew TomTom was inferior, as they are now)......

or you can give up the religious devotion to one company, and actually pick the product that offers the better maps, the less-closed phone OS, and better specs for less money.

I'm not saying everyone should dump their iPhones. They're certainly the better choice for non-techie types. But that comes with a price - if you think that saying "TomTom needs to get their act together" is going to result in some magical transformation, I've got a few bridges to sell you. There's no motivation for that to occur, because the masses are already slavishly devoted to their iPhones. That's fine, just don't expect the kind of accuracy you're going to get with Google Maps, cuz you ain't gonna get it.

You can get that kind of accuracy on an iPhone. Just download Google Maps for iOS.

 

[Edd.Dantes]

Apple: "Note to self... Don't go thermonuclear on Google."

Addendum: "Or Samsung"

 

[duffman9000]

This is funny because no one was hurt.

 

[palmerc2]

Now that's frickin hilarious.

"flight 992, pull back, we've got 20 cars on the Tarmac"

 

[Casiotone]

It'll be interesting to see how much time it will take until Apple fixes this.

Stupid maps errors aside, it's pretty sad to see some people here who seem to be ok with the notion that Google should/could get a quasi-monopoly on map services.

It's like no company should even try to compete with them, because they're too big and ahead of everybody...

Yeah, let's keep all map services in the hands of a single company. /s

 

[thedeejay]

It's an appropriate time for this.

 

[charlituna]

Oops, is that a plane coming at me, on my side of the road? No, it's a lawsuit taxiing down the runway!

Maybe. After all the directions don't ever tell them to drive onto the runway, and if it is a valid road for a car to be on . . .

The real question is the source of the data. That could be the issue. After all, apple does not send out tons of cars to map things for them. Much of what they get comes from local gazetteer data. And if that data, which they presume to be correct, has flaws. Well perhaps it's not apple that should be sued