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From time to time I still accidentally open Apple Maps on my iPhone while searching for some place (tube station, restaurant, store) and almost immediately clos

From time to time I still accidentally open Apple Maps on my iPhone while searching for some place (tube station, restaurant, store) and almost immediately close it and use Google Maps. Apple Maps is still much worse, the UX is worse and it's much more difficult for me to find things on the map. Especially tube stations are much more visible on Google maps and I often use tube stations for orientation. On Apple Maps stations are very light color and hard to spot. The same with other landmarks. I don't understand why they don't do some user testing and find out what UX practices are the reason why Google Maps is so much easier to use and replicate that. They've had years do do this.

chewz 9y ago
From my experience it depends a lot on the country. Apple Maps was for me excellent in China or Japan and terrible in Thailand for example. Both Google and Apple buy basic maps info from third party and the quality depends a lot on the deal they get. For example it is not possible to save area offline in Google Maps for Thailand due to some legal issues I guess. Google has much more user engagement and stars and recommendations give Google a big advantage.
mercutio2 9y ago
Different strokes for different folks. I occasionally open Google Maps because I want my search results to include only things on the same continent as the one I live on, and I literally cannot figure out how to get the damn app to give me directions, then I give up and go back to Apple Maps, because while search is filled with nonsense, once I’ve found my destination, it’s non-search UX doesn’t make me want to scream in irritation and confusion. Possibly worth noting, if you’ve never actually used Apple Maps, you might not know that if you change your routing to transit from the default (car), it will change its POI highlights to emphasize transit stops at the expense of businesses. Might improve your experience, if you felt like giving it a shot.

chewz 9y ago

From my experience it depends a lot on the country. Apple Maps was for me excellent in China or Japan and terrible in Thailand for example. Both Google and Apple buy basic maps info from third party and the quality depends a lot on the deal they get. For example it is not possible to save area offline in Google Maps for Thailand due to some legal issues I guess. Google has much more user engagement and stars and recommendations give Google a big advantage.

mercutio2 9y ago

Different strokes for different folks. I occasionally open Google Maps because I want my search results to include only things on the same continent as the one I live on, and I literally cannot figure out how to get the damn app to give me directions, then I give up and go back to Apple Maps, because while search is filled with nonsense, once I’ve found my destination, it’s non-search UX doesn’t make me want to scream in irritation and confusion. Possibly worth noting, if you’ve never actually used Apple Maps, you might not know that if you change your routing to transit from the default (car), it will change its POI highlights to emphasize transit stops at the expense of businesses. Might improve your experience, if you felt like giving it a shot.