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Cartography Comparison: Google Maps and Apple Maps
- guard-of-terra 10y ago> And both are in a race to become the world’s first Universal Map — that is, the first map used by a majority of the global population Actually, lol, no. OpenStreetMap is. Google Maps will be a contender for some time, but eventually it'll settle.
- tornadoboy55 10y agoThen why does nearly every business use Google Maps and it's API for map features? You have to pay for maps access on a commercial basis, so they'd be stupid to ignore a free (and according to you superior) solution. My guess is you're a FOSS zealot who can't admit that a commercial rendition of a particular idea is superior, because it would crush your ideologies and beliefs.. (and I say that as someone who has no problem with using good FOSS like VLC or Transmission)
- vetinari 10y agoMany businesses use Mapbox (which is based on OSM, but is not free) and many consider that superior choice to GMaps. Others use Bing maps (Facebook, for example). Then there are Here maps, Yandex maps, etc. GMaps are a quick and comfortable choice, but if your business really depends on communicating with maps, or you want to do something more than display pins or overlay kmls, it is not a best choice.
- reacweb 10y agoMy boss was complaining that COTS were expensive and gave gnat as an example. I asked him why do we pay for it ? We use support less than once every 5 years and in case of real problems, public forums exist. He was completely against this idea. For the company, paying for support is like having an insurance, they do not want to drive without insurance.
- int_19h 10y agoI suggest trying OSM, at least. It really is a superior solution to both Google Maps and Apple Maps in many respects, especially when it comes to level of detail and how up-to-date it is.
- mcintyre1994 10y agoGoogle Maps is clearly in that race, and I assume leading. Apple Maps clearly isn't unless they plan to at some point either build a product accessible to the majority of the global population or make a version for a platform that cares about that, like the web or Android.
- johnsmith21006 10y ago2016 Nielsen for popular apps had Google Maps #4 for all apps. There were no other mapping apps on the list this year. Not even Apple maps so talking about Google maps as the universal solution makes sense, IMO. This article refers to 2015 Nielsen when Apple maps did make the list. Not sure why it fell of the list.
- Cenk 10y agoI wish there were more settings and personalisations available in both Maps apps. I’d like to activate an option that always shows me all public transport stations, regardless of zoom level.
- vetinari 10y agoThere's a reason why it is not being done - you wouldn't be satisfied with the speed. Try some old-fashioned GIS application, that queries and displays exactly what you have selected and compare that with Google Maps. These map apps with cached tiles (whether raster or vector, doesn't matter) gain speed precisely because they limit what the user can choose and then cache that. The normal GIS apps cannot do that, but conversely, their users are complaining that Google Maps is much faster...
- maxerickson 10y agoI would think that vector tiles + display filtering would be roughly just as fast as vector tiles without any filtering. At least assuming a halfway decent implementation (it shouldn't take real long to process the few hundred items that would be present in the viewport).
- Bedon292 10y agoYou certainly could filter what you receive in the vector tile. However that vector tile is already a cached / filtered piece of the data. It limits what you would be able to do.
- maxerickson 10y agoSure, the client can only filter the data it receives. But the tiling approach and client side filtering can clearly be applied to POIs, and while I haven't actually experimented with such a thing, I would expect the performance to be quite good even if the user had lots of filters set.
- int_19h 10y ago
- Oletros 10y ago> And both are in a race to become the world’s first Universal Map — that is, the first map used by a majority of the global population This is a very US centric view. The comparison is done in the city where the two companies are nearly located, the other city is the most important in US and the other is the most important of the English speaking cities in the world outside USA. If you want to talk about global mapping, use global comparisons. And not talking about the fact that Apple Maps are supported in just one platform and the market share in USA is very different than globally.
- dvcrn 10y agoThis. Both map apps are very good in the states but suck in other countries. For example, Google maps can't even show directions in South Korea while Apple maps can due to government restrictions.
- dschep 10y ago> And not talking about the fact that Apple Maps are supported in just one platform and the market share in USA is very different than globally. Agreed, Apple disqualifies themselves from the race to make the Universal Map.
- Theodores 10y agoIt is not a race to become the universal map. When Steve Jobs was breathing, there were a few fierce words about 'Android'. Having Google Maps or a Google browser on the phone was to be avoided at all costs so Apple shopped for maps and put something together so they would not be at the mercy of Google deciding to discontinue their maps app on iOS/Safari. So the Apple maps were never born out of vision, just spiteful thinking and a perceived need to have indigenous maps that were not supplied by the old sparring partner (Microsoft) or the evil Google. I think that the Apple map product was designed in that era of skuomorphic thinking that went on until recently in iOS. So the maps are designed to be a familiar map, much like the atlas you had as a kid when it comes to typography. The Google Maps evolved from looking like paper maps a long time ago and are about showing you the information you want, not everything that can be crammed on screen. This challenges us to think about how we see the world, for a long time 'A-Z' maps were the thing and you had page numbers and 'square' numbers, e.g. B7, page 126 instead of 'hyperlinks'. Apple maps are more in line with that 'old persons' way of dealing with cartography issues, the Google maps are pioneering a better UX for visualising the world.
- pella 10y agoAlternative: OpenStreetMap ! "The following companies offer consulting, tile-hosting or other services for sites wishing to switch to OpenStreetMap." https://switch2osm.org/providers/ https://switch2osm.org/providers/
- pella 10y ago* http://www.weeklyosm.eu/ http://www.weeklyosm.eu/ * http://www.openstreetmap.org/help http://www.openstreetmap.org/help * Tips for new (Pokemon Go) mappers: https://blog.openstreetmap.org/2016/12/30/tips-pokemon-go/ https://blog.openstreetmap.org/2016/12/30/tips-pokemon-go/
- maxerickson 10y agoSmall discussion from when the article was newer: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11836584 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11836584
- blauditore 10y agoThe article reads like there are no noteworthy alternatives to those two. But in my experience, at least HERE Maps and Bing Maps are quite up to par. Especially HERE is quite strong when it comes to navigation.
- prplhaz4 10y agoThey lead with this, which is probably why others aren't considered... >> both are in a race to become the world’s first Universal Map — that is, the first map used by a majority of the global population
- dpark 10y agoIs Apple actually trying to have a universal map? Can you even use Apple maps if you're not on an Apple device?
- konschubert 10y agoExactly. There are a number of maps racing for world domination, Apple isn't one of them.
- mempko 10y agoExcept that HERE has more of the world mapped than google...
- at-fates-hands 10y ago>> But in my experience, at least HERE Maps and Bing Maps are quite up to par when I had my Windows phones, I preferred the Bing Map app to Google Maps. I always thought the UI was superior and more user friendly to Google Maps.
- blauditore 10y agoI had a similar experience on WP and preferred HERE Maps. One reason for the poor quality of Google Maps was the lack of an official App, and third-party ones were quite poor. Google seems to have a policy against releasing apps for Mobile Windows platforms that goes further than just "we don't care".
- wodenokoto 10y agoAll of the example images are too low resolution to actually make up your mind about what the author is talking about when referring to them.
- 4ght 10y agoThe images enlarge when tapped upon
- wodenokoto 10y agoNot by any meaningful size on my machine.
- Bedon292 10y agoFrom a cartographic perspective I would love to see this expanded to include Mapbox, and Bing. As well as Yandex, and any other foreign players whose names I cannot remember right now. I would probably be more interested in seeing how they compare, instead of just US based ones.
- kuschku 10y agoHere WeGo (formerly Nokia, originally NavteQ, now I think owned by BMW?) would also be interesting. EDIT: Turns out it’s VAG, BMW, Daimler, Intel and some more.
- maxerickson 10y agoHere is owned by a consortium of automakers and recently, Intel and a couple others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_(company)#Acquisition_by_car_companies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_(company)#Acquisition_by_...
- Bedon292 10y agoI am still working my way through the whole thing, but so far it seems like the differences between the two are in focus. Apple seems to focus on the Where aspect of the map with more city labels and such. Whereas Google is focusing on the How, meaning how to get from place A to B. It focuses on the roads and means of transportation. I wonder if there is a different focus in Russia or China, or anywhere else for that matter. Are there more ways to focus or do map providers always have to choose between these two options? I certainly prefer the Google method, but I do not know if that is because I am used to it, or if it really provides me with more value. Does anyone prefer the Apple maps approach? And if you do, is there any specific reason? I am truly fascinated by these differences.
- flippmoke 10y agoFrom a cartographic perspective judging Mapbox is difficult as it is a platform that allows vast customization of your map on a user by user basis.
- spot 10y agoi am more interested in accuracy comparison than i am in design.
- bla2 10y agoThat's in there, see part 2.
- gefh 10y ago[May 2016]
- dzdt 10y agoIt seems that google has a more coherent theory of how users use maps at different zoom levels. At the outermost zoom, physical geography is emphasized : terrain shows prominently, and political boundaries at the national level with hints of state boundaries. Zoom in farther, and political bondaries are more emphasized and physical features less. States are named and some cities. Zoom in farther and you start to reach the domain of navigation. Large roads are prominent and labelled, as are some cities. Zoom in farther and more roads are labelled, as well as rail/metro stops and some landmark destinations. At the highest levels of zoom, finally it transitions to destinations and foot-navigation as the focus. Apple has a similar progression, but with less coherence. It emphasizes cities/neighborhoods more at the expense of road labels. And landmarks and destinations appear at lower zoom levels, also at the expense of road labels. Rail/metro stations are much less prominent.
- konschubert 10y ago> And both are in a race to become the world’s first Universal Map — that is, the first map used by a majority of the global population. In many ways, this makes Google Maps and Apple Maps two of the most important maps ever made. > Who will get there first? Isn't it pretty clear that Android is well ahead in global market share? I mean, Apple isn't even trying to become the market leader, they are solely focused on the premium segment.
- bostand 10y agoI stopped reading right there. If you live in a bubble that small I am probably not going to learn anything from reading your article...
- orik 10y agoThe image loading on this site was pretty unbearable; the images loaded from the bottom up lazily and were pretty low resolution. I ended up loading all the chapters before I read the 2nd page, so the rest of the pages would be ready for me. I don't know if the image loading was a design choice or just because of the HN traffic. Very fascinating topic.
- chickenbane 10y agoAgreed, came here just to make this comment. It's silly that a piece comparing the two map apps - inherently very visual - has such bad imagery, especially considering the author clearly spent good time making those images. Worse, because of the image loading design I can't easily zoom. Would have been better there was no image loading and I could simply use Chrome!
- anonymousmaps 10y agoAll of the images enlarge when you click on them. (It's mentioned in the Intro.)
- vkb 10y agoI am disappointed at the type of criticism of this post on Hacker News. This write-up is the kind of high-quality, original, analytical writing we so desperately need these days, in an online world that is completely saturated with clickbait that adds nothing to our understanding of the world. Is the piece lacking in some semantics? Perhaps. But I was struck by the comments about market share and Android strategy, rather than directly discussing the article and the points it makes about the two maps at hand.
- Fnoord 10y agoIt is a rather long read about a specific topic. One could see it as a sign of respect of authority when the topic itself isn't discussed. At the very least the article isn't controversial. I'll admit I haven't read the full article. I quit during P2. It is TMI, extremely well detailed. I'd like to address the following two quotes from P1: > But today, with multiple zoom-levels, there’s plenty of room to show everything. Small businesses, apartment buildings, and even homes — no place is too small or too unimportant to be shown on today’s maps. Less is more. You don't want to show as much information as you can. The user does not want as much information as you can provide. This leads to information overflow. A user wants relevant information. It is up the developers of the app to decide for the user what information they want. A way to do this, is to change it based on zoom. However, beyond that, the information could be drawn from a variety of factors, likely aided my ML/AI. For example, take method of transportation. Is the user in a car (as passenger, or driver), or is the user cycling, or is the user using the metro, or bus? Another variable could be is the user new to this environment? or yet another: who is the user? ASL? Student? Income? Coffee drinker? Interested in a coffee right now based on previous habits? Etc Google knows those details much more accurate. They're after all an advertising company specialised in data gathering company. They also may know what the user is not interested in based on profiling and behaviour. This gives Google a clear edge in this field. (But I believe Apple will follow Google's footsteps in becoming more oriented in user data -perhaps, even do a better job, too; we'll see-) > The “POI” is dead — because today, every place is of interest. For the developer perhaps, but certainly untrue for the user. If you take Google Maps, it appears to prioritise transit information. Apple Maps doesn't. That makes Google Maps a better use case if you're interested in public transport. Google Maps very recently (14 jan update) pushed a new version of Google Maps with native Uber support which gives them yet another use case functionality.
- Odenwaelder 10y agoThanks O'Beirne! That was really interesting.
- ChuckMcM 10y agoOk, a very interesting way to analyze maps. Like a lot of engineers I enjoy different maps. It wasn't until we replaced our wall sized US Map this year (we got a large format US Map, World Map, and Globe when homeschooling our kids) that I realized how different maps could be (both good and bad). In my fantasy science fiction imagination I've got a map on an large format HiDPI screen that I can drop a Surface Dial on to and turn it to pick out the features I want from Pilot to Topographic to Road Atlas to Political Districts. We have the bandwidth and storage to do that now, just need a designer and business case.
- roesel 10y agoThis is so awesome. High quality, in-depth, and very on-point. I love whoever went to all the trouble to make this. Awesome content!
- gcr 10y agoI strongly prefer apple maps. Why? Because I have low vision and only Apple Maps respects the system font size. I can actually read the map labels. Google maps renders the print too small. If I can't read the map labels, I can't use the map. Everything else is gravy.
- jonathankoren 10y agoWhile specifically cartography, the recent trend to 3D render satellite views by both Google and Apple is pretty bad, and a step backwards. Both companies try to project the 2D photograph onto a 3D mesh, which fails to work in many cases due to alignment and measurement errors. Instead of getting nicely wrapped polygons, you get weird crumpled shapes with distorted pixels projected on them. While annoying, this wouldn't be a show a stopper because you can always click "2D" to see the undistorted 2D photograph right? WRONG! 2D simply rotates the 3D model so that the z-axis is perpendicular to your screen. All the distortions and artifacts remain in place! This is broken.
- graaben 10y agoOff topic but I found this interesting: Out of the top 10 mobile apps in the US 5 are owned by Google, 3 by Facebook, and 2 by Apple.