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iOS 26 - The Apple Maps Thread
- Thread starter MozMan68
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Despite the massive expansion of Look Around across the US...the area I live in doesn't have it 😂 That has me curious...for those of you who live in an area that has it, did you get a notification from Maps saying it was available? I remember getting one when we received the new map data a few years back, so I figured it would be the same for this, maybe?
I did not receive any notification stating that Look Around is now available. I just happened to look and there it is.
Lionel_Hutz
macrumors member
On my drive to work I noticed maps has a lot more street and environmental detail (not running 27 dev beta).
Anyone else notice changes today? Do changes like this happen at random as more data is available for navigation? Maps didn’t have the extra detail yesterday afternoon.
Anyone else notice changes today? Do changes like this happen at random as more data is available for navigation? Maps didn’t have the extra detail yesterday afternoon.
Lionel_Hutz
macrumors member
Lionel_Hutz
macrumors member
Lionel_Hutz
macrumors member
Pretty far sometimes.
New York City’s DCE extends west into parts of New Jersey, and northward through a large swatch of Westchester County.
On the eastern end, it runs only to the city border with Nassau County, roughly.
Lionel_Hutz
macrumors member
One other thing I’ve noticed with the new DCE is the location on the road doesn’t seem to be as accurate. Does it eventually correct itself over time?
cbpoint
macrumors member
Apple’s own map data is now being tested in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, according to a post on Reddit.
Apple Maps...I love you, but you drive me absolutely bonkers sometimes.
There's an area I've been frequenting lately that has undergone a lot of changes recently. One road demapped in real life, one-way streets being reversed, parking lots closing, a new garage changing its name.
I've sent in around a dozen reports with photos and supporting evidence. A few days later, I get a notification telling me Apple Maps has been updated! Thank you for supporting Apple Maps!
And nothing has changed. 😡
So once again, Google Maps and Waze are up to date and correct, and Apple Maps lags behind.
There's an area I've been frequenting lately that has undergone a lot of changes recently. One road demapped in real life, one-way streets being reversed, parking lots closing, a new garage changing its name.
I've sent in around a dozen reports with photos and supporting evidence. A few days later, I get a notification telling me Apple Maps has been updated! Thank you for supporting Apple Maps!
And nothing has changed. 😡
So once again, Google Maps and Waze are up to date and correct, and Apple Maps lags behind.
Speaking of changes in Apple Maps, I'm noticing a trend that I'm quite unhappy with. Over the years, the spoken directions on Apple Maps have become...more and more...umm...simplified? Only speaking when necessary?
To counter my own argument, certain aspects of the spoken directions have been more fleshed out...such as specifying how many traffic lights to go past before turning. Or telling you to "go past this exit" and taking the next one.
But in other ways, Apple Maps' spoken directions seem to want to be less intrusive.
I'll give an example: A road you're driving on "ends". It forces you to turn right 90 degrees onto a road with a different name. Years ago, Maps would announce this right turn. Now, it doesn't. My assumption is that since you have no choice BUT to turn onto this new road, there's no need for Maps to announce it as a step in your directions. But I *liked* Maps announcing this. It's an actual turn. The new road has a new name. For someone utilizing directions in an area they're unfamiliar with, I think it would be very helpful for the navigation's confirmation that you are about to be traveling on a different road than the one you're currently on.
It wasn't just forced turns, either. Years ago, Maps would also announce when the highway you were on was changing names to something else! Sometimes one highway designation ends and forces you into another. Nowadays, Maps just lets it happen. You were driving westbound on the Grand Central Parkway a few moments ago. Now suddenly, and without warning, you're driving on I-278 East?? Years ago, at the actual merge, Maps would announce, "Continue onto I-278 East."
Maps is pretty big now on not giving you any guidance unless you need to turn or exit where options exist, or if the highway you're on is splitting. There are too many highway junctions around the country where the highway you're on is going to end, forcing you onto a new highway. But Maps will say nothing, because it doesn't treat the highway connection as an exit ramp. At many interchanges it's drawn as one highway flowing right into the other. On one common drive I take coming home from upstate New York via the Palisades Interstate Parkway in New Jersey, because of the way it ends and forces you onto I-95 and the George Washington Bridge, I get instruction from 16 miles away to take an exit on a highway that I'm not even on yet!
Although a lot of people will use navigation when they know exactly where they're going purely for traffic and best routing info, the app should assume that the person requesting directions is brand new to an area and knows nothing about the roads. The more information it can provide the better.
I bring this up because I am noticing two, arguably worse changes that just began recently. Maps has stopped telling you the direction to turn in, and instead just specifies the lane to be in. For example:
Old: "Use the left lane take a slight left turn onto I-678 South."
New: "Use the left lane to take a slight turn onto I-678 South."
Old: "Use the second lane from right to turn right onto Northern Boulevard."
New: "Use the second lane from right to turn onto Northern Boulevard."
Also, what I reported earlier about roads ending and "forcing" you to turn onto a new road not being announced? Maps has now gone one step further. If the road you're on ends at a T-intersection, and the intersecting road happens to be one way, Maps doesn't bother to even inform you of this turn now. I guess it assumes you'll figure out that you have no choice but to turn in the appropriate direction here? It just...looks so weird, because Maps is telling you that your next turn is somewhere else.
I'm not a fan of this new logic being programmed into the directions. Assume the people asking for directions need as much help as possible. Stick an option in the settings to change between detailed directions and minimal directions. Give folks the option.
To counter my own argument, certain aspects of the spoken directions have been more fleshed out...such as specifying how many traffic lights to go past before turning. Or telling you to "go past this exit" and taking the next one.
But in other ways, Apple Maps' spoken directions seem to want to be less intrusive.
I'll give an example: A road you're driving on "ends". It forces you to turn right 90 degrees onto a road with a different name. Years ago, Maps would announce this right turn. Now, it doesn't. My assumption is that since you have no choice BUT to turn onto this new road, there's no need for Maps to announce it as a step in your directions. But I *liked* Maps announcing this. It's an actual turn. The new road has a new name. For someone utilizing directions in an area they're unfamiliar with, I think it would be very helpful for the navigation's confirmation that you are about to be traveling on a different road than the one you're currently on.
It wasn't just forced turns, either. Years ago, Maps would also announce when the highway you were on was changing names to something else! Sometimes one highway designation ends and forces you into another. Nowadays, Maps just lets it happen. You were driving westbound on the Grand Central Parkway a few moments ago. Now suddenly, and without warning, you're driving on I-278 East?? Years ago, at the actual merge, Maps would announce, "Continue onto I-278 East."
Maps is pretty big now on not giving you any guidance unless you need to turn or exit where options exist, or if the highway you're on is splitting. There are too many highway junctions around the country where the highway you're on is going to end, forcing you onto a new highway. But Maps will say nothing, because it doesn't treat the highway connection as an exit ramp. At many interchanges it's drawn as one highway flowing right into the other. On one common drive I take coming home from upstate New York via the Palisades Interstate Parkway in New Jersey, because of the way it ends and forces you onto I-95 and the George Washington Bridge, I get instruction from 16 miles away to take an exit on a highway that I'm not even on yet!
Although a lot of people will use navigation when they know exactly where they're going purely for traffic and best routing info, the app should assume that the person requesting directions is brand new to an area and knows nothing about the roads. The more information it can provide the better.
I bring this up because I am noticing two, arguably worse changes that just began recently. Maps has stopped telling you the direction to turn in, and instead just specifies the lane to be in. For example:
Old: "Use the left lane take a slight left turn onto I-678 South."
New: "Use the left lane to take a slight turn onto I-678 South."
Old: "Use the second lane from right to turn right onto Northern Boulevard."
New: "Use the second lane from right to turn onto Northern Boulevard."
Also, what I reported earlier about roads ending and "forcing" you to turn onto a new road not being announced? Maps has now gone one step further. If the road you're on ends at a T-intersection, and the intersecting road happens to be one way, Maps doesn't bother to even inform you of this turn now. I guess it assumes you'll figure out that you have no choice but to turn in the appropriate direction here? It just...looks so weird, because Maps is telling you that your next turn is somewhere else.
I'm not a fan of this new logic being programmed into the directions. Assume the people asking for directions need as much help as possible. Stick an option in the settings to change between detailed directions and minimal directions. Give folks the option.