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Do you believe Apple maps is starting to catch up to google maps?

tymaster50

tymaster50

Suspended
Original poster
Oct 3, 2012
2,833
58
Oregon
I'm not gonna lie, I'm not a huge user of maps and nor am I going to act like one. Google maps, apple maps, it's all the same to me. I don't drive either so directions don't mean anything. But from all the negative press regarding it do you believe it is getting better? I sincerely believe Apple is trying hard to fix all the error's and unfinished data.
 
It will definitely take some time to catch up, but if they continue in this tempo it's certainly possible. Todays improvements made the maps a lot better in my area, but they still need some work.
 
I live in North Carolina and to make matters worse I am in the country! I have been testing out Apple Maps ever since I got the new iPhone and I have yet to encounter any problems. This is not to say there are not any problems but if they are accurate on back country roads out in the middle of no where then I tend to believe that the media has made this to be a bigger issue than what it really is. Apple has already started to improve maps and it's only going to get better from here!
 
No, Apple doesn't have the resources to do what google does. Having a seperate search engine helps this process so much as businesses themselves list themselves on google so they come up in search results. Apple doesn't have a search engine. They also don't have any experience in the field either. Google has been doing this for years.
 
Apple are going to have to throw a lot of money and man power at it, Google has a 8 year head start on them and it will take time.
 
tymaster50 said:
...do you believe it is getting better?
Click to expand...

So far, I haven't seen it. More than that, there was zero improvement from the early betas to the release.

tymaster50 said:
I sincerely believe Apple is trying hard to fix all the error's and unfinished data.
Click to expand...

I guess...but I really wonder how long it's going to take and whether the whole 'we're designating employees from our retail stores to help us with this' has more to do with PR than effectively solving the problems that exist.
 
When it comes to Maps, Google takes the cake.

When it comes to Apps, Apple has it.

At least that's what I read a little while ago. Both will improve over time.
 
tech4all said:
When it comes to Maps, Google takes the cake.

When it comes to Apps, Apple has it.

At least that's what I read a little while ago. Both will improve over time.
Click to expand...

Exactly what he/she said.

I have an iPhone 4 and I do not like the new maps app. I CANNOT use the the transit section of directions. Only walking and driving works. I dont rely on using the transit as a way or transportation, but for those who do.. well..uhh they have to download a third party app.
 
Right now, Google is improving their maps faster than Apple, not only do they have more resources but they completely control the data so they don't have to work with too many third parties.
 
The app itself is better than google's map app, even on android (google's 'turn-by-turn' UI hasn't been updated since gingerbread, yet fandroids are so proud of it)
data-wise, it still needs some work
 
JS82712 said:
The app itself is better than google's map app, even on android (google's 'turn-by-turn' UI hasn't been updated since gingerbread, yet fandroids are so proud of it)
data-wise, it still needs some work
Click to expand...

Except for it not being a very good map app, I like Apple Maps...

It's has a cool 3D feature if You want to impress your friends and the way turn-by-turn is implemented is actually good if the thing could find it's way around. There's no doubt that Apple didn't know anything about maps when they developed it - but damn, the 3D thing is cool, can't wait to get myself a helicopter.
 
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For me Apple maps beat Google maps the day it was released. Never used Google maps but use Apple maps every day.
 
Mliii said:
So far, I haven't seen it. More than that, there was zero improvement from the early betas to the release.



I guess...but I really wonder how long it's going to take and whether the whole 'we're designating employees from our retail stores to help us with this' has more to do with PR than effectively solving the problems that exist.
Click to expand...

At least it was a timely response. Google maps would have been kept on the device longer if they would have gave turn by turn. People kept complaining that there wasn't so they listened to them and look what happened. TomTom, C3, and others messed up a bit on transmitting data so some areas look like crap while most areas resemble google maps. Like the other poster said, if they can get a dead end road in the middle of nowhere the media is blowing it out of proportion. Well the media blows everything out of proportion.
 
I don't mean to offend anyone by saying this because I like Apples Maps integration, but Apple doesn't seem to be heading in the right direction. <\zing>

Google has 7000 people in their Maps team that have been attacking the globe through brute force, manpower and creativity.

Apple acquired some companies in the last few years, has a much smaller Maps team (undisclosed amount), are relying on users to fix issues and only hired a few ex-google maps people recently. So not only are they 5 years behind, they're not keeping pace.

Suggestions to Fix Things in a Hurry:

1) Brute Force:
People say Google is ahead because they had a five year head start. That's innacurate because the reason Google is ahead is because they employ A LOT of knowledgable people that have hit the streets hard and havent stopped. Where's the Apple streets teams or the thousands of new hires to help them expand this critical area of their business?

2) Pay Users to Help:
Asking users for data correction is nice, but how about compensation to really get things flowing? How's a song per correction sound to everyone? I'd gladly start looking up bad addresses.

3) Web Browser Version
If you want mass input and corrections for a janky map system then why limit it to iOS users only? Throw out a web version and speed up the process.

4) Beta Tag It
Nothing deflects criticism better than a Beta Tag. "My house is missing". "I have no subway maps". "Mom drove into a train track". Well, it's in Beta dummy. problem solved.
 
dv8r said:
Except for it not being a very good map app, I like Apple Maps...

It's has a cool 3D feature if You want to impress your friends and the way turn-by-turn is implemented is actually good if the thing could find it's way around. There's no doubt that Apple didn't know anything about maps when they developed it - but damn, the 3D thing is cool, can't wait to get myself a helicopter.
Click to expand...

Yea 3D is so cool, that's why google, the most innovative company in the world, had to quickly put together a buggy 3D map demo few days before the iOS 6 announcement.

Try harder.

How's that butter smooth experience working out for you?
 
As this moment in time I can trust the accuracy of the maps provided by Google Maps. I can't trust the maps in the Apple Map app yet because I've found (and reported) so many errors in the area where I live, none of which have been fixed.

It's good to see some areas are now getting updates but it's early days and Apple have still got a lot of work in front of them before they catch up with Google.
 
PhoenixMac said:
Maybe if Apple threw the $1 Billon they got from samsung at Maps they could catch up.
Click to expand...

Well, if $1 billion was all it took then TomTom probably shouldn't have paid $3.7 billion for TeleAtlas or Nokia wasted their money buy buying Navteq for $8 billion. If Navteq was $8 billion, imagine what Google maps division would go for on the market.
 
Around my place i would say its getting worse! I don't know if people are reporting false location or something... I have 4 different malls around my place all less than 5km one of them is on the same street that i live with a apple store in it, but the name of the mall is wrong :(
 
urkel said:
I don't mean to offend anyone by saying this because I like Apples Maps integration, but Apple doesn't seem to be heading in the right direction. <\zing>

Google has 7000 people in their Maps team that have been attacking the globe through brute force, manpower and creativity.

Apple acquired some companies in the last few years, has a much smaller Maps team (undisclosed amount), are relying on users to fix issues and only hired a few ex-google maps people recently. So not only are they 5 years behind, they're not keeping pace.

Suggestions to Fix Things in a Hurry:

1) Brute Force:
People say Google is ahead because they had a five year head start. That's innacurate because the reason Google is ahead is because they employ A LOT of knowledgable people that have hit the streets hard and havent stopped. Where's the Apple streets teams or the thousands of new hires to help them expand this critical area of their business?

2) Pay Users to Help:
Asking users for data correction is nice, but how about compensation to really get things flowing? How's a song per correction sound to everyone? I'd gladly start looking up bad addresses.

3) Web Browser Version
If you want mass input and corrections for a janky map system then why limit it to iOS users only? Throw out a web version and speed up the process.

4) Beta Tag It
Nothing deflects criticism better than a Beta Tag. "My house is missing". "I have no subway maps". "Mom drove into a train track". Well, it's in Beta dummy. problem solved.
Click to expand...

You left one out.
App source it. Not just sending users to other apps. Start signing deals to pulling the data they build in to their own apps back into the main map data base. nothing like vested interest.

Although I think they need improve data filtering first so the collision detection on the labeling can show more informative view when zoomed out, before they let too much info get loaded in to data set.
 
Last edited:
In the early days of google maps they relied on crowd sourcing as well


urkel said:
I don't mean to offend anyone by saying this because I like Apples Maps integration, but Apple doesn't seem to be heading in the right direction. <\zing>

Google has 7000 people in their Maps team that have been attacking the globe through brute force, manpower and creativity.

Apple acquired some companies in the last few years, has a much smaller Maps team (undisclosed amount), are relying on users to fix issues and only hired a few ex-google maps people recently. So not only are they 5 years behind, they're not keeping pace.

Suggestions to Fix Things in a Hurry:

1) Brute Force:
People say Google is ahead because they had a five year head start. That's innacurate because the reason Google is ahead is because they employ A LOT of knowledgable people that have hit the streets hard and havent stopped. Where's the Apple streets teams or the thousands of new hires to help them expand this critical area of their business?

2) Pay Users to Help:
Asking users for data correction is nice, but how about compensation to really get things flowing? How's a song per correction sound to everyone? I'd gladly start looking up bad addresses.

3) Web Browser Version
If you want mass input and corrections for a janky map system then why limit it to iOS users only? Throw out a web version and speed up the process.

4) Beta Tag It
Nothing deflects criticism better than a Beta Tag. "My house is missing". "I have no subway maps". "Mom drove into a train track". Well, it's in Beta dummy. problem solved.
Click to expand...
 
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