Wish Apple would have just bought Waze and rolled it into Maps. Would have made it orders of magnitude better.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Consumer Backlash Against Apple Maps Surprised Waze CEO
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I had Waze but I couldn't get used to the clunky interface so I deleted it. What this guy doesn't understand is that Apple maps with turn by turn is already the gold standard for the vast majority of iOS users, and it's only 7 months old. Waze has lost relevance and it's only a matter of time before gMaps loses relevance on iOS.
In most cases Apple Maps works fine for my uses. What I don't like is that it's POI's are sometimes off. I've reported it but that doesn't seem to help. For some reason it selects a point that is slightly off which screws up navigation sometimes, when it's clear that the POI that should be used is the one that is on top of the icon on the map.
And just why is this guy a CEO? Or more importantly how? He didn't think removing a fantastic free service offering tons of features from a reliable and well known company with plenty of support, (Google), with something under developed with half the features and no support doesn't work right, doesn't have main street shops or even petrol stations listed and on and on and on.... would cause a massive public uproar? On a £500 device?
If EVER their was a slap head moment, this guy is it..
If EVER their was a slap head moment, this guy is it..
Am I the only one who HATES the Waze interface? AFAIK, their maps are user generated to some degree as I remember going in and actually drawing roads in my area that weren't there. But the interface of the map is downright horrible.
If they could take the data from Waze as well as the social aspect of it and use the look of Apple Maps it would be nice.
If they could take the data from Waze as well as the social aspect of it and use the look of Apple Maps it would be nice.
So in a couple of years Apple Maps MAY be as good as Google Maps was 2 years ago! Wow that's cool to know
I don't know what kind of **** company Apple got its map data from, but I haven't seen any attempt to fix anything.
There has been a road next to my house for probably 50+ years. Maybe over a 100 years. I've reported it to Apple, and it's still not on Apple maps. Do we need to wait another 50 years for them to fix their map?
This isn't some unpaved side-road in the middle of no where. It's a regular street, south of St. Louis, that has homes on it. It connects to a big parking lot that has had a shopping center there for decades.
When driving on it, Apple Maps just shows you as a blue dot out in a field.
Google Maps has always had it. It even has Street View.
Bing Maps shows it.
Mapquest shows it ending at the parking lot (but not connected to it).
Yahoo Maps/Nokia Maps shows part of it (but not the parking lot).
Navigon shows part of it (but not the parking lot).
Waze does not show it, like Apple Maps.
With Apple Maps - do they just record data of me out in a field somewhere? Do they ignore when I report a problem? Do they just think my GPS is messed up?
There has been a road next to my house for probably 50+ years. Maybe over a 100 years. I've reported it to Apple, and it's still not on Apple maps. Do we need to wait another 50 years for them to fix their map?
This isn't some unpaved side-road in the middle of no where. It's a regular street, south of St. Louis, that has homes on it. It connects to a big parking lot that has had a shopping center there for decades.
When driving on it, Apple Maps just shows you as a blue dot out in a field.
Google Maps has always had it. It even has Street View.
Bing Maps shows it.
Mapquest shows it ending at the parking lot (but not connected to it).
Yahoo Maps/Nokia Maps shows part of it (but not the parking lot).
Navigon shows part of it (but not the parking lot).
Waze does not show it, like Apple Maps.
With Apple Maps - do they just record data of me out in a field somewhere? Do they ignore when I report a problem? Do they just think my GPS is messed up?
Have you tried your three options?
Looking for yourself with your eyeballs - You might see it. You might not. Maybe it's around any of the corners (they've got a bunch of corners in cities.)
Google Street View - Same as looking for yourself, but more jarring when you move between nodes and generally slower than just walking.
Flyover - Very quick, very seamless, and very easy to spin around a few city blocks to find which side of a building has the entrance you're looking for.
I have tried using both. I used street view for about two years before Apple Maps was released (I'd mostly use it while heading towards the city - once I got to the city, looking and walking for myself was faster). Apple Maps was an instant win for me with flyover... It's faster than physically exploring the area.
I have no idea why Apple chose to go with TomTom as their mapping supplier (well, to be exact, TeleAtlas, as that is the mapping company that TomTom bought a few years ago) - I've always seen them as sub-standard compared to Navteq, the other main supplier.
Maybe it's because Nokia own Navteq?
Maybe it's because Nokia own Navteq?
This is nonsense - the people slaughtered Apple maps becuase it provided wrong localization. If the map shows me a place on 62 and Park if it is actually on 70th and Madison it is utterly useless. And that is just one personal example I encountered, not to mention the many others you can find on the web. And he is not really objective either, is he now?
Spot the Apple fan!
You're ignorant and/or arrogant to believe Google will sit there doing nothing whilst letting Apple take the lead. Whilst Apple MIGHT be up to the same standard as Google are now, by then, Google will be a further 2 years ahead!
Its not as if Apples track record doesn't show anything different!!!
----------
Spoken like a true Apple advocate! Because Apple doesn't have this SUPERB feature, it suddenly becomes irrelevant!
For everyone else in the real world, having the extra benefit of street view can only be deemed as a required option!
I won't rate an app if it's less than 4 stars -- I don't need to hurt an obviously struggling developer-- but Wayze was so frustrating that I was compelled to give it a rating of 1.
I tried Wayze when Apple Maps was problematic. I had problems with Wayze at first but was told that it would "learn" my habits, etc. So for two weeks I put up with it and it added 10-15 minutes to my 1 hour commute. This is Chicago where the city is on a grid so directions are NOT that complicated. Yet, Wayze had me take what was clearly the longer route. Still that isn' t what ticked me off. What did it was when on the 12th day my obeying Wayze, Wayze gave me directions from home to work that included basically circling a mile block back to my starting point before continuing on.
Despite it's promise, Wayze is the worse technology I've ever experienced. I even used the first Apple Newton. Wayze is way worse.
I tried Wayze when Apple Maps was problematic. I had problems with Wayze at first but was told that it would "learn" my habits, etc. So for two weeks I put up with it and it added 10-15 minutes to my 1 hour commute. This is Chicago where the city is on a grid so directions are NOT that complicated. Yet, Wayze had me take what was clearly the longer route. Still that isn' t what ticked me off. What did it was when on the 12th day my obeying Wayze, Wayze gave me directions from home to work that included basically circling a mile block back to my starting point before continuing on.
Despite it's promise, Wayze is the worse technology I've ever experienced. I even used the first Apple Newton. Wayze is way worse.
Have to disagree with you there. I travel a lot and navigating to a new address is ok with google maps but getting the streetview perspective is great when you're going somewhere you've never been before. Just makes it easier to spot the place.
I don't know if google maps on IOS does this but on Android the maps switches from map view to street view for the last couple of hundred meters (when you're in navigation mode) with a marker showing the building you want. Its very useful.
I don't know if google maps on IOS does this but on Android the maps switches from map view to street view for the last couple of hundred meters (when you're in navigation mode) with a marker showing the building you want. Its very useful.
If Jobs was alive he would be defending Maps completely, touting the experience of the trip as being more important than the utility of actually arriving at the right place. LSD will do that to a person...!
What is disturbing is that it seems Apple isn't interested in people's input about wrong or missing Map info. You know that "Circle the Wagons" headquarters is more than some spacy design, right?
What is disturbing is that it seems Apple isn't interested in people's input about wrong or missing Map info. You know that "Circle the Wagons" headquarters is more than some spacy design, right?
Funny, I had exactly the opposite experience of Waze than you did.
Shaves off a LOT of time on my commute, even reroutes you when traffic conditions change REALTIME.
That plus the fact that police reports are displayed means I use Waze every day.
The main headline here is "consumers upset by second rate mapping software AND having beloved googlemaps removed" (true at time of launch)
Apple maps have improved but I have no intention of using it as I like the google option more, I like street view and don't give a crap about flyover..... truth be told I wish I could uninstall a load of the native apps off my phone.
Apple maps have improved but I have no intention of using it as I like the google option more, I like street view and don't give a crap about flyover..... truth be told I wish I could uninstall a load of the native apps off my phone.
The only way flyover is better than street view is if you are arriving by helicopter.
Michael
Well, to be fair...when Google Maps was first introduced it was regarded as lagging behind MapQuest's services and we all know how that turned out. Mapping apps are more than just "apps" so the background updates are VERY noticeable to the user.
Yes I remember thinking the same thing when google maps was forced on me at the time... oh wait, it wasn't.
Michael
I use MotionX too. I also use Mapster, Apple Maps, and Google Maps on Safari with my iPad. They all have their strengths. MotionX and Mapster maps are both able to be downloaded for offline use, but Mapster does the offline bit better. Both have scales on the maps which i find incredibly useful. Apple maps loads the fastest and is best for navigation with a few exceptions I've found where some cities are just plain wrong- Kolkata in India for example has much of the city located in the river. MotionX and Apple Maps are the only ones which tell which compass direction i'm facing. Google maps seems best for detail, but the maps are tiresomely slow or impossible to download. If I was paranoid, which I am, I'd say Google seems to be hobbling iOS devices.
Just downloading Waze now.
TomTom uses Teleatlas for map data. TeleAtlas had a 6 month turnaround from time of report to when a fix was integrated into the map. That may have changed since TomTom bought TeleAtlas but there is no evidence of that as far as I can tell. Google on the other hand, will use street view data to validate reports from users and make the change quickly. They are in complete control of their database so they can do this.
Apple has their own database with data from TomTom. They don't have street view data to check whether reports are accurate and they also don't have enough employees to do it. Not only that, they have to send corrections to TomTom and then wait for the correction to be made and then integrate the update from TomTom. Otherwise, they risk forking their own map database and losing the ability to integrate further TomTom changes.
----------
Love the cartoonish waterways on Apple maps.
----------
Yes, you mean when they were using data from partners like Apple is now, but then switched to doing it all themselves and people almost immediately noticed great improvements in accuracy? Is that what you were referring to?
Waze is awesome. I'd like to see some Waze data integration in Apple Maps, but I'd definitely would not like Apple to buy and shut down Waze.