Wow. Apple Maps is a disaster.

[pdqgp]

Google are the one who licensed their app to Apple, maybe after the initial agreement expired, google asked too much and apple decided that it wasn't something they were willing to do.

IMO it was also very likely something Jobs wanted too. I don't see him and his way of leading as being one to allow the folks at Google to control maps that as already noted, is an integral part of the iPhone consumers use of information.

Ever since I can remember, there have always been some pain points around apple products and computers. The upside however is even with a glitch or hickup here and there, the ultimate experience for users as a whole has typically been very positive.and they have always improved and grown stronger because of them.

 

[roxxette]

great article about Maps

http://blog.telemapics.com/?p=399

Nothing great about that article...

 

[lilo777]

To my knowledge, you are the first to post a favorable review from Asia. Users from Korea, India, and Japan have all posted negative reviews, some with very detailed explanations. Living in Vietnam, I really don't dare to make the upgrade to iOS6 at least until I am sure there is a Google maps.app alternative (not browser based.)

I'm In Hangzhou (zhejang province)
The map details apple is using is from TOM TOM, many people are using their navigation system in their car.
Apple does the navigation.

I will check some other locations, and compare them,
Keep you posted.

People in remote locations probably won't see much difference between all maps. I suspect that all maps provide only very basic information for such locales. In USA, Google maps made huge progress in recent years. Google now provides a wealth of information on their maps. Going back to basic (and even incorrect) maps in US is a real shocker.

 

[gmanist1000]

They look so similar. (not)

 

[highertechnology]

I just had a wonderful experience navigating from Glendale to Flagstaff AZ. Seems to work perfectly here. I don't care what the route looks like from a helicopter so I didn't try as hard as others to find a flaw.

 

[lilo777]

I just had a wonderful experience navigating from Glendale to Flagstaff AZ. Seems to work perfectly here. I don't care what the route looks like from a helicopter so I didn't try as hard as others to find a flaw.

But that's something phones could do for almost a decade now.

 

[cyks]

I just had a wonderful experience navigating from Glendale to Flagstaff AZ. Seems to work perfectly here. I don't care what the route looks like from a helicopter so I didn't try as hard as others to find a flaw.

I wouldn't say I had to try hard to find a flaw since it places my home a few hundred feet away in the middle of barren woodland, but I'm glad it worked fine for you.


For added fun, it shows me perfectly on satellite via 'current location.' I drop a pin there, copy the address it lists and paste it in the search. It either lists that location (which is completely different than my actual address) as the same point in the woods or gives me a 'No Results Found' error. Joy.

 

[Kanunu]

Not sure

In Normal map view Apple maps zooms in a bit more then the late google
How is it in Vietnam>?

I have note dared to upgrade my iPad. I have solicited a way to revert it thanks to Tech198 but I have been to "chicken" to try. I am taking my iMac in for repairs soon and while I am waiting I plan to check things out in the showroom. As far as I know there is no iPhone 5 here, and no official store, only a few licensed resellers. If they have not upgraded the 4S phones and iPads on the floor I will be asking why. If the store is on iOS 6, I will definitely check it out and if Apple approves the Google app soon I probably feel safe to go to iOS 6 then.

For mapping accuracy the best I have seen here is the desktop version of Nokia. It is plain looking grey on blue but the street accuracy is exact and they use proper Viet alphabet on road names. It looks not strong on POI's but I would prefer location accuracy most of all. (There is a coffee shop on every corner anyway )I plan to check out the phone version as there are a lot of Nokia stores here. I don't think the mobile has turn by turn but the desktop gave me good directions between my home and several business locations. I did use full addresses as input. One thing nice on the desktop is as you start to type the address it drops down possible full address choices, so you may not have to type the full string.

The best thing I know about Nokia is that their phones in the past have been rugged. A friend of mine must have dropped hers a hundred times and it still worked. Not so sure about the new ones.

 

[matttye]

So you had an iPhone prior to the iPhone 5? Well I'm not sure about you but if Maps is that critical I'd look to return your phone and wait on the upgrade. Most carriers here will allow you to do that.



You don't have to convince me that there are flaws. I read the posts and see the results. I'm also not shooting anyone down who suggests that. I've been presented a couple samples tonight and provided my results using those same samples comparing both Google and OS6 Maps with comparable results. I've shown both have issues even and I've shown both can be correct.

Now in terms of old maps vs new, I've also shown there are plenty of upgrades and also recognize what hasn't been seen as an upgrade. Where we differ is I do refuse to let people point solely at Apple when THEY have all made the choice to either upgrade or buy based on a role they played. That role involves knowing what you're buying or upgrading to before you do it. I'm sorry, yes, I believe in accountability and that road isn't just one way. Pun intended.



If you truly feel it's sub-standard, vote with your wallet and return your phone. That goes to you and all the others. I agree they need to be aware of the issues. I think they are and that's clear by reading the news bites and watching TV even one day after it's release. However, if you don't return your phone or roll back your update while still possible, then you're accepting it as is.



Good night. Thanks for the conversation/banter. Click your DND button and enjoy that upgraded iOS Feature.

I'm absolutely flabbergasted that you're defending Apple in this thread. Their implementation of maps is a complete train wreck and there simply is no defence.

They're orders of magnitude more inaccurate than what they replaced. I actually can't find POIs that are inaccurate on Google Maps, but on Apple Maps I found hundreds in the first couple of days. A large castle in my city is simply blank on the map. It says "Lincoln Castle" if you zoom in far, and you can see an awful low resolution satellite image, but there's nothing to indicate its there on the vector maps.

Google Maps never had a Tumblr site with thousands of errors being posted within a couple of days. They've had a "top ten stupid errors on Google Maps" sure, but nothing like the disgrace that Apple has inflicted upon us.

Why are you even trying to defend Apple over this?

 

[RogerPad]

I don't know about anywhere else but in Japan Apple Maps is near useless

I am so dissppointed!

Give me back Google Maps!

 

[maliu]

Apple maps tried to send me 7 miles into a place with no road while trying to navigate to a major city street less than 2 miles from where I was. I was less than pleased. Luckily I knew where my destination was supposed to be.

 

[damitssam]

I'll stick with my iOS 4.3 thank you. As they say, if it aint broke, don't fix it. .

These days always hesitant to upgrade any app if it works smoothly.

 

[Signal-11]

To my knowledge, you are the first to post a favorable review from Asia. Users from Korea, India, and Japan have all posted negative reviews, some with very detailed explanations. Living in Vietnam, I really don't dare to make the upgrade to iOS6 at least until I am sure there is a Google maps.app alternative (not browser based.)

I am currently working based out of Korea, with frequent trips to the Philippines.

The built-in iOS Maps app is nearly completely useless for me. Types of roads are difficult to tell apart, POIs are nonexistent or completely inaccurate. The one that infuriated me was yesterday, when the hospital I was trying to get to was off by half a kilometer.

Not to mention the disappearance of useful public transit (subway) information.

The one improvement over Google Maps is that Hangul characters are easier to read. Other than that, iOS 6 maps is an absolute disaster.

iOS 6 is a giant step backwards in terms of functionality for me.

For the first time since he left, I find myself thinking Steve would not have allowed this.

 

[KeanosMagicHat]

If you miss Street View, try 'Live Street View' (free version) and another called 'StreetViewer' (also free version). Both are pretty good...

Thank you for posting these, since Apple decided to remove Street View I had already been using iFindView, which is very basic but quite good.

Live Street View didn't really work for me, as it failed to find some addresses I searched for. StreetViewer is very good, however and I particularly like the ability to zoom in and out.

EDIT:

Here's a guide on how to report your Budgens / Not Budgens pub issue directly from the Apple Maps application

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1448604/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF3xBfA-uAM

good video review on iOS maps. It's getting a failing grade all across the board . . .

That's a great video, thanks, and it's pleasing to see a media outlet prepared to say it like it is!

 

[hacke]

I really hope that google releases an application for their maps! apple's maps are awful!!!

 

[Kanunu]

Actually it's good advice

So you had an iPhone prior to the iPhone 5? Well I'm not sure about you but if Maps is that critical I'd look to return your phone and wait on the upgrade. Most carriers here will allow you to do that ............. If you truly feel it's sub-standard, vote with your wallet and return your phone.

I'm absolutely flabbergasted that you're defending Apple in this thread.

Matttye, you may be right about the "trainwreck" but I think pdqgp has a point. As long as people buy the new iPhone 5 in record numbers, Tim Cook will think it's great. After all wasn't he the marketing man before? Vote your wallet and don't buy. Even if it is free, don't upgrade. They may not be collecting money but they sure are collecting statistics. Unfortunately, if you down grade it's a 3d party thing so they may not know about that (but who knows.)

The feedback that any corporation listens to first is $$$$. AAPL broke $700 the other day on news of sales but let there be a lot of product returns and see what happens.

 

[Zaid]

Someone at TFL has a sense of humour

 

[KeanosMagicHat]

Don't worry, all is well, the Apple Maps team are hard at work and will have this all sorted within the next few days/weeks

And if they find themselves slacking, the boss man will be there to sort them out

 

[patent10021]

I'm living in China, and I'm very happy to have the apple maps.
Everything is more detailed, better positions of the locations.

Google only does or English, or Chinese, where Apple gives everything in both languages, that's convenient.

By being blind just because Apple is taking away the dominance of Google is not the right way.

/Users/Peter SP/Pictures/Local.photolibrary/Previews/2012/09/22/20120922-092837/RfDoMwnYQL+MbiNnCc+Ecg/IMG_0218.JPG
On the picture left IOS 5 with google, on the Right IOS 6 with Apple.

So what you're saying is you'd like us to browse your directory? Let me call Gandalf.

 

[hachre]

So what you're saying is you'd like us to browse your directory? Let me call Gandalf.

He dares everyone to hack him ;D

 

[Daveoc64]

They should add google maps or something for the time being but they said its a cloud server that gets better with more use, and they could simple fix things by adding current map plans of tom tom or other companies to their own, atkeast to add labels and all that, they could do that quite swiftly within a couple weeks or month. It took google 7 years to get here, but itll take only 1-2 years to make something as google if not better with all these technological advances.

What makes you think that?

Do you know anything about cartography?

Have you checked out http://www.openstreetmap.org/ or http://www.waze.com/livemap/ ?

These are huge, dedicated communities working every day to make maps that are accurate, cover as much of the world as possible and are very detailed.

In many places, they will have very good maps, but I'm sure you'll be able to find somewhere near you where that isn't the case.

How about Bing Maps? Microsoft has pumped millions into it and the results aren't as good as Google after over 5 years.

 

[steve-p]

How about Bing Maps? Microsoft has pumped millions into it and the results aren't as good as Google after over 5 years.

I used to think Bing Maps wasn't very good... until Apple's craptastic attempts at doing it on the cheap. In comparison, Bing is looking pretty good now

 

[Moi un Mouton]

Even if there were none of the ridiculous errors around POI's, town locations, missing cities, etc, this image posted to http://theamazingios6maps.tumblr.com is a great example of why Apple Maps is a disaster for phone users:

Much of the time I'm using Maps outdoors or in my car. I need the kind of definition, visibility and clarity that exists on Google Maps. Now, Apple apologists, please tell me what's cool about a mapping system that you can hardly read because of the colours chosen, where all roads are treated equally, and where they don't show you place/road labels until you're zoomed in to a level where the thing has become useless as a map?

And this hasn't only f--ked up Maps, but other great stuff I use like RunKeeper, Find My Phone, etc.

 

[patent10021]

What makes you think that?

Do you know anything about cartography?

Have you checked out http://www.openstreetmap.org/ or http://www.waze.com/livemap/ ?

These are huge, dedicated communities working every day to make maps that are accurate, cover as much of the world as possible and are very detailed.

In many places, they will have very good maps, but I'm sure you'll be able to find somewhere near you where that isn't the case.

How about Bing Maps? Microsoft has pumped millions into it and the results aren't as good as Google after over 5 years.

The only problem with those communities (especially ones like Waze) is that they are not prevalent (actually nonexistent) in countries like Japan (ironically where GPS is most needed).

 

[Locodice]

At least Siri has improved with Apple Maps...