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Do you believe Apple maps is starting to catch up to google maps?
- Thread starter tymaster50
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People are conflating a number of different issues under the name "Maps."
1. The POI (Points of interest) database just plain sucks compared to Google. No doubt about it.
2. The 3D satellite view is a gimmick and the ariel images aren't too hot in most places.
3. The road maps themselves are fairly good... in major US cities even the outline of every building shows on the map as you drive.
I don't know how things are in the UK, but here in my part of the US, the maps really aren't that bad. Actually the maps here (Cleveland Ohio) are actually TomTom maps. How do I know?
1. Maps app says the data is from TomTom.
2. The maps have the same two private driveways marked as roads that my TomTom units have had for the last 8 years.
1. The POI (Points of interest) database just plain sucks compared to Google. No doubt about it.
2. The 3D satellite view is a gimmick and the ariel images aren't too hot in most places.
3. The road maps themselves are fairly good... in major US cities even the outline of every building shows on the map as you drive.
I don't know how things are in the UK, but here in my part of the US, the maps really aren't that bad. Actually the maps here (Cleveland Ohio) are actually TomTom maps. How do I know?
1. Maps app says the data is from TomTom.
2. The maps have the same two private driveways marked as roads that my TomTom units have had for the last 8 years.
No, Apple has the resources. Maps doesn't need sophisticated search engines. Apple has 4 years of experience themselves + 28 years of experience of TomTom who owns TeleAtlas founded in 1984.
So a combined 32 years experience and we get this? You're not selling it well at all.
While they definitely have a lot of work to do but I can say that in my experience the maps in southern California have been quite good and the turn by turn nav is great. I've even checked out locations in the app that have been posted here and there (as examples of mistakes) and either Apple quickly made changes to those specific areas or something is odd, because I didn't see anything as missing or lacking in those locations.
Overall i'd say I am more than satisfied, but I can understand where others are not.
Overall i'd say I am more than satisfied, but I can understand where others are not.
Google maps were awful in the beginning
It is and I don't understand why people fail to mention how bad Google maps where when they first came out and how even now Nokia maps are way better than Google maps, I have a friend who used to work for Google, he said they had way more problems at Google.
It is and I don't understand why people fail to mention how bad Google maps where when they first came out and how even now Nokia maps are way better than Google maps, I have a friend who used to work for Google, he said they had way more problems at Google.
It is and I don't understand why people fail to mention how bad Google maps where when they first came out and how even now Nokia maps are way better than Google maps, I have a friend who used to work for Google, he said they had way more problems at Google.
Because it doesn't matter. Apple isn't competing with Google Maps from 2005; they are competing with Google Maps from 2012.
I suspest, for you, this would have been true regardless of how poor apples offering was, or how good googles.
You're a fanboy. Apple wins because it's apple. It's bizarre.
Not yet, at least for me.
The usefulness of Maps is highly subjective; they're only good if the person using them can find where they need to go. There are far too many errors and omissions near me for me to consider them anything other than useless in their current state.
I don't just whine though, I've been reporting lots of problems.
The usefulness of Maps is highly subjective; they're only good if the person using them can find where they need to go. There are far too many errors and omissions near me for me to consider them anything other than useless in their current state.
I don't just whine though, I've been reporting lots of problems.
No, it is simply because Apple maps offer TBT, the only function I asked from it. I have nothing against Google maps actually I used them from time to time on my PC (playing around with satellite or google street view, checking traffic).
I still use Google maps on PC for playing, but I don't need to check traffic any longer, as Apple maps does that for me when calculating a route.
If Maps TBT had any problems in my area I would still use Navigon and would have bought their Live traffic IAP. But it became obsolete for me, at least as long as I don't leave the country - then I will use Navigon again because of offline maps.
I was fully prepared for Apple taking at least a year to replace Navigon and to just ignore the new Maps like I ignored the old ones, but they surprised me with a perfect service.
So I am lucky, as are probably most german users who just want TBT because the TomTom maps seem to be great for germany. I am fully aware others might be not and have to wait for things to improve. But those have the Google maps webapp as a good alternative that covers most things asked for.
Because its a stupid crutch that Apple (and its apologists) should quit leaning on.It is and I don't understand why people fail to mention how bad Google maps where when they first came out and how even now Nokia maps are way better than Google maps, I have a friend who used to work for Google, he said they had way more problems at Google.
If a new competitor comes out in 2012 claiming "We are the best smartphones on the market" then should they be compared to the original iPhone and excused for missing copy and paste because "iPhone didn't have it at first either". Or should they be judged based on the products in an already mature market like the Galaxy S3 or iPhone 5?
Whether or not Google started off slowly in 2007 is irrelevant because these are products meant for use in 2012.
Beta tag would have definately helped if they'd done it before launch. It's too late now.
Something they could have also done before launch was release a version for OSX. That way they could have had more people testing it out before it became a more critical component in iOS. As for a web version... I just don't see that happening with Apple's current software strategy.
Haven't encountered any errors with the Apple Maps yet in my area. I already prefer it over a Google Maps that lacks turn-by-turn. Now if we had a choice between turn-by-turn Google Maps and Apple Maps, that would be a different story.
Maps is like a parachute in that you won't actually know how we'll it works until you actually use it in a critical situation.
Many people are mapping familiar locations like home or Walmart and saying "Quit whining, it works fine". But where Maps really is tested is when you're in an UNFAMILIAR location. Driving with a low gas light on an open stretch of highway while also craving an In-N-Out is when you're really free falling, and in that situation then is Apples current product going to work? That isn't something that a traveler should have to be freaking out over.
Many people are mapping familiar locations like home or Walmart and saying "Quit whining, it works fine". But where Maps really is tested is when you're in an UNFAMILIAR location. Driving with a low gas light on an open stretch of highway while also craving an In-N-Out is when you're really free falling, and in that situation then is Apples current product going to work? That isn't something that a traveler should have to be freaking out over.
But that's what 99% of the whiners are complaining about...their grocery store, their little local pub.
I travel quite a bit and it has worked fine for me...and I'll be the first one to post a s$&@ fit when it doesn't.
Maps works for you but someone who is legitimately missing local mapping/POI data is considered a "whiner"?But that's what 99% of the whiners are complaining about...their grocery store, their little local pub.
I travel quite a bit and it has worked fine for me...and I'll be the first one to post a s$&@ fit when it doesn't.
People used that excuse when iOS 6 WAS in beta.
"Apple's probably only using a sample of the data," they said.
"Things will improve when it goes final," they said.
Now that it's out, people just saying that Google has had a massive head start.
There's always an excuse.
My point is that the odds of someone traveling and actually NEEDING or trying to access every single tiny POI that I may know about in my little 1 square mile is slim.
Day to day use is what is important and it will improve. Not trying to excuse the mistakes, but of course I know what is wrong in my little area and yes, the whiners on here complaining about tiny little poi's, while incorrect and should be fixed, will likely not affect a vast majority of the users of the iPhone or Maps.