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According to Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap has been running for 8 years.

I'm sure that a lot of people have put a lot of effort into it, but when I look at the results in the part of the world where I live, it looks like it'll take at least another 8 years to even get back to the level of Google Maps a few years ago.
 
You are forgetting that the whole Apple app ecosystem with its thousands of excellent apps is itself a tremendous crowd-sourced project with thousand of developers. True that free AppleMaps have less appeal than commercial apps, but don't forget that there are many free excellent apps as well. If someone is willing to submit an excellent free app, why shouldn't one spend less time to update some of most primitive information like an address? If anyone, Apple is most suited for pulling off such an huge crowd sourced deal. But, as I would add, having the proper control and verification, just like in AppStore, is also important. And again, Apple is best at that :)

In terms of correcting addresses and increasing the POI database, yeah I completely agree. But this is much MUCH more than that. In areas near me, where there are streets and whole villages missing, it would require large scale real world surveying. There maybe some clever background GPS location tracking and gathering possible to augment the project. But opens a whole new privacy can of worms. I believe Apple have already tried this and got into trouble for it.

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According to Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap has been running for 8 years.

I'm sure that a lot of people have put a lot of effort into it, but when I look at the results in the part of the world where I live, it looks like it'll take at least another 8 years to even get back to the level of Google Maps a few years ago.

Yep. And that's a project open to anyone in the world, not just Apple users.

Crowed sourcing, in the short to medium term, as a fix for Apple Maps is pie in the sky.
 
So, yes, Apple Maps is dissappointing based on what we expect from Apple, however calling it a disaster is not in line with what it will eventually bring about.
However, talking about what it might eventually bring about is not in line with what it is today.

I get that people love Apple and that Apple Maps might be really good some day but today is not that day. Apple released what is basically a beta product. Making excuses doesn't change that.
 
Now, iPhone is essentially a hand held device. I don't use it for driving navigation, for that there are nice GPS units that stick to your windscreen for $75 and up.

So I tried using the Google web maps version for some typical tasks I always use it for - hand held navigation while walking/on public transport. Google App excelled at this in France, Switzerland and UK.

1. Compass integration is GONE with Google Web app. You cannot tell which direction you are facing. I always use this, also useful when taking in tourist views and wanting to know landmark names.

2. Screen real estate is lost to browser functions.

3. Many more clicks needed to achieve a task.

4. Safari browser locks up sometimes. An iPhone power cycle cures it.

5. Easy to lose place on the screen as it's a tall scrollable web page.

Google Maps app wins all ways. This integrated IOS Google Maps app charmed me from the moment the iPhone 4 came out of it's box, it enhanced the ownership of an iPhone significantly.

Watch my lips.
You... cannot... have.. the.. Google... Maps.. App... at... all.. on... IOS... 6

So all our 3 Apple devices stick to IOS 5 for the foreseeable future.

The map of Sydney is actually pretty impressive with the 3d effects. I know it will get better so I'm personally not that bothered. I love my iPhone 5.

For the screen real estate try this code. Found it in Whirlpool Forums. Open safari and paste the code into the address bar. It will just display a white screen with some text at the top. Then select the add to home screen and it will add a google maps icon. Next time you press it the mobile google maps will open without browser stuff.

data:text/html;charset=UTF-8,<title>GoogleMaps</title><meta name="apple-mobile-web-app-capable" content="yes"><link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4035/4564840873_85c02262e9_z.jpg"><script>if(window.navigator.standalone){location.href="https://maps.google.com.au/";}else{document.write("Add to Home Screen")}</script>
 
A lot of you are in denial. You can't see beyond the fact that you can't criticize Apple even when they rightfully deserve it. You paid for a premium product, yet got something clearly substandard and inferior to the map software provided in previous models.

Apple screwed up and provided you a terrible map application, period. For those who rely on the map application daily, I'd be upset to be forced to resort to maps.google.com and make a home page icon instead.
 
Thought i would try it again today, you know, maybe i am being too harsh, and tried it with something that should be fairly easy... get a route to a site I sometimes work at. It's pretty rural, but quite well populated. It's also a town that's been there for thousands of years (mentioned in the Dooms day book) and has been on various maps for hundred of years. This is not a new development, nor is it low population wilderness. So unsurprisingly MOST of it is there on the Apple Map. Slight problem though; EVERY road and street in the town and for many many surrounding miles is called "Welsh Border".
 
A lot of you are in denial. You can't see beyond the fact that you can't criticize Apple even when they rightfully deserve it. You paid for a premium product, yet got something clearly substandard and inferior to the map software provided in previous models.

Apple screwed up and provided you a terrible map application, period. For those who rely on the map application daily, I'd be upset to be forced to resort to maps.google.com and make a home page icon instead.

There are many excellent map programs beyond Google. What makes you think that iOS users HAVE to use Google? BTW, I didn't pay for AppleMaps and no one else did. Its a free upgrade and you may keep 5.11 is you wish. And while AppleMaps are not as mature as Google product, its just a first version and it will become better.

No reason for panic.;)
 
There are many excellent map programs beyond Google. What makes you think that iOS users HAVE to use Google? BTW, I didn't pay for AppleMaps and no one else did. Its a free upgrade and you may keep 5.11 is you wish. And while AppleMaps are not as mature as Google product, its just a first version and it will become better.

No reason for panic.;)

1. Nothing comes even close to Google Maps
2. You are forced to use apple maps in many ways, apps with maps use the Map Kit API and now have use Apple Maps. The cycling apps I use are useless now.
3. I did pay for Apple Maps, handsomely.
4. It's not an upgrade, it's a serious downgrade.
5. Keeping 5.11 is an adequate solution, really?
6. It's not about maturity. Apple Maps are broken. I don't really care what apple are doing to fix them, I need working maps today thanks.
 
OK, ok, Apple should just sell their Google Maps code to Google so they can submit their own app soon...but...

I won't use it. I am totally in love with Turn by Turn navigation in Maps. It works just flawlessly (even without GPS and with a really small data footprint).

Although I don't really like german Siri's voice the directions are absolutely clear and informative, on a level that dedicated software took years to reach. It even pronounces town/street names correctly, where even the local radio traffic announcers often get it wrong.

Where Navigon repeats stuff often and I sometimes feel like it reads me a novel, the Maps commands come at the right time and are to the point.

Display of traffic is slightly worse than in Google maps, but it shows road works too and as long as it chooses the best route I am happy. And the ETA have been nearly perfect, even in rush hour.

No need to get extra navigation hardware for my wife, she can use the iPad now, on which the Navigon app worked less than perfect. I also like how Maps turns on the screen only when something is happening, but even then I never had to check back visually once.


1. Nothing comes even close to Google Maps
2. You are forced to use apple maps in many ways, apps with maps use the Map Kit API and now have use Apple Maps. The cycling apps I use are useless now.
Just checked, our own app about Chichen Itza now opens maps.google.com in browser instead of Maps app now. And google finds a route from Germany to Mexico (31,688km, 531 hours, includes "Sail accross the pacific ocean" - 4436km) - impressive!
 
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2. Screen real estate is lost to browser functions.

4. Safari browser locks up sometimes. An iPhone power cycle cures it.
Has anyone noticed that the web app seems to have changed over the past day or two? This may only be for iPhone 5 users--Google may have just tweaked the app for use on the iPhone 5's larger screen--but I noticed that the map now fills the screen (there is no longer a white bar across the bottom of the browser window above Safari's bottom browser buttons, and the app hides Safari's URL bar) and the text rendering appears to have been cleaned up (it was previously quite jagged).

I have experienced the bugginess though. Sometimes the web app just fails to produce transit directors, does not provide a current location indicator, or fails to load map tiles.
 
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How did anyone get to hospital before Google Maps was invented?

Well done. You completely missed my point, by some margin.

The point is that it has changed, and many people won't realise.

Imagine there is a sign on the road pointing to the hospital (or other important place, this is just an example). It's been like that for years. Now someone comes along in the night an moves that sign... You see? No? Never mind...
 
I'm not talking about imagery, I'm talking about features such as traffic.

TelNav, Waze, Google Maps, TomTom....They all use crowdsourcing, hell TomTom just released an API to allow developers to use.

Taking on the king of the hill STARTS at some point, no way in hell would anyone be able to match Google feature for feature right out of the gate. That is simply reality.

They all use crowdsourcing to provide additional POIs if you are interested. They are not depending on crowdsourcing to provide places/POIs already available.

Just to give an example, Apple maps showed a High School within few blocks of my home. I drive on that road every day and I know there is no school there. When I checked on Google Maps, there used to be a school 20 years back which is permanently closed.
 
Imagine there is a sign on the road pointing to the hospital (or other important place, this is just an example). It's been like that for years. Now someone comes along in the night an moves that sign... You see? No? Never mind...

Yeah, I get it, living there all my life I would assume somebody moved the hospital, not that somebody moved the sign.

It is all so hypothetical, should I have an accidence I will call an ambulance and hope they don't rely on smartphones of whatever company to find the hospital.
 
Yeah, I get it, living there all my life I would assume somebody moved the hospital, not that somebody moved the sign.

It is all so hypothetical, should I have an accidence I will call an ambulance and hope they don't rely on smartphones of whatever company to find the hospital.

You do not travel? Now imagine being in a foreign country where the street sign is irrelevant as you cannot read it, so you rely on your phone to get you to a hospital asap.... now see the issue.

Locals do not use maps, they know their area.

I feel sorry for visitors to London right now, not finding Tube stops is a real real **** in london.
 
You do not travel? Now imagine being in a foreign country where the street sign is irrelevant as you cannot read it, so you rely on your phone to get you to a hospital asap.... now see the issue.

Locals do not use maps, they know their area.

I feel sorry for visitors to London right now, not finding Tube stops is a real real **** in london.

Dublin got a new airport. I thought that was very generous of Apple.

I don't think some people who live in parts if the USA which seem ok have any idea if how epic the problems are.
 
That was funny. Its a farm (i think), called Airfield. Me thinks Apples got some automatic processing of maps that tries to equate names of places to things. It saw the word "airfield" and said presto , that's an airport.

Dublin got a new airport. I thought that was very generous of Apple.

I don't think some people who live in parts if the USA which seem ok have any idea if how epic the problems are.
 
1. Nothing comes even close to Google Maps
2. You are forced to use apple maps in many ways, apps with maps use the Map Kit API and now have use Apple Maps. The cycling apps I use are useless now.
3. I did pay for Apple Maps, handsomely.
4. It's not an upgrade, it's a serious downgrade.
5. Keeping 5.11 is an adequate solution, really?
6. It's not about maturity. Apple Maps are broken. I don't really care what apple are doing to fix them, I need working maps today thanks.

I fail to understand how you paid for free OS upgrade.
It is upgrade because it greatly improved upon previous stale software in some cases; there is lack of data for some places, but its not universal and can be remedied.
Yes, keeping 5.1.1 is a choice you have. No one forces you to upgrade to 6.0
AppleMaps are not broken, its just a first version.
 
I fail to understand how you paid for free OS upgrade.
It is upgrade because it greatly improved upon previous stale software in some cases; there is lack of data for some places, but its not universal and can be remedied.
Yes, keeping 5.1.1 is a choice you have. No one forces you to upgrade to 6.0
AppleMaps are not broken, its just a first version.

That's funny. When I paid £500 for my iPhone I was under the impression that part of my purchase included ongoing support. Silly me.

And to say Apple Maps is not broken is deluded. The 'app' might work, but the map data is seriously broken. It's like if I lost the ability to make phone calls and you saying "we'll I can make calls over here in the US so stop complaining".



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One for the Brits - http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/...in-britain-is-dudley-says-apple-2012092142045
 
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I fail to understand how you paid for free OS upgrade.
It is upgrade because it greatly improved upon previous stale software in some cases; there is lack of data for some places, but its not universal and can be remedied.
Yes, keeping 5.1.1 is a choice you have. No one forces you to upgrade to 6.0
AppleMaps are not broken, its just a first version.

hmmm.

Apple tax on Apple hardware = Software upgrades, its not free! When I can install iOS 6 on an android phone, its free. When you buy a new iphone your also getting a few upgrades in that price, till apple decides you need to upgrade as they no longer support your device.

"greatly improve" - I would argue this is the weakest of the iOS updates to date.

"AppleMaps is not broken" - Yeah just like Windows ME, or say Vista if you had an underpowered PC, sure if you hanged in there, after all the patches and updates, one could argue they finally reached "usable" standards..... so around iOS 8-9

Look, when I got my first iphone back in 2007, every app was "good" it was an awesome experience, and they were all First version, the last time I experienced something as crappy as Applemaps was windows ME to be honest.
 
....For the screen real estate try this code... add to home screen ... Google maps will open without browser stuff......

Nice little hack which did work, releases some space and makes Google Maps more robust to use on the move.

But does not offer the key feature I use a lot, of compass integration...
Could be good for iPads though which are not really walkabout items.
 
I fail to understand how you paid for free OS upgrade.
It is upgrade because it greatly improved upon previous stale software in some cases; there is lack of data for some places, but its not universal and can be remedied.
Yes, keeping 5.1.1 is a choice you have. No one forces you to upgrade to 6.0
AppleMaps are not broken, its just a first version.

No, they're not 'broken' as such. They're just complete and utter ****.
 
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