I was travelling recently in Russia and Asia for a few months. My impression was that Google Maps is in general by magnitudes better and more helpful than Apple

I was travelling recently in Russia and Asia for a few months. My impression was that Google Maps is in general by magnitudes better and more helpful than Apple Maps. It depends a bit on the country though as for some countries Google does not own the Map data and services are limited, i.e. in China and also Japan afaik. OpenStreetMap is usually a good alternative especially if you are not able to read local languages. Otherwise you'll be fine with local versions such as baidu maps, etc.