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Apple's New iOS 6 Maps App Drawing Significant Criticism

cfc said:
Google may decide that it's worth losing a bit of feedback from Apple devices because of the competitive advantage that Apple's awful maps give them. They will still get plenty of feedback from Android devices, which massively outnumber iPhones anyway. And their maps are so far ahead that making their maps 110% better than Apple's instead of 100% isn't worth losing the opportunity to watch lots of Apple users jump ship and head in their direction.

And people will definitely be put off iPhones by the new maps. I am an Apple fan through and through but I would have looked around if I weren't an iOS developer. Lots of people rely on the maps app, strange as that clearly seems to some people on these forums.
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I think there are plenty of people who are overreacting to this as well. Not saying the maps app is where it needs to be but to completely switch platforms over it is a bit drastic.

I also think you underestimate the number of iOS users. We aren't just talking iPhones here - there are over 400 million iOS devices out there. And Apple has a much better customer retention rate than Android so the number of Android activations while higher than Apple doesn't as accurately indicate the number of Android users.

Like others have said, there are alternatives. maps.google.com bookmarked works well plus Apple will continue to update the maps as crowd-sourced data comes to them. It'll take time, but it needed to be done.
 
doelcm82 said:
I can't get excited about carto-gate. I supported Apple's decision to sever ties with Google, even though I knew it would have some growing pains. I'd like to see Apple add street-level views, in the future, but they have to come up with something that doesn't infringe on Google's IP with StreetView. (Although StreetView is suspiciously like QuickTime VR.)

Maybe they could have detailed image maps and geometry that only download when you zoom all the way down to street level. Maybe the imagery could be crowd-sourced. The iPhone 4s and 5 have panorama mode now. if you want street level imagery for your street, go stand on the yellow line and spin around.

This is not any worse than I expected, and I have workarounds available, so I won't be participating in the lynch mob, or writing angry letters to my congressmen.

I'll just use Apples Maps as much as it is useful to me, report any glaring errors, and look forward to it being better in the future.
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I totally agree with Apple's wish to sever ties with Google but there's always the huge risk of such a move backfiring, and it seems headed that way. This isn't portraying Apple as independent and able to stand without Google (as they'd want us to think) so far.
 
kas23 said:
That Google's map data took years to develop and was weak at first is completely irrelevant. The fact is Google's product back then was completely innovative. It was greatly ahead of its competitors MapBlast and Mapquest at that point. Now, after all these years, consumers expect a certain standard of quality, which Google has set. Apple's maps are doing nothing considered innovative or new, and most of their data is borrowed anyhow (from TomTom), so they really have no excuse for releasing a quarter-baked product.
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Seriously has any product released by Google not been "quarter-baked"?
 
Man9z0r said:
This is a mess... Apple should of just waited until it was more polished before release. I think Apple has got their head in the wrong place and just wants to own every little part of everything. Look how long it took for Google to make maps so good. It is just like when they released Siri. A total mess and hope to just keep patching it on the way. At least Google lets you know things are beta and doesn't try to sound all high and mighty about it when they do release something. :(
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You mean like this...?

http://www.apple.com/ios/siri/?cid=...permguid=683ed420-2c42-47d8-a289-935556c81c9a
 
If maps are a key part of your smartphone use Apple has made things bad enough that you may be better going Android right now - even if you prefer iOS in most other regards.

This is a horror show for Apple. Make MobileMe, the toilet-seat iBook, the FCPX launch, the Mac Pro 'update', look like nothing...
 
Malligator said:
I 'use' my phone. I've learned to never really 'rely' on it.
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Don't have to rely on it. All of the public transit info i speak of is available at train stations and bus stops or in pamhplet handouts. Anyone that can read can figure it out. The point? It is far less convenient. And yes, it's upsetting.
 
BRLawyer said:
That's EXACTLY the "6-year old standard" people are sticking to when criticizing Apple ONE day after the launch of the new Maps app... ;)
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So, by the same token, if Apple decides to release Rhapsody competitor it will be as good as Rhapsody was in 2001 (when it was first released)? That would be nice. Even better will be the first Apple TV set - just like those first TV sets in 1930s :D
 
Macist said:
Right. Google Maps was rough and ready 7 years ago. 7 years ago. Why do iPhone users want to regress 7 years. What's in it for us?
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Regress? This is a TOOL we are talking about here. I did a search for a local business that I need to go to a meeting at and it sent me to a slightly different name in the F___ing bushes at the airport parking lot 1/2 a mile away!

I have trip planned in DC next week with three meetings in which I will be using both the bus and metro rail systems to get from Fairfax, VA in to DC proper, two out of the three business are not even listed, there are NO metro or bus stations listed, all my info is gone, this is really, really bad on Apple's part.

Bottom line is that we had a great tool, not perfect but far, far better than this crap. You can hardly even see the orange traffic graphic over the beige freeway graphics in metro areas....this is insanely bad and people who don't actually use these apps as tools are quick to just dismiss that this is actually a big, BIG problem.

I am now strongly considering selling my iPhone 5 when I get it tomorrow and sitting this one out, I have three other apps that used to access Google Maps and now are just about useless as well.

Don't just say that we are all supposed to be OK with this since Apple just started out with it, there is a standard of expectation that professionals have come to rely on and Apple has left us pro users out to dry on this one.
 
lordofthereef said:
It's already been confirmed that Google is re-releasing maps app with improvements for the appstore. I am guessing this had little or nothing to do with Google and everything to do with Apple wanting to distance themselves from Google as best they can.
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Confirmed...? Last I heard it was a rumour... A maybe maybe not situation...

Also I find it very unlikely that Apple would risk their reputation in such a manner just to distance themselves from Google in a hurry... There has to be some other explanation or someone at Apple suffered a severe brainfade...
 
Macist said:
If maps are a key part of your smartphone use Apple has made things bad enough that you may be better going Android right now - even if you prefer iOS in most other regards.

This is a horror show for Apple. Make MobileMe, the toilet-seat iBook, the FCPX launch, the Mac Pro 'update', look like nothing...
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Never before has Apple got negative press within 24 hours of a release on the front page of BBC news...
 
Sora said:
Do you remember when Google Maps was introduced back in 2006. It didn't have subways for any city. NONE.
It took a whole year just to get partial subway for NYC, DC and San Francisco.

What I'm saying is that we are "primed" to look critically at Apple's take on mapping. Understand and realize that to get where Google Maps is today required 7 years of innovation. Apple just got in the game.

I am not excusing the flaws within their mapping division, but for a first time foray into public release it's beats the living crap out of what Google released back in 2006.

OH, and if you can't remember what cities were even mapped by Google in 2006 - only a handful.

Citation: (for those who are source happy): http://news.com.com/2061-10812_3-6160719.html
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So if you came to my house and I offered you a cup of coffee, but instead gave you some raw coffee beans and cold water, would you be happy? If I told you that 6 hours ago the freshly-ground, steaming hot coffee that I'm drinking was also nothing more than raw beans and cold water, would that make it ok? Which would you prefer?

I don't understand why anyone would want to defend Apple on this. The fact that they're 6 years behind Google Maps might EXPLAIN why Apple's own Maps app is much worse, but it doesn't EXCUSE Apple for releasing it in its current state.

If a company is leading the way and creating innovative products and services, there's no shame in having a shaky start, especially since there's nobody to learn from or be compared to. But if you follow that company's path 6 years later, ostensibly to rival or improve on their product and repeat all their mistakes, then you deserve every piece of criticism you get.
 
Malligator said:
You mean like this...?

http://www.apple.com/ios/siri/?cid=...permguid=683ed420-2c42-47d8-a289-935556c81c9a
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I am not sure Apple ever once publicly made an announcement that Siri was in beta. Did their iPhone 4S ads, ALL of which focused solely on Siri ever mention it? No. You have to go FIND a specific page on their website that talks about Siri to learn it was in beta stages. That's not being upfront at all in my book...

Granted, Google may be doing the same thing(s). I am not saying they are better or worse than Google, as another poster commented, just that it wasn't as up front as it could have been.
 
Cmon guys... Apple did good job in 1/1000 of time Google had.
Give Apple some time, and Maps will kill Google maps.
Apple knows what they're doing. I tjink they made GREAT job till now.
Just wait - they know what they're doing - belive me!
 
Malligator said:
You mean like this...?

http://www.apple.com/ios/siri/?cid=...permguid=683ed420-2c42-47d8-a289-935556c81c9a
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Google didn't use Maps as THE key selling point of a device though. At no point in the adds does it say that Siri is Beta. you have to dig to the page you linked before you get any indication that Siri is in Beta, and always will be.

iceman46 said:
Cmon guys... Apple did good job in 1/1000 of time Google had.
Give Apple some time, and Maps will kill Google maps.
Apple knows what they're doing. I tjink they made GREAT job till now.
Just wait - they know what they're doing - belive me!
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You haven't got a clue about cartography have you?
 
If I were Apple I'd be using that Tumblr link and systematically having the team address every issue as it was posted there... :)
 
j4zb4 said:
Confirmed...? Last I heard it was a rumour... A maybe maybe not situation...

Also I find it very unlikely that Apple would risk their reputation in such a manner just to distance themselves from Google in a hurry... There has to be some other explanation or someone at Apple suffered a severe brainfade...
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I don't. Same thing happened with youtube app. And look... we have one downloadable on the appstore already directly from Google.

You are right that it hasn't exactly been confirmed. It has been alluded to many times over by Google execs. I fully expect Google Maps to make an appearance, perhaps even with turn by turn this time.
 
Malligator said:
But Apple Maps is not 7 years behind. The map data is server side and can be updated 24/7. Features such as Transit maps didn't appear until less than two years ago and for all we know it could be added very shortly to Apple Maps. But, by all means, overreact just like people do to any quibble that is found with each iteration of iOS.
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You think that the state of the maps app is a "quibble"? As a long term iOS developer I have played with many versions of iOS over the years and this is the first time that I have really thought that Apple has made a serious mistake. I have been complaining to Apple about the maps since the first beta, trying to get them to improve things or at least delay the release internationally. It's not just a case of a few mapping issues - the data and the presentation are not ready for use.

It's particularly annoying because I have been developing a map app for the last 4 years (don't ask) and I made the mistake of migrating it to use their maps when they opened them up a few years ago. The app is finally nearing release but by the time it comes out most users will see it with the Apple map as a background instead of the Google maps, which certainly doesn't help the overall effect.

I don't blame Apple for shifting things in-house instead of relying on a competitor, and it would have been ok if the maps were not as good as Google but still usable (as seems the case in the US), but the international maps are generally awful.
 
G4DP said:
Google didn't use Maps as THE key selling point of a device though. At no point in the adds does it say that Siri is Beta. you have to dig to the page you linked before you get any indication that Siri is in Beta, and always will be.



You haven't got a clue about cartography have you?
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Why did you buy iPhone then man?!?!?!?
Use something else then!
I think they did good till now. I know they will improve this!
 
cfc said:
That is a terrible argument. 2006 was a very long time ago in technology terms.

As an analogy if Samsung decided to produce their own mobile phone OS instead of using Android and came out with a crap first attempt next year that was far worse than Android is now, then would you be saying that it was ok because it was much better than the original Android OS was in 2007/2008?
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What I was simply saying is that Apple's foray into mapping is novice at best. Their mapping division is in it's infancy. Personally, I don't believe it's ready for prime time, but I do understand that this is Apple's first time entering this domain at this magnitude - they did an ok job - relatively speaking.
My point of reference is all companies who have ever entered the mapping industry for the first time.
Is navigation novel - no. Can I compare this attempt to 2006. No. But I can compare it to any companies first attempt to enter any market. There is a learning curve.
Get back to me in 2019 (7 years from now) when Apple's mapping division has had the appropriate time to mature.
 
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