Apple's New iOS 6 Maps App Drawing Significant Criticism

[frankandmary]

iOS 6 Maps

What would you expect from TomTom maps. TomTom users have been complaining for years about TomTom and ditching the devices.

Looks like apple fell into by cheap trap. Now they will have to purchase TomTom and make it a real product in a couple of years.

In the interim, just goto safari and google maps until their app is ready fo prime time.

Cheers frank

 

[thetobster12345]

Definitely disappointed in Apple with their maps release. I honestly used Google Maps all the time, and whether the public transportation times were correct or not, they were extremely helpful in figuring out how to get around without a car.

For now I'm going to use maps.google.com and save the link as an application in my maps folder. I'm also going to look into selling my unopened iPhone 5 and see what other phone options are out there.

Two features I was most excited about with iOS 6:
Apple Maps: complete crap
Facetime over data: doesn't work with unlimited data plan on AT&T

At the very least I need a new provider, if not a new phone

 

[etrinh]

What happened to Apple's OCD about not putting stuff out that wasn't 100% done right? Now it's just about their ego and ditching Google over the customer experience that used to be so important. They are spending too much time worrying about google and samsung these days and not just doing what they did best. Tim Cook is struggling and in over his head it would appear.

It was Steve Jobs OCD. But he's passed as already know. Apple's changed whether we like it or not.

 

[Renzatic]

ONCE MORE: to expect it to be as comprehensive from day ONE as a seven-year old Google app is LUDICROUS. Get over it and grow up, please.

Question is, why should we have to wait on Apple to play catch up, when we already had a perfectly good Map app beforehand? Instead of making their customers suffer, shouldn't Apple have spent more time developing it behind the scenes, and released it in a better state?

 

[rak007]

The only way apple can save some face is giving google a green signal to release their app in the app store (assuming google already has plans to do so).
But as usual apple will stay silent on the maps part too and will allow the disappointment to fizzle out.

 

[fatboyslick]

I'm going to bed now after reading this forum all day - it's been one of the busiest forums on the site!

At the end of the day, there's enough backlash to tell Apple that they've dropped a huge bollock. Yes it's their "first stab" at a maps app, but the first Sat Nav I bought on my iPhone (co pilot) was 10 times better than this piece of trash - at least that would direct me to a town rather than 30 miles away which is what Apple Maps would do.

Google are pissing themselves - I and many others on here have all comment at the fact we're now considering moving to Android - not just for a better map - but for a better experience after iOS6 has been a major let down.

Apple reinvented the smartphone and were miles ahead 2 years ago - now they're playing catch up and people are realising this

 

[MacDav]

Apple should just leave some things to Google.

They should have waited till it was ready for prime time. It was released too early. Should have stuck with Google until then.

 

[newagemac]

What in the world is apple doing with 100 billion dollars in Cash?

Do some investing for a sake....

Invest more and recruit some google employees.

Leaving public transportation to 3rd party developers? That's just insane.

If Apple had not unleashed the power of 3rd Party developers with the introduction of the App Store back in 2008, iOS would not be where it is today. I think you are seriously underestimating what 3rd Party developers can achieve. They've done things on the App Store a whole lot harder than public transit apps. And some of them have been doing mapping and public transit for far longer than Google.

 

[rydewnd2]

I'd like to revise my original criticism. After using Apple Maps for a day I'll say this: as much as Apple maps sucks it is equally and oppositely Awesome! The 3d maps are fantastic and totally useful. You could give someone a virtual tour of a neighborhood and provide much more context to someone in an unfamiliar area than simply looking at streets on a map or satellite view.

But again, the search is terrible, the maps data is terrible.

 

[jctevere]

Wow, some of these issues are crazy... I'm glad that in my area Apple Maps are flawless. Actually, in many areas, Apple maps is much more accurate in my location. But to see some of these massive errors (Brooklyn Bridge, Hoover Dam) is just unacceptable... What the heck were they thinking?!?!

For those having huge issues - I suggest downloading Waze. It's free turn by turn, very accurate, and also tracks real-time traffic for routing. Very good experience. Apple should have just bought over Waze and refined that instead of "working with them".

 

[I WAS the one]

I remember how awful was using the google maps when debuted long ago. I was a fan of Map Quest and sometimes Yahoo was the best option. Today Google is great (don't get me wrong it also got a few flaws too) but overall is very usable.

Today Apple is in Version 1.0 of the new Map app. Let them space to grow please. it's just the begining.

 

[chukronos]

The maps stink. I was starving and wanted an in-n-out burger.
This in n out does not exist. It is a torn down house in a neighborhood. I was pretty ticked that I sat through a ton of construction traffic to get there.

 

[Sora]

Found this gem on Gizmodo.

Why Apple Maps Won't Get Better Anytime Soon

Here's an excerpt:
Apple's road to wellness is relatively simple: It has to get better foreign data partners, for one. It's got to gather information from the millions and millions of iPhones and iPads that are out there (a huge advantage) about what things are actually where. And for that matter, it needs its own version of MapMaker to turn embarrassing Tumblrs into useful user-generated data.

Simple, though, isn't fast. Those deals take time to put in place, and even with an unprecedented number of iOS devices beaming back correct information, it could take years to make Maps whole.

Even quick fix solutions for Apple, however farfetched, wouldn't happen overnight. That goes for a high profile acquisition like Garmin, or Nokia's maps division if it goes under and Microsoft does not buy it whole, or anything else that could possibly inject an instantaneous shot of competence into Apple Maps. And that's if any of those things were remotely likely to happen. They're not.

 

[Trek2100]

My .02. I, and several of my friends had Tom Tom GPS units. From the low end to the high end models, and THEY WERE GARBAGE, at least in the USA due to the mapping system. Yes, I really feel that way. I almost threw mine out the window when she said "take the motorway". Really? Or, take six hundred ninety five for 695. Garmin is the way to go and the mapping system is much more accurate. I don't know if there is a universal mapping system that would work well in all countries. I never use Google maps on the phone (pre - iOS 6) when I'm driving and never will. I'll stick with my Garmin. The new maps must be in Beta like Siri. A work in progress. Time will tell.

 

[yukycg]

I don't buy the google had 7+years head start as an excuse, I hope Apple doesn't take 7 years to be on par with google map today and address this issue asap.

For further damage control, maybe make the Tomtom app for free. Like the free bumper for iphone 4.

 

[moderngamenewb]

I love all of my Apple products and services. I really do. But taking Google Maps away from us (ESPECIALLY MY STREET VIEW!!!), was a big, big mistake since they are obviously not ready for prime time.

And those 3D/Flyover images are ****** scary. It's like I took a good dose of mescaline and now I'm having horrible hacullinations.

I don't care too much about street views, but taking away my public transit option in the maps sucked. I reverted back to ios 5 because I need the public transit option. If 6.1 adds in public transit, then I'll upgrade back

 

[Broph]

Half my town is covered in cloud

 

[Macshroomer]

This is such a drag...I think I am going to either sell or return my iPhone 5 tomorrow. I would love to keep it on the notion that a Google Maps App would come out soon, but who knows if that will happen.

I sincerely regret updating to iOS6, Apple Maps simply does not do what I need it to do...:-(

 

[ironpony]

Well after seeing the first Apple maps app,
I will not buy the first Apple parachute.

 

[SimonMW]

If anything I have MUCH better resolution on the new maps.

...And then he woke up and found it was all a dream. Are you serious?!

This new maps app is a travesty. Google probably didn't get any work done today because all of it's staff were probably rolling around on the floor laughing their backsides off.

I tried to ask Siri directions to a road in my town that was quite clearly marked on the map. Siri said he couldn't find that road, I asked Siri directions to my nearest town (in the UK). Siri replied with two things at once. The first was a suggestion of going to a town in Arkansas! The second (which followed directly on from the last one without my prompting) was a suggestion of going to the theatre in my town. So Siri couldn't find directions to my town (instead suggesting somewhere in a totally different country), yet it could still find my local theatre (even though I didn't ask Siri to find it for me).

Apple can't possibly have tested maps at all. If they had somebody would have flagged up the crap mapping, useless and incomplete satellite images. Seems Tim Cooke went a bit penny pinching and purchased the cheapest data and mapping he could find.

 

[ps45]

What are the chances of getting the old Maps .ipa back on to iOS6 and working again? Is that likely to require jailbreaking?

 

[AbSoluTc]

Then they shoulda waited longer and renewed the googletract.

I might have mis-read the post. I agree with anyone saying that Apple should have waited. Apple Maps is a huge step backwards.

 

[tigajr]

Now I’m annoyed that I updated my iPad. Seriously. What has iOS6 given ME other than a worse version of Maps?

 

[badNameErr]

Google Earth

Google Earth works great (except for no streetview) on the iPad and iPhone. I bet the downloads have gone through the roof!

I'm trying to think of a bigger screwup in Apples history and can't. Apple III? PowerTalk? eMate? OpenDoc? Hmmm?

This will damage the brand something fierce.

 

[beatzfreak]

This is pretty bad:

From Gothamist:

But the data that Apple has bought from companies like TomTom simply isn't as good as Google's (for the moment)—and just as irritating, right now Apple's software isn't as good as Google's was at parsing what you mean. As Anil Dash puts it:
Here in Manhattan, where I live, basic search by building names is profoundly degraded in Apple's maps search. "Bloomberg" doesn't find the Bloomberg Tower; on Google Maps it's the first result. Searching for its address "731 Lexington Avenue" yields that address on Lexington Avenue in Brooklyn. It's fine to think that perhaps I wanted the address in Bed-Stuy, but even appending "NY, NY" or "Manhattan, NY" still yields the Brooklyn address. Google maps has none of these comprehension issues.

And as you can see in the above screen grabs, it also has trouble finding basic Big Apple locations like "Prospect Park Brooklyn" (though "Prospect Park New York New York" works) and "Coney Island Brooklyn." And, worse, it currently thinks that "85 5th ave, brooklyn, ny" is in Manhattan and believes that some addresses in Manhattan are across two streets from their actual location.

And this is the last straw for me:

If you are one of those who would look at the map app just to see what trains were at a given station (not necessarily looking for directions) well, that information is no longer available. All you get is the station name with no train info.

I rely on google maps and transit everyday for my job. Can't have a map app that can't tell the difference between Manhattan and Brooklyn. I need an app that can give me accurate locations and nearby subway stations with info on what subway lines service that station. No iphone 5 or IOS 6 for me in the near future.