Google Maps App: iOS users getting screwed?

[Neebee]

There was an incident a few days ago that prompted me to pay close attention to Google maps, in particular, traffic.

What I have discovered is that the traffic data is very different on the iOS app vs both the Android App and the mobile browser google maps link or the desktop browser version.

I checked several random incidents in different parts of the country (USA) and every time the iPhone Google maps app fell short in terms of not matching the traffic info/data compared to the other sources I mentioned above.

My findings have prompted me to uninstall the Google Maps app and use the web (mobile) browser version only. I often use Google traffic when going from point A to B.

I don't know if others have noticed or experienced what I have, but this certainly is a big surprise to me. I could understand Google not wanting to provide the same features as the desktop or the Android version of their app (I wish they would keep it the same though) but I would assume the data would be the same. However, it clearly is not.

 

[maxosx]

Apple restricts what they allow developers to do. Usually to assure that Apples Apps are better, more comprehensive & run faster. Safari for example has permissions to assure its the best iOS browser. While others still offer their browsers, they are restricted & we are prevented from choosing something other than Safari as our default iOS browser as but one example.

I use Android, Google Services & iOS, each for their strengths. Currently I prefer my new Galaxy S4, and Nexus 4 for their excellent unadulterated Google Experience. The speed & accuracy of Google Maps, Google Sync, and especially Google Drive, as compared to the somewhat buggy iCloud on my iPhone 5, has been quite satisfying & productive. Yet I'm sure in the next year or two Apple will fix their cloud services. They're not going to kill it off like they did MobileMe. They've got too much invested & are already bragging how many subscribers they have.

 

[Neebee]

I get that Apple restricts developers, but I am not convinced that this is not something Google has done on their own without any restrictions from Apple. It's traffic data.

I am not a fan of Samsung myself, the wife has the HTC One X which is nice. I don't like Google's restrictions on bulk deleting email on their Android devices. Hats off to Apple with their email.

Ironically, I have been finding Apple maps in my area to rather accurate and frequent in reporting incidents, often better than the desktop version of Google maps. I wouldn't be surprised if Google one day creates a premium Google Maps for iOS to mirror the Android version.

 

[Armen]

Google and Apple Maps cannot compete with the accuracy of Waze when it comes to traffic (user reported, crowdsourced). Probably explains why Google is possibly bidding 1 billion dollars for that company.

 

[Troneas]

apple maps doesnt even have traffic data in my country; google maps does.

 

[jeffe]

I don't like Google's restrictions on bulk deleting email on their Android devices. Hats off to Apple with their email.

What restrictions does Google have on bulk deleting email from Android devices?

 

[spacehog371]

>Apple restricts what they allow developers to do. Usually to assure that Apples Apps are better, more comprehensive & run faster.

This has nothing to do with Apple. GPS is just as accessible for 3rd party developers as it is to Apple.

I have extensively tested Waze, Apple Maps, and Google Maps. I used all three at the same time for a couple months, with drives ranging from less than a mile to drives over 600 miles.

Waze had the most accurate ETA's, usually within 1-3 minutes of the actual arrival time, even for longer trips.

Apple maps was next up. Apple's ETA's are more conservative than Waze, and the inaccuracy gets worse as the distance gets longer. This would mean getting to the destination about 7 minutes earlier than Apple maps originally predicted.

Google maps was the worst of all three. The ETA times were inexplicably 15 minutes longer than Apple's on an hour drive.

That being said, the routing was the same 90% of the time between all three of them, save for minor differences in the route on side streets. Waze I think edges out Apple/Google maps in terms of routing, but Apple and Google are about the same. Waze seems to be more okay with taking side streets than Google or Apple, which can save some time. That being said, sometimes Waze will try to have you do something crazy, like get off an empty highway, go down 1 exit and then get back on the highway.

Apple has the quickest support for road closures. On one trip, the highway was closed ahead and Apple immediately routed me around it. Google didn't know it was closed, and Waze didn't know it was closed (Waze has since released an update that allows reporting road closures).

Anyways... I still have Google maps on my phone, but use it very, very rarely. 97% of the time I use Apple or Waze.

 

[takeshi74]

I don't know if others have noticed or experienced what I have, but this certainly is a big surprise to me.

I generally don't rely on Google Maps for traffic data as we have a traffic site that always seems to have much more up-to-date traffic data than any other source I've run across. That said, it does seems surprising since it seems like Google would use the same traffic data source across all platforms.

This has nothing to do with Apple. GPS is just as accessible for 3rd party developers as it is to Apple.

I have extensively tested Waze, Apple Maps, and Google Maps. I used all three at the same time for a couple months, with drives ranging from less than a mile to drives over 600 miles.

This has nothing to do with the accessibility of GPS to developers either. The OP (read again) is dicussing variances in the traffic data for Google Maps on different platforms. Have you tested all these apps on various platforms?

 

[spacehog371]

This has nothing to do with the accessibility of GPS to developers either. The OP (read again) is dicussing variances in the traffic data for Google Maps on different platforms. Have you tested all these apps on various platforms?

Okay.... and? You've just repeated what I said. I knew what the OP was talking about. Maxosx was arguing that the reason for the differences is that iOS doesn't allow the same access to the GPS as Android, and that is why there are differences. That isn't the reason.

 

[Merkie]

Apple restricts what they allow developers to do. Usually to assure that Apples Apps are better, more comprehensive & run faster. Safari for example has permissions to assure its the best iOS browser. While others still offer their browsers, they are restricted & we are prevented from choosing something other than Safari as our default iOS browser as but one example.

I use Android, Google Services & iOS, each for their strengths. Currently I prefer my new Galaxy S4, and Nexus 4 for their excellent unadulterated Google Experience. The speed & accuracy of Google Maps, Google Sync, and especially Google Drive, as compared to the somewhat buggy iCloud on my iPhone 5, has been quite satisfying & productive. Yet I'm sure in the next year or two Apple will fix their cloud services. They're not going to kill it off like they did MobileMe. They've got too much invested & are already bragging how many subscribers they have.

So many words, yet not one of them seems to have any relevance to the OP's question. If you want an audience for your monologues, I suggest you go somewhere else.

 

[Neebee]

Google and Apple Maps cannot compete with the accuracy of Waze when it comes to traffic (user reported, crowdsourced). Probably explains why Google is possibly bidding 1 billion dollars for that company.

I disagree. In my area, Waze is pitiful. For one thing, it's illegal to text and drive, something Waze is encouraging. Secondly, the only advantage Waze has that on occasion it may list approximate road traffic speeds, again ymmv.
Routing times again, is for the most part inaccurate (for me) with Waze. Google Maps wins in that regard.

What restrictions does Google have on bulk deleting email from Android devices?

for both iOS and Android, no bulk delete, no clearing your trash via the Gmail app. Synching is an issue to for me with The Google calendar. Some items (randomly) get synched others do not. I frequently add events and appointments to my Nexus 7 tablet and other Android devices while offline and it's the same with them, not all events get synched when I go online and force a synch. That's terribly frustrating. With Apple, I synch using iTunes to Google calendar and that is the workaround for me.

 

[nutmac]

I disagree. In my area, Waze is pitiful. For one thing, it's illegal to text and drive, something Waze is encouraging. Secondly, the only advantage Waze has that on occasion it may list approximate road traffic speeds, again ymmv.

I share the sentiment. I have used Waze since the day it launched and while it has improved in many ways, it is the least polished experience of all 4 navigation apps that are on my iPhone (Apple Maps, Google Maps, NAVIGON USA, Waze), with least accurate navigation routes. I realize the nature of navigation and map can be vastly different depending on where you are, but it is my least preferred navigation app.

Having said that, it does tend to have more traffic condition data than others, which is why I often use the app before starting the journey.

But its gaming experience encourages drivers to interact with the application while driving. In northern California where I live, it is illegal to even hold the phone while the car is standing still (but not parked).

 

[Todd B.]

Honestly, Google Maps is just dreadful. I don't see why everyone makes a big deal out of it; they don't even use the contacts on your phone so you're pretty much forced to put everything in Gmail.

Apple's Maps are so much better. Sadly the hit jobs by tech blogs looking for linkbait did their toll.

 

[Neebee]

I was one of the first people to bash Apple for their maps. However, in terms of traffic incidents, like I wrote above. They're doing a very good job. Wherever they're getting their data from, it's some good sheet. However, in terms of everything else. It's very very weak. Maps are still horribly outdated, corrections take a long time. The Android Google Map app is king, you can do pretty much what you want with it including using your contacts.

I only wish I remembered everything about the the pre iOS 6 Google map app was. It wasn't as restrictive as the new app, that much I am sure.

Rumors have it that Waze might be purchased by Google, but I think it might, if anyone, Facebook. That's where the app is focused on: social networking. It could be be part of Facebook's smartphone. And Waze is simply not intuitive or user friendly. I still have 3.2 saved. I use that only as the last on my list of traffic apps. The 3.6 version is crapola. I can't stand how I can't customize the window and how irrelevant many of the selections are on the first three rows and reports is on the last. Any way, I can see Waze wanting to sell now while it still is worth something.

 

[blitzer09x87]

why wont google keep the good things for android.
i think the new google maps may fix this issue.