Apple Maps is fantastic in Canada, or at least the Toronto area. Even in cottage country hours from urbanity has excellent directions and 3d buildings and structures.
I'm currently visiting Poland and Estonia, and have been using Apple Maps to walk from place-to-place. It's been working well for me—I have yet to get lost using it, and it seems to be giving me good directions.
Everything about walking directions from Apple maps (directions on lock screen; Apple Watch integrations) is better, UX wise.
The problem is, despite admittedly massive improvements, I still have issues with it containing stale location data, incorrect POI classification information (e.g. convenience store without gas pumps marked as a 'gas station'), and suggesting paths that don't exist or simply aren't tenable (no, Apple, I am not going to talk a walking shortcut through the middle of an Italian military facility).
While I don't like the feeling of being exploited through unpaid/volunteer labor to improve the app, I do know that most or all of your issues can be resolved by reporting errors through the app. Business data can be changed by users pending a review by Apple, and routes can be reported with a thumbs down/up response upon resolution of the trip. The walk through a military facility is a little harder to report, though. :)
I always submit reports when something is wrong on Apple Maps, same as I do with Google Maps. I think the public service aspect of it outweighs the 'free labor' aspect.
In my experience, the following things are notably better in Apple Maps vs. Google Maps:
* No dangerous shortcuts where I risk to damage my car
* Routes make much more sense in general and are nearer to what someone who knows their way around locally would suggest
* Voice instructions are clearer, easier to understand and timed better
* Walking directions are easier to understand
* The UI is less annoying. In Google Maps, I find it quite easy to miss the compass button when walking, which causes the map view to freak out and makes me lose context.
What's better in Google Maps:
* Better metadata about shops, locations, crowdedness etc.
What both cannot do right:
* Re-route when an Autobahn is closed completely (I am located in Germany). It's a hot mess for some reason, while that's working relatively fine when there are accidents/congestions.
Finally, as an iPhone user, my location data is already at Apple. Why give it to someone else?
> * No dangerous shortcuts where I risk to damage my car
Can you elaborate on this? This seems like a personal anecdote and not a software feature. How does one even define that? You're saying that there are special roads that Apple knows not to travel bug Google does? That seems odd, since the real world doesn't really mark its roads like that.
> This seems like a personal anecdote and not a software feature.
It might be.
> How does one even define that?
One example would be a road that is very narrow, but not one-way. Basically so narrow that only one car can drive there. Where I live, there are many such roads on the country side. They tend to be used as shortcuts so that one doesn't need to take the main roads (shorter total distance). But they are dangerous in the sense that you have to pay much more attention when driving there. Google just tends to prefer those for some reason.
> You're saying that there are special roads that Apple knows not to travel bug Google does?
No. I am saying that the directions suggested by Apple Maps tend to avoid those roads, while Google Maps oftentimes doesn't even display an alternative.
> That seems odd, since the real world doesn't really mark its roads like that.
Ever driven on a gravel road slowly to not get stones hitting your car? I am sure there is a way to index the road quality and that this is even easy based on satellite and air photo data.
The user might mean that Google decides to encourage side roads or dirt paths where Apple sticks to main thoroughfares. This could be related to the input it gained from acquiring Waze, which often took people down residential roads to avoid main road bottlenecks. https://www.streetlightdata.com/waze-traffic-effect-4-steps-...
Google maps is very eager to re-route around traffic which ends up taking you down back roads (atleast in the US). Which are narrow, not controlled-access, poorly lit, and maybe windy and poorly maintained depending on where you are. And it does all this to save a couple of minutes at best. Everyone is using Google maps and getting the same rerouting suggestion so the backroads get filled and slow down eliminating any benefit.
Apple Maps is much more likely to use the “typical” option which is usually a controlled access freeway which are MUCH safer (in my opinion and I believe the traffic accident rates support it).
Apple will take you on the straightforward route that you’d have plotted on a map 30 years ago. The traffic optimization isn’t as aggressive as Google Maps or Waze.
Google will also over-optimize for routes with imperfect information. Here’s an example: Yesterday I was leaving Manhattan for points upstate around 6:30 PM (bad idea) and was routed by Google to the Lincoln tunnel. Google’s route was trash — it magically shaved 20 minutes off the trip by optimizing me onto a side street that would let me cut the line of mayhem to get to the tunnel. The problem is, making a left turn on 10th avenue to get to that road would easily take 20 minutes. Google’s metrics aren’t able to account for that.
Apple’s directions were optimal - West Side Drive to George Washington Bridge. I figured out that I was “getting googled” quickly l, and was able to get out of the gridlock and ultimately arrive at my destination ahead of schedule.
1. In the US, driving in a rural area, Google took me down a five-mile stretch of gravel road between two farms. It's questionable whether this was actually a public road, as I got an odd look from a farmer on his tractor. Admittedly, this saved about 30 minutes.
2. In the UK, Google Maps routinely tries to lead me down narrow country lanes to save 1-2 minutes. In many cases, it will take me off an A road (read: main route) onto a single-lane country lane flanked by hedges. It's bad enough that when I'm using Google Maps, I specifically look at the map at each turn it suggests to see if it has an alternate route highlighted that keeps me on the main road, and I choose that route instead.
I don't experience these things as much with Apple Maps, which seems tuned to keep me on main routes.
I try not to, but there are some apps whose main purpose depends on location data. In those cases, I check who's behind those apps and try to restrict the times at which they are able to attain location data as best as possible.
> I see their plan is working!
I sense some cynicism here and I partially agree. The thing is: I am currently using an iPhone for lack of an alternative/platform lock-in and so my personal risk/benefit is skewed towards limiting the data sinks to preferably one, which would be Apple. That's just the way it is. Would I like the world to be different? Oh boy, yes...
The big one for me is Citi Bike, and Lyft which require them to work. But it's only while using the app. Otherwise I actually have location services turned off for almost everything and try to just use a zipcode instead.
With Maps I enjoy not using location services because I end up knowing wherever I am better. It's a bit of a pain sometimes to try to figure out where in a city you are based on some street signs but it's really neat when you can talk about a whole neighborhood before the friends you're visiting can!
> By the way, do you install any 3rd party apps that require location services?
You already read that they are cognizant of installing 3rd party apps that handle their location data... You're coming off as condescending and for what, exactly? Someone's preferred map app?
> You're coming off as condescending and for what, exactly? Someone's preferred map app?
I am the author of the original comment. I might come across as an Apple fanboy to some. While I get your point and I think you're right, please let's stop fighting. As long as we fight against each other, they win.
When you use Apple Maps, your route from A to B is fragmented into scrambled sections on Apple servers because nobody else should know your entire route. Not even us. In fact, we don’t even know who requests a route.
// But doesn’t Maps already know who requested a route from their IP address?
Apple Maps uses a random identifier, which means any route requests made on your iPhone are assigned a random identification value rather than labelling you as the sender. So both you and your routes stay anonymous.
I do enjoy Apple's privacy protections, it's a huge selling point for me and definitely has kept me in the ecosystem. It's why I originally dropped Google products in the first place.
> * Re-route when an Autobahn is closed completely (I am located in Germany). It's a hot mess for some reason, while that's working relatively fine when there are accidents/congestions.
Apple Maps are pretty good about that in the US I think, just today the app was making me avoid a construction closure which hasn't been there last week. However there is still the human error of me thinking that the app couldn't possibly know that so fast so I still drove towards the closure and had to turn around. I think Google Maps tell you if part of the route is closed, not in the Apple Maps though.
I was assuming this was a Europe thing. It seems as if they don’t have correct and complete data of the closed entries and exits. The closure itself was on the map, but the algorithm still failed to plan an appropriate detour. I have had multiple times where I was routed to closed entries over and over to the point where I’d have to park the car and ask a local for directions.
Always tried both apps in those cases and they both didn’t seem to get it.
- Related to the routes make more sense, Google seems to prefer side streets to save one minute but then you get dumped back on the main road not at the light and need to cross traffic and might lose your minute back just waiting for a chance to cross. I'd much prefer a main route with a light that guarantees a safe turn.
- Google Maps advertisements on the map. No I don't want to see a Whole Foods with a sale two miles away over other landmarks.
Yep. This is increasingly pushing me away from Google Maps. Once offline mode comes to Apple, I'll move over completely ...just wish i could bring all my saved locations over.
Not only that, but if one of your turns is adjacent to, say, a corner with a McDonald's that's on the map, the direction narration will actually say something like "In 1000 feet, turn right, past the McDonald's on the right." It's so blatant and makes me laugh.
My biggest gripe about GMaps is a minor one but when it happens it's crucial:
Sometimes I'll see a road that looks like it may be a good shortcut or something, but it doesn't show the name. So I zoom in, and in, even to the point that the road itself is taking up my entire phone screen. Still no name! Very tedious and aggravating when it's on the fly.
Yes this is infuriating. The old google maps was excellent at adding street labels everywhere using just the font size and layout. It was more on par with his traditional paper maps used to be designed. Maximize the information for the user. Nowadays online maps are no longer thought to be used as traditional maps in the sense of using them as a tool to explore / navigate. Now they’re 100% focused on giving you directions. Make it easy to understand the directions, suppress other useless detail because all you need to focus on is the next turn.
* Cycling directions, where available, are vastly superior to Google Maps's.
My cycle computer uses Google Maps. I frequently see myself planning a route on Apple Maps, then replicating it on Ride With GPS, then importing it into the device. It's a pain but has allowed me to avoid some pretty bad routes.
> My cycle computer uses Google Maps. […] [Replicating Apple Maps directions is] a pain but has allowed me to avoid some pretty bad routes.
(Sorry for aggressive quote edit.)
Google Maps cycling directions include routes that go against the direction of traffic, even though cycling against traffic is illegal as is riding on sidewalks (where I cycle).
Apple Maps cycling directions take me to the nearest intersection of a destination and instruct me to dismount if the remaining leg would require wrong-way cycling.
Yeah Google also sends me through car tunnels to cross the river. These tend to be quite hazardous, full of exhaust smoke and without any chance to stop for whatever reason (tyre puncture, coughing my lungs out, whatever...).
Another set of things annoying about Google Maps:
- Google shows pins for locations on the map. Often if I try to click one, it zooms in on a new pin on a random lat/lon next to it. This mostly happens when zoomed out with a wide view of the city. Obviously I was going for that random location, not the ad you were trying to show me.
- It routinely shows me illegal routes, some of which I don't notice until I'm well on my way to the route. I know some of this is a data problem, but I don't think the cops will care that Google told me to turn at a "no turns during rush hour" place.
That is a good point that I missed in my list. In fact, I think in a recent update, they made the pins dots in an apparent attempt to declutter the map view. Now what you described got even worse, because the points have an even smaller hit box than the pins.
Google Maps is yet another decaying Google product, unfortunately.
However it has a moat that is hard to overtake: Business information. Apple Maps is a superior experience as long as you can find the business(shop, restaurant etc) but unfortunately it's still far from matching Google at this.
It's even annoying me on Bing. I've switched to Bing and I'm pretty happy so far but when I search for a shop or something, that's when Google still has the edge thanks to vast the business info on Google Maps which would be displayed in a Google Search result.
Hate that Google defaults to the 'eco' route that takes a few minutes longer.
Otherwise my initial experience with Apple maps was so bad that I havent tried it since. It basically would wait until the last possible moment to tell me to turn, not exactly possible going 45mph.
What I hate about Google routing is that it would change the pre-agreed one to save time. I'm not always watching the map screen so I would miss out the "dismiss" button and I will end up on a surprise route which is supposed to be quicker but ends up to be too involved because I have to drive through strange places that require active chauffeuring and there's a reason(potholes, kids playing on the streets, steep hills, narrow roads with parked cars that barely let you pass etc.) why it's not everyones default choice of route.
IMHO Apple Maps is much better on this, it even list the "less turns" option, so I can just chill on a straight line or follow the curves instead of trying to enter and exit intersections every few minutes.
Also, the road connection graphics are much clearer on Apple Maps.
For me, Apple Maps replaced Google Maps, and Google Maps then replaced Yelp/Foursquare/etc. Apple does a better job of getting me where I want to go and Google does a better job of letting me know what’s around when I get there.
I still can't help but always reach for Google Maps by default because it just seems most likely they'd have the most up to date traffic information from all the Android users they're constantly tracking. I don't think Apple really has access to that data?
I live in a smaller city in Canada so I just don't know how Apple would figure out when there's construction or roads blocked off to route me around those things. Google Maps seems to get it done cause of all the live user tracking they do.
I'm a professional driver (high school bus, so a lot of longer-distance sports trips and stuff), and I swear by Apple Maps for up-to-date traffic info. Google Maps has given me under construction exits, backed up freeways, and just plain inefficient routes too many times for me to rely on it anymore. Sometimes I'll bring it up just because the satellite imagery is newer and I want to see they layout of a parking lot or something, but otherwise it's all Apple Maps.
I'm in a rural area and find Apple Maps is generally always consistent with the real life conditions when it comes to traffic and road closures.
iOS devices report the flow of traffic, they just do it in an anonymized way. I'm also seeing more and more user-reported events (the Waze-like feature now built into Apple Maps). Reporting things like speed checks, accidents, etc.
At some point I just didn’t download Google Maps on a clean install and it was fine, never felt a reason to go back. Now when I look at it on other devices it seems over complicated to me.
Apple Maps is also the only app that shows the exact entrance and exit to take on public transport in the cities I’ve used it in (Vienna, London: esp. time-saving there with often exits numbered 1–5 without clear indication where they lead to), and the station layout with underground walkways overlayed on the map is also very accurate.
The only annoying UX gripe I have is that it doesn’t show the arrival time, you have to do your own mental math to add the route duration to the start time you’ve entered.
I was a little hesitant to switch to Apple Maps but after I did, I cannot go back to using Google Maps.
Everything from the UX to the clarity indicating street names is far superior on Apple Maps.
One thing I always hater about Google Maps is that it doesn’t show you street names when you need them. I was in NYC a while back and I wanted to see the street name and I had to do lot of scrolling to find it.
I also wish Apple has better metadata about businesses, sometimes it shows a restaurant as closed when it’s actually open or vice versa.
Google Maps does feature particularly terrible [carto]graphic design... never understood why they got away so long with such poor feature colour, contrast, and placenames appearance logic.
You can't easily contribute to Apple Maps or add places. That's why Google Maps has much more content. Many people would love to contribute to Apple Maps, but aren't allowed.
On the other hand, these are the two wealthiest companies in all of human history. Why can't they hire people all over the world to improve their maps?
Compare that with Google Maps, where anybody can easily add businesses or other places of interest that are missing from the map. How do you go about doing that in Apple Maps? Without an Apple device?
Businesses should have in their best interest to add themselves to Apple Maps (which they can do). If you see something not showing just pop inside and tell the manager. That's what I did one time at a hairdresser's
Business owners spend their time and effort where it pays off. If they don't have spare time to navigate Apple's user-hostile backend for adding or updating their business, they won't. The network effect means customers will rely on Google Maps.
Business Connect is sadly a total joke. I can't correct the name of a business I manage and just get the error "Thoroughfare or fullThoroughfare must not be empty, Thoroughfare or fullThoroughfare must not be empty"
Google Maps is far better for businesses to manage and get their information out. That's why their maps are dominating.
Apple Maps pulls in OpenStreetMaps data in my area of the country, so submitting information on OSM means an eventual Apple Maps upgrade for me. I edited the 3D shape of some of the houses in my neighborhood and added missing streets on OSM and saw them imported into Apple Maps a few months later.
Here is a map to see where people affiliated with apple are contributing to openstreetmap: https://piebro.github.io/openstreetmap-statistics/#e19b
it seems they use OSM data everywhere but in North America and most of Europe.
> The main provider of map data is TomTom, but data is also supplied by Automotive Navigation Data, Getchee, Hexagon AB, IGN, Increment P, Intermap Technologies, LeadDog, MDA Information Systems, OpenStreetMap, and Waze.
Agreed. Is it so hard to render the street names most relevant to your route? It seems to always render the most important names last as you zoom in, when they should be first.
I wonder if its a cultural thing. In my area of Not-California, roads will often have a local municipal name, but also be a county highway. For a while, navigation was unaware of this and would tell you "turn on highway 48" while driving downtown. As a driver, you go "wtf is highway 48". YIou have to zoom all the way in on the map to see that its Bank Street. Now it usually says "Bank Street", but will only display the 48 on the map. Very frustrating.
Sometimes I’ll zoom in to max zoom to a particular building where I know some business/restaurant is at (for example to check opening hours), and gmaps shows an empty rectangle.
The only way to get it to show what I was looking for is to search for it in the search box, and then it magically appears in the rectangle that was completely empty a moment before.
I like Apple Maps over Google Maps for many reasons, but the primary is potentially also the silliest: while driving, the "you" icon is smaller and its location timing is different than Google, making turn-by-turn directions far easier to understand in an area I've never seen before. When I'm trying to see if it's the next street or the street afterward that I'm going to have to reach, the little bit of timing difference that Apple Maps has is incredibly important. Apple Maps lets me look at the map and then at the road and get a good indication of where I'm to turn, whereas my experience with Google Maps has me looking at the map and then realizing that I've already passed the road.
> Apple Maps lets me look at the map and then at the road and get a good indication of where I'm to turn, whereas my experience with Google Maps has me looking at the map and then realizing that I've already passed the road.
That's interesting. Last I tried Apple Maps a year or two ago, it was the reverse. The indicator in Apple maps tended to "lag" a bit, especially in roundabouts (I'm in Europe). With GMaps, it would always be quite clear where exactly I was with respect to exits.
Also, on a turn, the Apple Maps indicator would turn on the map, so again, in a sharp turn, or a roundabout, I wouldn't see much of the road ahead. GMaps would turn the map and keep me facing north, so I could see what to expect further ahead.
You and I may be having the same UI experience but coming to different conclusions on the benefits. I can't recall at the moment if Apple Maps has a lag or if it's actually presenting the location dot ahead of its real location, but the timing is beneficial to me for turn-by-turn directions. I regularly find that Google Maps' UI makes me think I have more time to turn to the street where I need to go than reality, meaning I regularly miss my turn and have to double back to get to my location, where Apple Maps feels more in tune with my driving methods.
I haven't used Google for much of anything in my personal life for years now. I have an email on gmail that I check sometimes but it's mostly just spam at this point. Beyond that Maps and DuckDuckGo are fine. Plus iCloud I guess. I don't really have a lot of need to share documents or spread sheets.
Maps has definitely gotten better over the years. Their bike instructions aren't great though.
My gripe is that neither platform supports dynamic routing based on ferry times.
I live on Prince Edward Island which has a bridge and a ferry connection to the mainland. Halifax is the nearest city centre with an IKEA, a well-known shibboleth of sophistication. ;)
Getting there by ferry (3 h) is slightly faster than driving (3.5 - 4 h) but only if you get the ferry times right. Otherwise, you’ll spend as much time waiting for the next crossing as you will driving.
I would love for Apple to innovate and solve this once and for all!
I recently switched to apple maps. The biggest reason for me is that the audible directions are a lot more useful. Instead of "turn left in 200 meters" I get something like "At the next light, turn left".
That reduces the cognitive load immensely and i find i'm not trying to look at the map as much
Apple Maps seems like it will fail at what I find most important, however. Does it try to upsell me unrelated products when all I want is plain instructions to an address or location? Does it misinterpret accidental finger touches as some mid-route change-of-mind and irretrievably lose my instructions to get there?
Maybe I didn't know it years ago, but these are what Google has grown to realize I can't live without.
Although Apple Maps is way more fluid to use, it's is missing so much local detail in so many places, I find myself often having to switch back and forth between Apple Maps and Google Maps just to make sure I'm not missing stuff on the map. At which point you may as well just not use Apple Maps outside of the biggest cities in the US.
My wife uses google maps in her car and lately the routing is strange - like making 3 right turns when there is a protected advance green for left turns. Apple maps just showed turn left.
Sure, I know that sometimes 3 rights is better than one left but it didn't happen just once, it was multiple times.
Apple Maps has come a long way since its initial (disastrous) launch (so bad it was a gag on 'Silicon Valley')
I switched to apple maps for carplay. Back in those days on google it was like 3 small button presses to switch voice navigation on and off requiring you to look at the screen. With apple it was hit the big black box, easy with peripheral vision
Apple broke that feature but inertia means I haven't changed.
I haven't had Google Maps installed on my phone for at least 4 years now. In the beginning using Apple Maps was an exercise in frustration at times but nowadays it's better than Google Maps in a lot of scenarios. Annecdoctaly we if we were driving somewhere sometimes I had to unplug my phone to get Google Maps directions on Car Play but lately it's actually the opposite.
POI, restaurant reviews etc are still miles better in Google, but using the web version is enough for those.
I had to finally give up on Google Maps in my car because after 15 minutes or so into a route, Google maps would start to lag reality by about 20 seconds. It got very difficult to actually use to drive a route. I thought it was poor GPS signal, my head unit’s slowness with Carplay, etc. Finally I tried Apple Maps out of desperation and it just worked.
As a bonus, it is better at giving useful driving directions. It will say things like “the right at the second stop sign”, which is a great signal to use to a driver.
I do occasionally use Google maps for finding businesses, but that’s it.
Location - NJ, USA. Car - Kia Telluride with CarPlay.
I'm a fan of the Apple Maps UI over Google and they have some really nice features like the 3D view. However, the one problem I have with Apple Maps is that their satellite imagery is often times out of date compared to Google. This doesn't matter as much for getting directions, but I enjoy looking around on satellite view to find hidden beaches or get to know my surroundings better than a street map can offer.
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[ 4.6 ms ] story [ 165 ms ] threadThe problem is, despite admittedly massive improvements, I still have issues with it containing stale location data, incorrect POI classification information (e.g. convenience store without gas pumps marked as a 'gas station'), and suggesting paths that don't exist or simply aren't tenable (no, Apple, I am not going to talk a walking shortcut through the middle of an Italian military facility).
* No dangerous shortcuts where I risk to damage my car
* Routes make much more sense in general and are nearer to what someone who knows their way around locally would suggest
* Voice instructions are clearer, easier to understand and timed better
* Walking directions are easier to understand
* The UI is less annoying. In Google Maps, I find it quite easy to miss the compass button when walking, which causes the map view to freak out and makes me lose context.
What's better in Google Maps:
* Better metadata about shops, locations, crowdedness etc.
What both cannot do right:
* Re-route when an Autobahn is closed completely (I am located in Germany). It's a hot mess for some reason, while that's working relatively fine when there are accidents/congestions.
Finally, as an iPhone user, my location data is already at Apple. Why give it to someone else?
Can you elaborate on this? This seems like a personal anecdote and not a software feature. How does one even define that? You're saying that there are special roads that Apple knows not to travel bug Google does? That seems odd, since the real world doesn't really mark its roads like that.
It might be.
> How does one even define that?
One example would be a road that is very narrow, but not one-way. Basically so narrow that only one car can drive there. Where I live, there are many such roads on the country side. They tend to be used as shortcuts so that one doesn't need to take the main roads (shorter total distance). But they are dangerous in the sense that you have to pay much more attention when driving there. Google just tends to prefer those for some reason.
> You're saying that there are special roads that Apple knows not to travel bug Google does?
No. I am saying that the directions suggested by Apple Maps tend to avoid those roads, while Google Maps oftentimes doesn't even display an alternative.
> That seems odd, since the real world doesn't really mark its roads like that.
Ever driven on a gravel road slowly to not get stones hitting your car? I am sure there is a way to index the road quality and that this is even easy based on satellite and air photo data.
For example, Waze, which is another decent GPS app that Google owns and sources data from, even has an option for this!
It is called something like "avoid difficult roads/intersections".
Apple Maps is much more likely to use the “typical” option which is usually a controlled access freeway which are MUCH safer (in my opinion and I believe the traffic accident rates support it).
Google will also over-optimize for routes with imperfect information. Here’s an example: Yesterday I was leaving Manhattan for points upstate around 6:30 PM (bad idea) and was routed by Google to the Lincoln tunnel. Google’s route was trash — it magically shaved 20 minutes off the trip by optimizing me onto a side street that would let me cut the line of mayhem to get to the tunnel. The problem is, making a left turn on 10th avenue to get to that road would easily take 20 minutes. Google’s metrics aren’t able to account for that.
Apple’s directions were optimal - West Side Drive to George Washington Bridge. I figured out that I was “getting googled” quickly l, and was able to get out of the gridlock and ultimately arrive at my destination ahead of schedule.
1. In the US, driving in a rural area, Google took me down a five-mile stretch of gravel road between two farms. It's questionable whether this was actually a public road, as I got an odd look from a farmer on his tractor. Admittedly, this saved about 30 minutes.
2. In the UK, Google Maps routinely tries to lead me down narrow country lanes to save 1-2 minutes. In many cases, it will take me off an A road (read: main route) onto a single-lane country lane flanked by hedges. It's bad enough that when I'm using Google Maps, I specifically look at the map at each turn it suggests to see if it has an alternate route highlighted that keeps me on the main road, and I choose that route instead.
I don't experience these things as much with Apple Maps, which seems tuned to keep me on main routes.
I see their plan is working! By the way, do you install any 3rd party apps that require location services?
> I see their plan is working!
I sense some cynicism here and I partially agree. The thing is: I am currently using an iPhone for lack of an alternative/platform lock-in and so my personal risk/benefit is skewed towards limiting the data sinks to preferably one, which would be Apple. That's just the way it is. Would I like the world to be different? Oh boy, yes...
With Maps I enjoy not using location services because I end up knowing wherever I am better. It's a bit of a pain sometimes to try to figure out where in a city you are based on some street signs but it's really neat when you can talk about a whole neighborhood before the friends you're visiting can!
You already read that they are cognizant of installing 3rd party apps that handle their location data... You're coming off as condescending and for what, exactly? Someone's preferred map app?
I am the author of the original comment. I might come across as an Apple fanboy to some. While I get your point and I think you're right, please let's stop fighting. As long as we fight against each other, they win.
Fun fact about that:
--snip from https://www.idownloadblog.com/2019/03/13/apple-maps-navigati... --
When you use Apple Maps, your route from A to B is fragmented into scrambled sections on Apple servers because nobody else should know your entire route. Not even us. In fact, we don’t even know who requests a route.
// But doesn’t Maps already know who requested a route from their IP address?
Apple Maps uses a random identifier, which means any route requests made on your iPhone are assigned a random identification value rather than labelling you as the sender. So both you and your routes stay anonymous.
Apple Maps are pretty good about that in the US I think, just today the app was making me avoid a construction closure which hasn't been there last week. However there is still the human error of me thinking that the app couldn't possibly know that so fast so I still drove towards the closure and had to turn around. I think Google Maps tell you if part of the route is closed, not in the Apple Maps though.
Always tried both apps in those cases and they both didn’t seem to get it.
- Related to the routes make more sense, Google seems to prefer side streets to save one minute but then you get dumped back on the main road not at the light and need to cross traffic and might lose your minute back just waiting for a chance to cross. I'd much prefer a main route with a light that guarantees a safe turn.
- Google Maps advertisements on the map. No I don't want to see a Whole Foods with a sale two miles away over other landmarks.
I never stop, FWIW.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Pfister+Z%C3%BCrich+Letzip...
Scroll around Zürich and you should see several.
Sometimes I'll see a road that looks like it may be a good shortcut or something, but it doesn't show the name. So I zoom in, and in, even to the point that the road itself is taking up my entire phone screen. Still no name! Very tedious and aggravating when it's on the fly.
Ad company puts ad on product. News at 11. =)
My cycle computer uses Google Maps. I frequently see myself planning a route on Apple Maps, then replicating it on Ride With GPS, then importing it into the device. It's a pain but has allowed me to avoid some pretty bad routes.
(Sorry for aggressive quote edit.)
Google Maps cycling directions include routes that go against the direction of traffic, even though cycling against traffic is illegal as is riding on sidewalks (where I cycle).
Apple Maps cycling directions take me to the nearest intersection of a destination and instruct me to dismount if the remaining leg would require wrong-way cycling.
Google Maps supports Satellite mode on Apple Carplay.
Apple Maps does not.
Its a personal preference thing, but thats 99% where we use maps apps in my house. My wife prefers Sat view. I dont care.
However it has a moat that is hard to overtake: Business information. Apple Maps is a superior experience as long as you can find the business(shop, restaurant etc) but unfortunately it's still far from matching Google at this.
It's even annoying me on Bing. I've switched to Bing and I'm pretty happy so far but when I search for a shop or something, that's when Google still has the edge thanks to vast the business info on Google Maps which would be displayed in a Google Search result.
Otherwise my initial experience with Apple maps was so bad that I havent tried it since. It basically would wait until the last possible moment to tell me to turn, not exactly possible going 45mph.
IMHO Apple Maps is much better on this, it even list the "less turns" option, so I can just chill on a straight line or follow the curves instead of trying to enter and exit intersections every few minutes.
Also, the road connection graphics are much clearer on Apple Maps.
I live in a smaller city in Canada so I just don't know how Apple would figure out when there's construction or roads blocked off to route me around those things. Google Maps seems to get it done cause of all the live user tracking they do.
iOS devices report the flow of traffic, they just do it in an anonymized way. I'm also seeing more and more user-reported events (the Waze-like feature now built into Apple Maps). Reporting things like speed checks, accidents, etc.
People Have Begun to Love Apple’s Most Hated Product
https://archive.is/9FkNS
The only annoying UX gripe I have is that it doesn’t show the arrival time, you have to do your own mental math to add the route duration to the start time you’ve entered.
Everything from the UX to the clarity indicating street names is far superior on Apple Maps.
One thing I always hater about Google Maps is that it doesn’t show you street names when you need them. I was in NYC a while back and I wanted to see the street name and I had to do lot of scrolling to find it.
I also wish Apple has better metadata about businesses, sometimes it shows a restaurant as closed when it’s actually open or vice versa.
Overall I am glad i switched to Apple Maps
On the other hand, these are the two wealthiest companies in all of human history. Why can't they hire people all over the world to improve their maps?
yes you can, you simply select an item on the map and report a problem. also they already hire third party agencies to add data to the map
Google Maps is far better for businesses to manage and get their information out. That's why their maps are dominating.
> The main provider of map data is TomTom, but data is also supplied by Automotive Navigation Data, Getchee, Hexagon AB, IGN, Increment P, Intermap Technologies, LeadDog, MDA Information Systems, OpenStreetMap, and Waze.
Sometimes I’ll zoom in to max zoom to a particular building where I know some business/restaurant is at (for example to check opening hours), and gmaps shows an empty rectangle.
The only way to get it to show what I was looking for is to search for it in the search box, and then it magically appears in the rectangle that was completely empty a moment before.
That's interesting. Last I tried Apple Maps a year or two ago, it was the reverse. The indicator in Apple maps tended to "lag" a bit, especially in roundabouts (I'm in Europe). With GMaps, it would always be quite clear where exactly I was with respect to exits.
Also, on a turn, the Apple Maps indicator would turn on the map, so again, in a sharp turn, or a roundabout, I wouldn't see much of the road ahead. GMaps would turn the map and keep me facing north, so I could see what to expect further ahead.
Maps has definitely gotten better over the years. Their bike instructions aren't great though.
I live on Prince Edward Island which has a bridge and a ferry connection to the mainland. Halifax is the nearest city centre with an IKEA, a well-known shibboleth of sophistication. ;)
Getting there by ferry (3 h) is slightly faster than driving (3.5 - 4 h) but only if you get the ferry times right. Otherwise, you’ll spend as much time waiting for the next crossing as you will driving.
I would love for Apple to innovate and solve this once and for all!
That reduces the cognitive load immensely and i find i'm not trying to look at the map as much
Maybe I didn't know it years ago, but these are what Google has grown to realize I can't live without.
Sure, I know that sometimes 3 rights is better than one left but it didn't happen just once, it was multiple times.
Apple Maps has come a long way since its initial (disastrous) launch (so bad it was a gag on 'Silicon Valley')
Apple broke that feature but inertia means I haven't changed.
Google maps is a superior lookup tool. I use this to get the address and location of where I want to go.
Apple Maps is superior for navigation when you already have the address, especially if you have an Apple Watch.
I also use OpenStreetMaps as a third, offline option. IMO all three of them have their uses.
I live in Europe (Norway) for what’s it’s worth.
POI, restaurant reviews etc are still miles better in Google, but using the web version is enough for those.
As a bonus, it is better at giving useful driving directions. It will say things like “the right at the second stop sign”, which is a great signal to use to a driver.
I do occasionally use Google maps for finding businesses, but that’s it.
Location - NJ, USA. Car - Kia Telluride with CarPlay.