For those of you not sure about updating to iOS 6 due to new Apple maps...

[DJinTX]

I figured some of you out there might be on the fence about updating to iOS 6 because of all of the back and forth about maps in iOS 6, so here is my experience...

I had planned to upgrade my iPhone 4S to iOS 6 the day it became available, but got busy. Well as you know then came the flood of complaints screaming about how the new maps app was a downgrade and unusable. So after this I decided to wait a bit to see how it all shook out.

Since then I kept reading forum posts on MacRumors and AppleInsider, and I would hear the same extremes argued over and over...one person saying how awful maps was and how apple needed to revert back to Google. And then the other side of the coin saying that they love the new app, turn by turn is awesome, and they had gotten no bad map info so far.

Ultimately, I decided the truth would be somewhere in between and had to see for myself. To be covered from all angles, I first downloaded the MapQuest app and added google maps and nokia maps pages to my homescreen and decided that if the Apple maps truly sucked for me, I would have a fallback position until it improved. I am afterall not a poweruser, and I do not use transit info as I am in Austin, TX. So last night I took the plunge. The update went smoothly, and I then began testing the new maps.

I have to say I am very pleasantly surprised. Conceptually, the new app is gorgeous and very ambitious. It also runs super smooth. I love the vector mapping, and am so glad Apple chose this. I admittedly have never been a big street view person, so it's exclusion did not bother me at all.

To test I started searching for restaurants and stores that my wife and I like, as well as places we go to in Houston when visiting her parents. Some of these had been there for years, some were very new. Almost without flaw, Apple maps found all of these places and they were correctly located. Oddly enough, the only error that I found was that the Apple Store at the Domain in Austin was not there at all. Everything else I have searched for, I have found to be correct. I also love flyover. It is a really cool effect and I can't wait for this to be available for most towns and cities. I have not yet tried turn by turn, but assume it will be good as many reviewers have noted that this is one of the strong points.

I certainly realize that the new Apple maps app is not perfect, and for some people and parts of the world it may be completely hosed, but for me it has worked extremely well. I expect it to have flaws and missing or incorrect data, and so I plan to submit trouble reports when I run across issues. I full well expect some growing pains, but I think this is a really good move for Apple.

As for whether you should update or not, I think it depends on how important maps are to your daily usage needs and how good the map data is in your area. In my case it works really well. I can't wait to see where Apple takes this, and I'm glad they have made the change.

 

[RTWG]

The consensus is that if you're in the US and you don't rely on transit directions, then maps works okay, but could use a lot of improvement. However, if you're outside the US, then maps can be terrible. Truly terrible.

I live in the UK, and here are just some of the problems that I'm facing when I try to use maps in my town:

- no high-res satellite/plane imagery
- hardly any POIs
- most POIs that do exist are outdated, closed, or in the wrong place entirely
- no schools are listed
- none of the big supermarkets are listed
- no leisure centres are listed
- no Doctors' surgeries are listed
- some parks are on the map, but not others (the biggest one in my town is strangely absent)

Navigation is great once you tell it where you want to go - either by full address, or adding a pin to the map manually and navigating to it. But navigation is only useful if you can get the phone to find the destination! I can't just ask Siri to "take me to XXX", because it just can't find anything.

I've been trying to add businesses and other POIs to the map, but it's really difficult to align the pins correctly because of the lack of detailed satellite imagery. It really is a mess over here.

 

[Thetonyk123]

Yeah I agree however in the uk I've heard maps are really bad. I don't live there so I'm good.

1 problem I have is maps sometimes crashes

 

[DJinTX]

Sorry to hear that RTWG,

Unfortunately I have read similar things the last few days from many people in the UK and other countries. Hopefully Apple will not only improve things quickly for you, but maybe a better more precise tool for people to add or correct data is in the works. I know when I find errors I am going to want to get it fixed, but if it is difficult to conver the issue to Apple then I can see it decreasing my motivation.

 

[RTWG]

I know when I find errors I am going to want to get it fixed, but if it is difficult to conver the issue to Apple then I can see it decreasing my motivation.

I think this is their biggest issue. None of the POIs that I have reported in the last 2/3 weeks have been fixed yet, so I'm unsure whether to continue making the effort.

I've been involved in mapping my local area as part of Waze. I've found Waze to be the most accurate mapping tool around. Apple should have partnered even more closely with Waze than they already do. If Apple released a map editor like Waze's, I can see maps improving much faster than they currently are.

 

[Zcott]

I find Apple maps is either great or terrible depending on your needs.

For finding addresses, and navigating to them, I think it's great.

For finding points of interest, I think it's bad.

 

[MonkeySee....]

See, I'm in the UK and apart from a few POI's the maps have been perfect.

I've used turn by turn for a few trips and its been spot on.

I live in a small village near Haywards Heath in West Sussex. Yes satellite imagery is poor and that would be a problem on my Mac if there were a web based Apple maps but on my phone I use the standard.

Cult of Mac have a bit more level headed people after reading their thread about it.

 

[spinedoc77]

Apple maps screwed up the location of my business office, I'm peeved about that, they put it way across town for some weird reason. For years Google has my address correctly.

Sigh and I miss street view terribly.

 

[mw360]

The consensus is that if you're in the US and you don't rely on transit directions, then maps works okay, but could use a lot of improvement. However, if you're outside the US, then maps can be terrible. Truly terrible.

I live in the UK, and here are just some of the problems that I'm facing when I try to use maps in my town:

- no high-res satellite/plane imagery
- hardly any POIs
- most POIs that do exist are outdated, closed, or in the wrong place entirely
- no schools are listed
- none of the big supermarkets are listed
- no leisure centres are listed
- no Doctors' surgeries are listed
- some parks are on the map, but not others (the biggest one in my town is strangely absent)

Navigation is great once you tell it where you want to go - either by full address, or adding a pin to the map manually and navigating to it. But navigation is only useful if you can get the phone to find the destination! I can't just ask Siri to "take me to XXX", because it just can't find anything.

I've been trying to add businesses and other POIs to the map, but it's really difficult to align the pins correctly because of the lack of detailed satellite imagery. It really is a mess over here.

I'm in the UK.
Satellite imagery for my area is identical to Bing, adequate quality far more recent than Google.
Tons of POIs, although yes, many are out of date.
Doctors surgeries included
Schools included
Haven't looked for leisure centres or supermarkets.

----------

Sorry to hear that RTWG,

Unfortunately I have read similar things the last few days from many people in the UK and other countries. Hopefully Apple will not only improve things quickly for you, but maybe a better more precise tool for people to add or correct data is in the works. I know when I find errors I am going to want to get it fixed, but if it is difficult to conver the issue to Apple then I can see it decreasing my motivation.

Many people are also exaggerating. On another thread one guy claimed to be completely lost in a big US city. Turned out Maps listed two locations for one POI, both on the same street, and he chose the wrong location initially and had to walk to the second.

 

[antdawe]

Agreed.

Its the POI's thats the issue for me. I couldnt really care less how the map looks.

If I type in nandos, asda, tesco, petrol station, hariddressers etc etc I want it to show me the nearest one like on google maps. my nearest telco from South Wales is 70km's away in Bristol. Clearly not true as they are everywhere.

At present I am searching for things on google web maps, finding post code then inputting that into apple maps for navigation. unconventional but it works.

 

[Idefix]

The point being that Maps is such a huge problem worldwide, it's gonna take at least a year to get it straightened out.

And while Apple is playing catch-up, Google won't be standing still.

I see no point in upgrading.

 

[Booji]

Agree that is probably not ready for most users, but man if the quality of some of these images is indicative of what we will see in the future, all I can say is WOW.

To see what I mean, do a flyover in Las Vegas and zoom into one of the hotels - try the Mandalay Bay pool area. Really amazing.

 

[virginblue4]

I love in the UK and Apple Maps has worked like a dream for me. It much prefer it over Googles.

The only problem I've found is a few POI's missing and in the odd few places (nit where I live) there is poor satellite imagery. But this seems to be in only a few places.

Overall, I'm extremely happy with Apple maps! I tried turn by turn it it worked amazingly.

Very happy user

 

[OllyW]

The consensus is that if you're in the US and you don't rely on transit directions, then maps works okay, but could use a lot of improvement. However, if you're outside the US, then maps can be terrible. Truly terrible.

I live in the UK, and here are just some of the problems that I'm facing when I try to use maps in my town:

- no high-res satellite/plane imagery
- hardly any POIs
- most POIs that do exist are outdated, closed, or in the wrong place entirely
- no schools are listed
- none of the big supermarkets are listed
- no leisure centres are listed
- no Doctors' surgeries are listed
- some parks are on the map, but not others (the biggest one in my town is strangely absent)

Navigation is great once you tell it where you want to go - either by full address, or adding a pin to the map manually and navigating to it. But navigation is only useful if you can get the phone to find the destination! I can't just ask Siri to "take me to XXX", because it just can't find anything.

I've been trying to add businesses and other POIs to the map, but it's really difficult to align the pins correctly because of the lack of detailed satellite imagery. It really is a mess over here.

I've had a similar experience to you.

Nearly all the towns near me are not labelled and a some of the ones that are labelled are in the wrong place. I've tried to send as many reports as I can but there are just too many errors and not enough time.

I hope Apple will be able to come up with a quick fix but I'm not very confident. The town of Dudley is still being shown 7 miles from where it really is and that was featured in the headline news story on the BBC website last Thursday. If they can't quickly fix a high profile error like that I don't hold much hope for all those dodgy POIs getting sorted any time soon.