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truthertech

macrumors 68020
Jun 24, 2016
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So you are trying to compare google maps transit info in the beginning vs apple maps transit info now. Why not compare google maps transit info now vs apple maps transit info now?


It is a now comparison. Google doesn’t customize each region like Apple. Check out the Apple Insider article; you’ll better understand the difference in their approaches.
 
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macfacts

macrumors 601
Oct 7, 2012
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It is a now comparison. Google doesn’t customize each region like Apple. Check out the Apple Insider article; you’ll better understand the difference in their approaches.

I checked out that apple insider article. It was comparing google maps transit info from the beginning to apple maps transit info now. It also explains why apple is slow. It doesn't explain how or declare that apple maps transit info is better.
 

MozMan68

macrumors demi-god
Jun 29, 2010
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South Cackalacky
I checked out that apple insider article. It was comparing google maps transit info from the beginning to apple maps transit info now. It also explains why apple is slow. It doesn't explain how or declare that apple maps transit info is better.

The main difference...Apple is working direct with each transit authority to get the data versus Google which in many cases is simply taking the publicly issued data (schedules, etc.) and inputting it onto their system. While it got Google there quicker, Apple’s transit info is straight from the source and is giving them key advantages like seeing actual upcoming g train/bus locations right on the map when available. It will also have more up to date last minute service changes.
 

Gasu E.

macrumors 603
Mar 20, 2004
5,033
3,150
Not far from Boston, MA.
The main difference...Apple is working direct with each transit authority to get the data versus Google which in many cases is simply taking the publicly issued data (schedules, etc.) and inputting it onto their system. While it got Google there quicker, Apple’s transit info is straight from the source and is giving them key advantages like seeing actual upcoming g train/bus locations right on the map when available. It will also have more up to date last minute service changes.

Are you sure that Google's quick and dirty approach wasn't just phase 1? I don't use Google for transit directions, so I wouldn't know.
 

MozMan68

macrumors demi-god
Jun 29, 2010
6,073
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Are you sure that Google's quick and dirty approach wasn't just phase 1? I don't use Google for transit directions, so I wouldn't know.

Sure, it could be. Google does have certain information in transit that is comparable to Apple's approach which is why I didn't say it was the way they obtained the transit info everywhere.

In the Netherlands for example, Apple is now showing platform information for departures and arrivals. In the example I tried yesterday, Google had the platform for the arrival station, but not the departing one. Apple had both. Outside of the time the train is leaving, where it is leaving from is probably the next most important thing. By having info like this, especially when it is important and may change at the last minute, is why Apple is doing transit the way they are.
 
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truthertech

macrumors 68020
Jun 24, 2016
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The main difference...Apple is working direct with each transit authority to get the data versus Google which in many cases is simply taking the publicly issued data (schedules, etc.) and inputting it onto their system. While it got Google there quicker, Apple’s transit info is straight from the source and is giving them key advantages like seeing actual upcoming g train/bus locations right on the map when available. It will also have more up to date last minute service changes.

It goes beyond that. Another significant difference is Apple is also customizing for each transit system, which makes it much more expensive to send teams of people to each area. That obviously means a lengthier process, but in the end it's worth it to have a better experience.
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I checked out that apple insider article. It was comparing google maps transit info from the beginning to apple maps transit info now. It also explains why apple is slow. It doesn't explain how or declare that apple maps transit info is better.


LOL. The entire point of the article was about why Apple's approach was superior, then and now.
 

ignatius345

macrumors 604
Aug 20, 2015
6,865
11,206
I'd like to know how Apple gathers their traffic data. Could you provide link to any of these articles? I trust the data they show me without knowing where it's coming from.
It's pulled off of people's phones. You're in a car and moving and have an iPhone? Unless I'm mistaken, your anonymized location and speed feeds back into the traffic data.
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In my experience, whether it is a 15 minute drive or a 12 hour drive, Apple has always had a more accurate ETA from the start than Google or Waze (I gave up on HERE when I stopped traveling to Europe).

Definitely agree here. My wife and I were on a 6-hour drive on a road trip and even with numerous (optional) back road reroutes for avoiding traffic, Apple Maps got us to our motel stop for the night within like 15 minutes of what it had originally estimated.

The one real place (IMO) they're behind is in business listings. They're often quite lacking or outdated.
 

MozMan68

macrumors demi-god
Jun 29, 2010
6,073
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South Cackalacky
The one real place (IMO) they're behind is in business listings. They're often quite lacking or outdated.

While, in general, I would say it is certainly not to the level of Google's POI info, they have caught WAY up to the point that I don't think I've had a POI it hasn't found for me since the iOS12 beta last year. I've even had a couple of examples in NYC where Apple had a POI and Google didn't. I had to check it 5 times because I didn't believe it.

Also, Apple's updates for POI's are VERY fast now and typically are corrected within 24-48 hours.
 
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ignatius345

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Aug 20, 2015
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While, in general, I would say it is certainly not to the level of Google's POI info, they have caught WAY up to the point that I don't think I've had a POI it hasn't found for me since the iOS12 beta last year. I've even had a couple of examples in NYC where Apple had a POI and Google didn't. I had to check it 5 times because I didn't believe it.

I'm in NYC too. I tried to find sushi restaurants in Chelsea a couple months ago and all three it found near me were either closed down, changed to something else or, in one case, it was just a deli that was miscategorized as a sushi place. I know that's a single incident, but it was pretty irritating.. and this isn't some backwater town either.

It fact, just yesterday I searched for a business that was on Second Ave on the Upper East Side and even though the address plainly said Second Ave, the map showed it over on Lexington. It made zero sense. And almost 100% of the time, at least in NYC, the pins for a location of a business are shown WAAAY back at the inside of the building, absurdly far from the actual street entrance.

I know they're improving, but in my experience businesses are still a total crapshoot.

Also, Apple's updates for POI's are VERY fast now and typically are corrected within 24-48 hours.
I report a lot of errors and yeah, they're very good about fixing and reporting back about it. I appreciate that for sure, but I just wish they had more exact and up-to-date info to begin with.
 

MozMan68

macrumors demi-god
Jun 29, 2010
6,073
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South Cackalacky
I'm in NYC too. I tried to find sushi restaurants in Chelsea a couple months ago and all three it found near me were either closed down, changed to something else or, in one case, it was just a deli that was miscategorized as a sushi place. I know that's a single incident, but it was pretty irritating.. and this isn't some backwater town either.

It fact, just yesterday I searched for a business that was on Second Ave on the Upper East Side and even though the address plainly said Second Ave, the map showed it over on Lexington. It made zero sense. And almost 100% of the time, at least in NYC, the pins for a location of a business are shown WAAAY back at the inside of the building, absurdly far from the actual street entrance.

I know they're improving, but in my experience businesses are still a total crapshoot.


I report a lot of errors and yeah, they're very good about fixing and reporting back about it. I appreciate that for sure, but I just wish they had more exact and up-to-date info to begin with.

I'll be back in NYC in a couple of weeks and REALLY hope I have the latest update by then to try it out.
 
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ignatius345

macrumors 604
Aug 20, 2015
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I'll be back in NYC in a couple of weeks and REALLY hope I have the latest update by then to try it out.
I’m running the iOS 13 beta on a secondary device and the new collections feature is excellent. I was using a Google custom map (mymaps.google.com) to keep track of restaurants and other places — but it’s not a particularly well supported product and barely usable on an iPhone, so I migrated all those places to Apple Maps. Folders (er, “collections” I think) are a welcome addition.
 

truthertech

macrumors 68020
Jun 24, 2016
2,109
2,263
While, in general, I would say it is certainly not to the level of Google's POI info, they have caught WAY up to the point that I don't think I've had a POI it hasn't found for me since the iOS12 beta last year. I've even had a couple of examples in NYC where Apple had a POI and Google didn't. I had to check it 5 times because I didn't believe it.

Also, Apple's updates for POI's are VERY fast now and typically are corrected within 24-48 hours.


The reason for the quick corrections is that Apple now is using its own "base map" which it spent billions of dollars and the past several years creating. Previously, it was at the mercy of various 3rd parties like TomTom, etc., to update their components of the mapping service. Apple's own base map is also what is allowing it to move past Google with features like Look Around, which makes Street View seem very primitive in comparison.

Apple may have eventually done it anyways, but Google's incentivizing Apple to create its own mapping service by denying key features like turn by turn directions in the Apple version of Google Maps, awoke a sleeping bear and is looking like a mistake that will be studied in Business textbooks.
 
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NT1440

macrumors G5
May 18, 2008
14,670
21,064
I happed to run across one of their cars yesterday. White Subaru with California plates and Apple Maps decal on the windows.

I pulled up next to it at a stoplight because I wanted to see how the Lidar/whatever else they use assembly compared to the others we’ve seen but it was folded down on the roof railed and had a cover on it unfortunately.
 

sfalatko

macrumors 6502a
Sep 24, 2016
566
302
Look Around is currently limited to San Francisco area, Las Vegas and Hawaii

I hadn't seen anything about that and having seen the Apple Maps cars running around Reston, VA late winter/early spring I was hoping it would be part of the overall roll out .... Apple did say the updated maps would be available nationwide by the end of 2019....

In any event I've noticed some subtle changes and corrections on a couple of my routes so here's hoping the level of improvement continues.
 

MozMan68

macrumors demi-god
Jun 29, 2010
6,073
5,153
South Cackalacky
I hadn't seen anything about that and having seen the Apple Maps cars running around Reston, VA late winter/early spring I was hoping it would be part of the overall roll out .... Apple did say the updated maps would be available nationwide by the end of 2019....

In any event I've noticed some subtle changes and corrections on a couple of my routes so here's hoping the level of improvement continues.

The cars are capturing many things with roads and look around imaging just two of them.

Northern VA is part of the latest Maps release, but Look Around is a much more complicated layer of what Apple is collecting and should be available everywhere The new Maps is at some point, but I doubt at the same schedule as the general road/info layer.
 

sfalatko

macrumors 6502a
Sep 24, 2016
566
302
So in a major disappointment I no longer have the updated maps....between navigation stops Friday evening the maps on my iPhone reverted back. Not sure why it would do that after over a week with the new database but I am disappointed.

Has this happened to anyone else? Thoughts?
 

MozMan68

macrumors demi-god
Jun 29, 2010
6,073
5,153
South Cackalacky
So in a major disappointment I no longer have the updated maps....between navigation stops Friday evening the maps on my iPhone reverted back. Not sure why it would do that after over a week with the new database but I am disappointed.

Has this happened to anyone else? Thoughts?

It does happen...typically just before the release it to everyone!

I still have mine. :)
 

iOS Geek

macrumors 68000
Nov 7, 2017
1,625
3,366
It does happen...typically just before the release it to everyone!

I still have mine. :)

Glad to hear it should be coming pretty soon! I had the updated maps for the Northeast (but they were only showing up on my MacBook). As of last night, I don't have the updated Northeast maps even on my Mac now.
 

metfan

macrumors newbie
Mar 31, 2010
11
0
It is in either iOS12 or 13 beta.
I had these new maps prior for the northeast as of at least a couple weeks ago, but then they disappeared and reverted back to the plain old maps at some point this week. I noticed them prior to updating to IOS 13 and then noticed they changed back after I updated to 13.1. However, I don't think that had anything to do with it, since I also checked on my wife's phone before she updated to 13.1 and her maps had also switched back to the old maps.
 

MozMan68

macrumors demi-god
Jun 29, 2010
6,073
5,153
South Cackalacky
I had these new maps prior for the northeast as of at least a couple weeks ago, but then they disappeared and reverted back to the plain old maps at some point this week. I noticed them prior to updating to IOS 13 and then noticed they changed back after I updated to 13.1. However, I don't think that had anything to do with it, since I also checked on my wife's phone before she updated to 13.1 and her maps had also switched back to the old maps.

That’s a lot of people reverting back this past week. Hopefully means wide rollout imminently.
 
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