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Wow. Apple Maps is a disaster.
- Thread starter b24pgg
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This shows a major problem with the routing:
This would take someone miles PAST the destination. Not just the wrong way like others I've seen, but actually past it.
Actually, that happens all the time in Google Maps as well. Happens when I plot a route from Baltimore to some places south in Waldorf, or certain places in Western Maryland. I can vouch that because I have yet to use this new Map app to do it. All of those plots were done even pre-September.
The difference might be in that Google Maps doesn't do it for some places, does for others, and a different Mapping service would do the same thing for different locations than google.
Still, I'm not kidding myself here. I know this Mapping service is a newer kid on the block, but I'm willing to give it a bit of time like I did with all the ones before it. Remember Mapquest, anyone?
LOL ! True i cant blame those guys
anyway in sad because even UK lads are having problems doesnt leave much hope for the caribbean to have a decent experience anytime soon.This.
Surely this would have been good for MS too, the chance to get their system more widely used. Even if it isn't as good as Google Maps it can't be any worse than Apple's maps.
Doesn't do it as often I'd say
No mapping/routing system will be perfect, but clearly Google Maps doesn't get this kind of criticism.
They're not perfect though:
Haha when I searched for McDonalds, I got no results at all. And according to apple maps, the nearest Burger King is in North Carolina. I live in the middle-east!!
It did find one starbucks though
You agreed to the iOS EULA allowing Apple to replace whatever they want on your phone whenever, so...
People got to where they needed to go just fine before smartphones and mobile "map apps" existed...roadmaps, various map sites, etc, etc. You can wait.
Wow. Quite simply, wow. I just...wow.
You agreed to the iOS EULA allowing Apple to replace whatever they want on your phone whenever, so...
Apple apologist comment #3524 (And that's just today!
).And we all used to wipe our butts with pine needles and dandelions. Doesn't mean we should be willing to do it again until the Egyptians rediscover paper all over again. (Ok, I just made up the pine needles).
I will give Apple Maps credit for a few things:
1. Better satellite imagery in parts of Montana, USA (same as Bing Maps).
2. Gives the LOGICAL route from Kalispell, Montana, United States to Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. Google Maps takes you up through Glacier National Park on a road open three months a year under near perpetual construction. Google did get back to me though saying the problem "isn't easy to fix" and it's been escalated to the appropriate engineering team. Prior mapping errors I've reported have always been resolved quite quickly, including one where I got a similar response - a couple weeks later it was fixed and they let me know. Where's Apple's process to submit these problem reports?
3. Better 3D imagery for Las Vegas (didn't check elsewhere) than Google Earth.
4. It's pretty, the color scheme.
Now for the ridiculous:
BLACK AND WHITE IMAGERY in Northern Ireland covered with clouds. SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?!?!
Roads, places, etc missing
I DON'T blame them for the weird looking 3D maps in places - it's just a photo stuck over an elevation profile, so it won't always be right. 3D mapping is very much in it's infancy.
1. Better satellite imagery in parts of Montana, USA (same as Bing Maps).
2. Gives the LOGICAL route from Kalispell, Montana, United States to Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. Google Maps takes you up through Glacier National Park on a road open three months a year under near perpetual construction. Google did get back to me though saying the problem "isn't easy to fix" and it's been escalated to the appropriate engineering team. Prior mapping errors I've reported have always been resolved quite quickly, including one where I got a similar response - a couple weeks later it was fixed and they let me know. Where's Apple's process to submit these problem reports?
3. Better 3D imagery for Las Vegas (didn't check elsewhere) than Google Earth.
4. It's pretty, the color scheme.
Now for the ridiculous:
BLACK AND WHITE IMAGERY in Northern Ireland covered with clouds. SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?!?!
Roads, places, etc missing
I DON'T blame them for the weird looking 3D maps in places - it's just a photo stuck over an elevation profile, so it won't always be right. 3D mapping is very much in it's infancy.
CheersAn iPhone running iOS 5.
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Apple Maps told me to stop at the store and purchase a real map.
If you do finally find Doncaster, the additonal bad news is that that's not Carcroft either, it's Adwick, complete with its own railway station called "Adwick" - that's a clue, Apple. Carcroft is a mile or more north of there.
Thanks to http://theamazingios6maps.tumblr.com for posting the Duncaster mistake.
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This is the link you wanted:
That's not Tarsdorf either, it is actually the town of F-----g in Austria, Tarsdorf is a couple of miles NW.
Thanks to http://theamazingios6maps.tumblr.com for posting the Duncaster mistake.
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This is the link you wanted:
That's not Tarsdorf either, it is actually the town of F-----g in Austria, Tarsdorf is a couple of miles NW.
This. It will come down to how Apple builds its backend support system. Every map has errors. Google seems to have build an impressive system to identify (auto and user reported) and correct those ASAP.
Right now I see Apple having to refer these to TomTom or whichever company gives them the map data. If they don't push them really hard to be responsive, this will go beyond "growing pains", and it will become Common Knowledge that their maps are inferior to Google's. That would be a branding disaster and a terrible thing for Apple against Android.
This. (Go to maps.google.com in safari)
It won't give us back street view, but at least the map data, POIs, place/area names, and look-and-feel will be correct.
Google is not that up to date lookin at Whaley bridge on google the new cricket ground is still being built and the old pitch has the covers on the wicket...the new ground was finished five years ago.
Having said that the quality of apple map is so poor I can't zoom in to see the detail.
Having said that the quality of apple map is so poor I can't zoom in to see the detail.
I'm not sure THAT is true. Apple's maps have ALWAYS been inferior to Android. Yes, both were Google, but the Google experience on Android has always included far superior mapping and Apple's amazing new "turn by turn" navigation has been on Android for years. Never seemed to stop iPhone sales before. The number of users who care about this stuff is minimal. Frankly, I'm surprised it's been made as big of a deal as it has. Android's had superior mapping since day one, and I would've thought anyone who it meant a lot to would long be on Android...
Considerations on the Apple maps "disaster"
After some time spent with the maps app, and reading all of the fuss that it's generating, i'd like to chime in with some considerations.
1) It's undeniable that, for most of its part, the new maps app is inferior vs. the previous Google experience.
2) Still, i don't think this can be labelled as a an "epic fail" à la MobileMe launch:
First, it makes lot of sense for Apple to try owning the maps part of the experience. They couldn't forever be tied to what is, corporate wise, an enemy. The move had to be done, sooner or later.
Given that they had to launch, someday or the other, i don't think is possible to launch a glitch-free map app without involving millions of users in the beta. Users that report bugs and the infinite imperfections that a single engineering team simply could not find, ever. PR wise they should have probably called it a beta, but they couldn't keep the google app running side by side. At this stage it's superior, and people would likely use the app they have grown accustomed to, without "working for Apple" in improving the map app. Not to mention how awkward would have it been if they launched their map app with a competitor back-up pre-installed.
Secondly, we must concede that making an app map, involving routes, satellite imagery etc. it's an epic effort and investment, and it takes time, it's inevitable. But again, you need users to help you. Remember when Google launched street view? Certainly only few streets were covered at the time, but no one complained or reported things like "my street does not exist". It takes years and millions of investments to perfect, it's a fact. Yes, we are "paying" for a inevitable corporate decision, but i believe it's a correct one and i don't think Apple could possibly do things much better than this (a part form not properly labelling it as beta).
3) To the ones that think that "Jobs would not have allowed this", i don't think this is the case. This is more like the "antenna-gate", when an epic mess was made out of a very small problem that most phones have. If any, i think Jobs would not have allowed some cosmetic changes made in io6, like the dial-pad, which to me looks like the exact opposite of what i percieve as "cool".
Net: the map app is in beta, google maps is and will probably be for at least a year superior, but Apple "had" to take on the map business in its hands, and the way this has been done i think it's pretty much the best possible.
The only thing was probably putting too much PR in the new map app, rather than calling it a new evolving feature. But again, who would present to the world a phone that states "my maps are not good"? It's a fundamental feature, they may have overplayed it a bit, but they certainly couldn't downplay it too much either.
Just my 2c.
After some time spent with the maps app, and reading all of the fuss that it's generating, i'd like to chime in with some considerations.
1) It's undeniable that, for most of its part, the new maps app is inferior vs. the previous Google experience.
2) Still, i don't think this can be labelled as a an "epic fail" à la MobileMe launch:
First, it makes lot of sense for Apple to try owning the maps part of the experience. They couldn't forever be tied to what is, corporate wise, an enemy. The move had to be done, sooner or later.
Given that they had to launch, someday or the other, i don't think is possible to launch a glitch-free map app without involving millions of users in the beta. Users that report bugs and the infinite imperfections that a single engineering team simply could not find, ever. PR wise they should have probably called it a beta, but they couldn't keep the google app running side by side. At this stage it's superior, and people would likely use the app they have grown accustomed to, without "working for Apple" in improving the map app. Not to mention how awkward would have it been if they launched their map app with a competitor back-up pre-installed.
Secondly, we must concede that making an app map, involving routes, satellite imagery etc. it's an epic effort and investment, and it takes time, it's inevitable. But again, you need users to help you. Remember when Google launched street view? Certainly only few streets were covered at the time, but no one complained or reported things like "my street does not exist". It takes years and millions of investments to perfect, it's a fact. Yes, we are "paying" for a inevitable corporate decision, but i believe it's a correct one and i don't think Apple could possibly do things much better than this (a part form not properly labelling it as beta).
3) To the ones that think that "Jobs would not have allowed this", i don't think this is the case. This is more like the "antenna-gate", when an epic mess was made out of a very small problem that most phones have. If any, i think Jobs would not have allowed some cosmetic changes made in io6, like the dial-pad, which to me looks like the exact opposite of what i percieve as "cool".
Net: the map app is in beta, google maps is and will probably be for at least a year superior, but Apple "had" to take on the map business in its hands, and the way this has been done i think it's pretty much the best possible.
The only thing was probably putting too much PR in the new map app, rather than calling it a new evolving feature. But again, who would present to the world a phone that states "my maps are not good"? It's a fundamental feature, they may have overplayed it a bit, but they certainly couldn't downplay it too much either.
Just my 2c.
Yes the maps were always better on Android, but even the "lesser" ios 5 maps were at least "reliable". I always felt a sense of security with Google Maps on my phone, knowing that wherever I went I would have basic maps functionality and I could find my way around unknown cities.
Now, seeing as Apple maps has gotten things wrong even in major cities, I would be really anxious to rely on it if I go travelling. And I'm not even talking about the lack of POIs here.
Here is a good blog post from a GIS expert that has followed the development of Google and now Apple Maps.
Informative
http://blog.telemapics.com/?p=399
Informative
http://blog.telemapics.com/?p=399