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It can also be this scenario :

Apple themselves built the app, using APIs provided by Google, but Google never told them about turn-by-turn navigation APIs, just for the sake of having the exclusivity on Android.

This is something we'll never know.

We can be pretty confident that didn't happen based on all the reporting at the time. Google and Apple were in negotiations and Apple wasn't willing to agree to the terms Google wanted for specific features (like turn by turn and vector maps). Neither feature was available when they negotiated the initial maps contacts.
 
Because collecting data is not apples core business.

Exactly.

So I'm not seeing why people expect Apple Maps to get so much better in 5 years or 50 years.
Apple collects companies, and many of those companies that Apple has acquired have mapping as their core business.

People expect Apple Maps to get better because 8 years ago Apple was not in the telephone business.
 
Where does Apple get their data?

Their primary source is TomTom, but there are dozens of additional sources that Apple aggregates data from - companies like Acxiom, AND, DMTI, Getchee, Intermap, LeadDog, Localeze, Yelp, and many others. You can find a link to the full list on the info screen within the Maps app. And of course, Apple gets a lot of data from user corrections, as well.

In addition to that, last year, Apple acquired a company called Locationary. They have a platform called Saturn, which organizes and consolidates source data in a a manner that is actually superior to Google's method.
 
I don't get the option to have Apple notify me when I submit an error in Maps

Maybe it is just me- or perhaps I have submitted too many. But, there are a lot of errors in Chicago and I just want Maps to be the best, but up until a day ago I had the option of choosing whether or not Apple notifies me when they have accepted my recommendation and now I don't. Has this happened to anyone else?:confused:
 
I've been reporting the same three map errors for two years. I'm happy to say that Apple FINALLY fix them in the last couple weeks. This is a good sign!

Two years of waiting and you name it a good sign? I guess you have much low expectations on apple services
 
the problem with a service like Apple Maps is trust. Once you get burned by it, you are going to stop using it and it takes a lot to get that trust back.

arn

If that is true, then people would have stopped using Google a LONG time ago after things like the Google+ issue, the Safari cookie issue, and the other things in a long line of privacy snafus.

The tech community severely underestimates the amount of people that use Apple Maps.

Yes... Google Maps has been out for 9 years.

Apple Maps... 2 years.

But when Apple Maps is 9 years old... Google Maps will be 16 years old... and Google will have even more mapping data by then.

I can't envision Google slowing down their map efforts anytime soon... they have a thirst for data like no other.

The question is... when will Apple Maps have "enough" data to be considered a rival to Google Maps?

Except people are trusting Google less and less with every day. By then, who knows what will happen.
 
So I finally just checked out Apple Maps for my area to see how accurate it is. There are 5 gas stations within about an 8 mile area. Google Maps had every one of them listed and in the correct location. Apple Maps was missing 2 of them, and had two listed where there were none. I could not find a single error in the Google POI listings, but on Apple Maps, not only was much of the information incorrect, but a lot was simply missing.

I had been using Apple Maps quite a lot, but after seeing this, I'll stick with Google Maps as much as possible.
 
It's a great service, sadly limited by a poorly-made app and Apple's refusal (until iOS 8) to allow Siri to control third-party apps.

Are you sure that feature is coming in iOS 8? I don't think it is. Until Apple lets the user specify a third-party app as the default systemwide app for navigation, I don't think there's any chance that Siri will integrate with Google Maps at all. Letting users specify third-party apps as the default app for certain tasks is the only glaring thing I can think of that's missing from iOS 8. I'm hoping that ability comes to iOS 9.
 
Apple should rename map into "Apple US Map". Because outside, at least in Switzerland, they NEVER fix any problem. NEVER. I reported several problem just after Apple map was release. I reported them again and again. Nothing.

If I want to find gas station, most of them are found in Google map around 20. Apple map find 2.... 10 over the whole country.


Here, this is the worse map service. very few interest points. No problem with Google map, but compared Apple map find only 5% of what Google find...

Unusable...


So If they want to reach the quality of Google map, the first thing they need to do is to consider the rest of the world...
 
Maps still shows an elementary school that was closed in 1982 in my neighborhood. I've reported it multiple times and even sent them a link to an article about its closure.
 
Nope. I am saying that complaining about a service not working as expected is fine and good. Apple maps has problems. I admitted that.

My point is that quite a few people complain that Apple said Apple Maps was as good as Google Maps from day one. They *had* to make this claim. There was no getting around it. They simply COULD NOT say "this will be as good as Google Maps eventually". If that is apologist then… ok I guess. Acknowledging the reality of their situation is apologist.

I remember how long it took google maps to get to where it is and I am aware of the sheer sheer number of hours of work that Google has thrown at it. I remember google maps sending people off bridges and all sorts of foolery in its early years. They all still have their hiccups.

My point is that we should be frustrated that it has issues but not that they haven't completely 'caught up' to Google I expect that they shouldn't take as much time as google overall but two years is pretty short considering.

Now I see, and agree with, what you're saying in relation to Google Maps. Anyone expecting parity at launch was bound to be disappointed, but Apple promised better than parity. That's where you and I disagree; Apple's presentation. You say they had to do it. I say they definitely didn't have to do it and would have avoided the whole apology if they didn't exaggerate the capabilities of Maps. That presentation was a few steps short of an out and out lie. It's not okay to tell your customers you're bringing an A level product to market when you know at best you're bringing C level. Whether someone thinks it's necessary or not, it's unacceptable imo. It could have been introduced as a beta with promised improvements. Everyone understands that.

To your last point, we are in agreement again. Disappointment with Maps should be about Maps' shortcomings, not about Google. Maps will improve, I have no doubt of that.
 
Except people are trusting Google less and less with every day. By then, who knows what will happen.

Who are these "people" you speak of? Anyone who has an Android device is inherently tied to Google. Last I checked, that's a lot of people. I hear a lot of people give reasons for not getting an Android device; but "not trusting Google" is not one of the reasons I frequently hear. I work in the dental field and you might be surprised how many dental offices I work with that use either vanilla Gmail or Google Apps for their office e-mail. When the average person thinks of doing an internet search, where do they usually go?

Most of the people I know with iOS devices have at least two Google apps on their first home screen if not in the dock. I personally have five Google apps on my first home screen and one in the dock on my iPhone.

Google is very smart. They collect user information, yes, but they give the user solid services and a good user experience in return for that information. In fact, they use my information to give me information that right now only they can give me because they have access to my navigation history, e-mail, calendar, etc.

If Apple implemented services as well as Google does and used my information together in a smart way that benefitted me, I'd use iCloud Mail, Apple Maps, and iCloud Calendar. Apple's services are getting better with each passing year, but they're still not there yet -- for me, at least. Apple Maps is still a big hole in the Apple services ecosystem even though it, too, is getting better with each passing year.

If it ever gets to a point that Google does not give me a good user experience in exchange for my information, I'll definitely start looking for an alternative solution. As it stands, however, the risk/benefit analysis of my giving information to Google still tips very strongly toward "benefit" for me.
 
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I know Apple acquired an indoor mapping company as well. Imagine my surprise a couple weeks ago when I zoomed in to my local Wal-Mart to find that it INCLUDED a map of the inside of the store.
 
I've experienced exactly the same Walmart location error in 2 separate states- Florida and South Carolina. Both times, Maps took us to empty fields. Even now, try a search like "Walmart Lake Worth, Florida" and then switch it to Satt mode. Zoom in. The Maps pin is pointing in an alligator-infested canal- dead center. If you went right to where that pin is located, you'd drown or be eaten. There is a Walmart not far from there but Google puts it's pin right in the store. Maybe Apple has something against Walmarts?

I think Maps is generally OK (as in, generally, what you're looking for is within a half mile of where the pin is dropped, though sometimes it's right on… but sometimes it's a complete miss by miles), but if there is anything critical, I find it best to double check with Google Maps.

I would think this is a POI problem, not a Maps app problem. Apple is drawing their POI data from somewhere, and in this case that database clearly is not containing accurate Walmart data. Often times that is the fault of the company itself... in that they do not do a proactive job of submitting and updating their gps/address info to various sites that use that information. For example, my tiny little business can be found on google maps.... yet some very large companies in town are not. It is the responsibility of the companies involved to get their information out there an be accurate.
 
It wasn't when google was less than two years old. Folks forget that back then Google was just as crappy, perhaps even more

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Don't get your hopes up. Google has IP protected street view out the ass to keep anyone from copying it. And will likely never license it.

You can IP protect a camera angle? I call dibs on backside view! :D
 
I know Apple acquired an indoor mapping company as well. Imagine my surprise a couple weeks ago when I zoomed in to my local Wal-Mart to find that it INCLUDED a map of the inside of the store.

The map of the inside of the store was in Google Maps or Apple Maps? Here's what I'm seeing:

Google Maps:

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Apple Maps:

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Maybe the improvements haven't been rolled out to my area yet, but I still find Google Maps to be much more feature rich. And it's not even that close.
 
Google wouldn't allow turn by turn navigation on the iPhone, so Apple spent hundred of millions to acquire and implement their own maps service in under a years time. It was an arms race, and of course Google then immediately allowed turn by turn for IOS.

Apple maps is better IMHO. It's more intuitive to use, the turn-by turn navigation is much less annoying to listen to, and the maps look more pleasing. It's less a less stressful experience. It uses less battery than google. It knows which direction you're headed down a street more accurately than google maps. I'm even amazed by how well siri pronounces street names correctly. If you give it an address, I think that it is very accurate.

What it lacks:
Search, it's very hard to find business's, restaurants, parks, etc.
Transit navigation, bus/subway schedules.
Offline cashed maps view, for when you're in the NYC subway.
 
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