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Apple delivers a new redesigned Maps for users in the United States
- maelito 7y agoOpen source alternative : https://benmaps.fr https://benmaps.fr
- nikodunk 7y agoI jumped on this post, thinking "awesome! they've definitely added bike routing! Now i can finally switch from Google Maps.". Unfortunately – still no dice.
- ogre_codes 7y agoThis is the one feature Apple Maps lacks which I miss most. Generally not a problem where I live, but occasionally I'd like a little help finding my way on the bike.
- giarc 7y agoI live in Canada and an Apple Street Maps car passed me sometime in spring/summer of 2019. I suspect Canada will get a similar update in 2020 or early 2021.
- pgm8705 7y agoApple Maps has come a long way since its disastrous initial release. For about a year now, I have rarely used Google Maps. I typically find Apple Map's routing to be just as effective, even for avoiding traffic, accidents, etc.
- mason55 7y agoYup I switched about a year ago because I liked the CarPlay interface the best out of [Apple Maps, Google Maps, Waze, Subaru Built In Maps]. And the privacy over Google Maps is a huge bonus.
- TheHypnotist 7y agoI tried it. But then for some reason Apple Maps asked me to U-Turn on the Garden State Parkway. That's not an option. Back to waze i went.
- pfranz 7y agoI hear Apple is pretty responsive about correcting reported errors. There's error reporting inside the app that includes a spot to attach a photo. Of course, this can be problematic when driving and I much prefer Waze's error reporting.
- selimthegrim 7y agoHow do you do this for directions?
- macintux 7y agoYou have to do it after, or simply stop the navigation, but once you do, if you select the “Report an Issue” option from the Info menu you can pick from your recent trips. Once you do so, you can select the wrong turn/other problem from the list of steps and describe the problem.
- tcbasche 7y agoMy favourite feature on iPhone is it telling me where my car is parked. Sometimes I go to a meetup at a local university, which is also a rats nest of roads and alleyways, and this has saved my hide multiple times
- judge2020 7y agoGoogle Maps has this now as well.
- cptskippy 7y ago> its disastrous initial release. I'm no fan of Apple but I'd hardly call it's release disastrous.
- selimthegrim 7y agoThey finally updated buildings in New Orleans that had been demolished in the 90s well before Katrina but are still giving a dangerous routing from the west bank of the river to downtown that you will get ticketed for if police will see you do it. The alternate ramp has been complete since 1992.
- jwr 7y agoThe biggest improvements are only within the US, though. In most places in Europe, Google Maps is still way better.
- SirHound 7y agoIt's appalling in Amsterdam and with no cycling directions it's useless.
- JohnJamesRambo 7y agoI enjoy how they keep saying private as a f you to Google Maps. I’ll give Maps a try again, the privacy is a good enticement for me.
- lotsofpulp 7y agoGoogle maps near me is riddled with advertisements now. Promoted pins or whatever they call it. Of course, it’s for stores that I won’t ever have a need to visit.
- chungus_khan 7y agoThere's also a whole tab of the navigate view that's just an advert for Uber, which I don't really appreciate.
- jefftk 7y agoOn my device I see a tab for ride hailing services, which is showing me choices for Uber and Lyft. I like it a lot, since I'm often choosing between walking, public transit, and Uber/Lyft. It makes it really easy to compare options. (Disclosure: I work for Google)
- tomrod 7y agoSounds like an opportunity for unsolicited feedback! I second parent commentator.
- kaishiro 7y agoAs another piece of anecdata, I actually _do_ appreciate this tab. In the states it brings up Uber and Lyft for me, and traveling through JP I would also get Didi. Was nice to see what the price difference would be compared to public transit options.
- unlinked_dll 7y agoThe final straw that got me to ditch android was Google sending me push notifications asking me to review places I've been to, via maps. If you want reviews, pay secret shoppers. And if you want me to use your app, don't make it painfully obvious you're spying on exactly where I go and when to do what.
- taylorlapeyre 7y agoIf Apple could bring bicycle directions into the app, I would probably never use Google Maps again.
- ed312 7y agoAny idea why they haven't / are there plans to add cycle routes in the future? It seems like a glaring hole in functionality (more than "street view")
- bobbylarrybobby 7y agoShits hard yo
- dang 7y agoIt is, but please don't post unsubstantive comments to Hacker News.
- s3r3nity 7y agoIt's a super tough problem. Even Google Maps messages you that it's a feature in progress (paraphrasing of course), and they've had years of a head start on this.
- Invictus0 7y agoWould you mind elaborating on why this is such a difficult problem?
- penagwin 7y agoI think you ninja'd me, I just made a comment contemplating some of the different challenges of bike navigation.
- penagwin 7y agoYou know that got me thinking, biking rules vary far more than for cars. Depending on your location, pedestrian traffic, streets, street traffic, etc. It might be best for you to be on the sidewalk. Or maybe you should instead be on the road since the road is only 25mph and there's pedestrians on the sidewalk. Maybe there's a bike lane, maybe there isn't. Maybe a town has a law saying you HAVE to bike on the road. Are you allowed to cut through parking lots? Is it a dirt road? Can everyone's bikes handle dirt roads? What if it just rained, cars can still cross a wet dirt road, but I'd rather take a different route if possible on a bike. That's not including the terrain challenges (which google seems to incorporate). I'd far rather take a route that takes an extra 5 minutes and is basically level vs a route that saves time but requires you to go down and uphill. Heck even wind conditions change can change the "optimal route" in some cases.
- jwagenet 7y agoI want to use Apple Maps more, but they still dont offer cycling directions. I used to use Apple Maps exclusively until I needed cycling directions because of the better lock screen integration and otherwise acceptable results, but I am still waiting...
- azinman2 7y agoCongrats to the teams who did this! It’s been a long time coming.. and a lot of people said along the way that Apple should just give up it was too far behind. Perseverance (and a lot of resources) can go a long way! It reminds me of some advice given to me by a heavily successful industrialist friend — never dismiss your competition, for the world is not static.
- dylan604 7y ago"Is it Apple Maps bad?" --Gavin Belson, Silicon Valley They had no place to go but up. That first version was absolutely embarrassing. I'm honestly surprised they were allowed to make it this far. To this day, I still do not use Apple Maps. As much as they try to get me to use it with all of the iOS embedding they've done, I still won't use it.
- azinman2 7y agoWhy not? Because it started out bad.... 7 years ago?
- fjp 7y agoAnecdotally Apple Maps is still really bad. I have tried using it to drive and walk around major cities in the last two years and it just completely misrepresents where some roads are, it doesn't catch up with construction, etc. etc.
- stefan_ 7y agoI suppose it is a sign of a mature app that Apple Maps is now in it's "Google Maps" phase where the only "improvements" are frequent, unprompted redesigns that cut functionality to the bone and change old interaction patterns for little discernible reason.
- pizza 7y agoThe only thing I use Google Maps for at this point is checking peak times (for the gym) and, rarely, if I have to give someone else public transit route information
- krrrh 7y agoTransit app absolutely smokes Google Maps for transit directions in every city I've tried it in, if you're looking to reduce your Google footprint further. Depending on the city it also integrates with micomobility and car sharing and offers intermodal directions based on preferences. https://transitapp.com/region/sf-bay-area#all-regions https://transitapp.com/region/sf-bay-area#all-regions
- aynyc 7y agoPeople don't use Waze anymore? I find Waze to be more accurate in terms of time on longer drives.
- lostgame 7y agoI've honestly never heard of Waze. EDIT: Holy downvotes, I didn't mean it as anything negative, I actually had to Google it. You can't hear about everything :3
- sixstringtheory 7y agoThis is a good piece of feedback for anyone at Waze, especially if you were willing to share more about your market details like where you live or any social networks you use, they could evaluate their advertising strategies. It was an honest response to a valid question. I was quite surprised to see it, but after reflecting, things change in the software world so quickly (and new people are born all the time) that it's inevitable that today's staples will be forgotten tomorrow. Also, congrats, you're one of today's lucky 10,000! [0] Downvotes weren't warranted IMO, but be careful complaining about downvotes on HN, it's against their usage guidelines [1]: > Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading. [0]: https://xkcd.com/1053/ https://xkcd.com/1053/ [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- lostgame 7y agoThe only time I'll ever ask about downvotes is a genuine curiosity as to why people disagree with a point, so I can learn more. :)
- asmosoinio 7y agoWhile the Waze app is still separate from Google Maps, I am sure Google is using a ton of the previously Waze specific (mostly user sourced) data in Google Maps since they acquired it in 2013. https://techcrunch.com/2013/06/11/its-official-google-buys-waze-giving-a-social-data-boost-to-its-location-and-mapping-business/ https://techcrunch.com/2013/06/11/its-official-google-buys-w...
- ianwalter 7y agoAhhhh so sick of companies featuring San Fran. The whole point is that it has better coverage Nation-wide. Pick literally anywhere else in the country!
- toomim 7y agoThey did. The example map is from Abilene, TX.
- 0xffff2 7y agoI count 6 images in the link. 3 are SF, one is SJC, one is New York, and one is (presumably) Abilene.
- ska 7y agoDoesn't that make comparisons harder? Granted companies may game SF results, but looking at on companies downtown Houston map and anothers Sioux Falls isn't so helpful.
- protomyth 7y agoAt this point, I absolutely hate when people use Apple Maps to find our community college. Apple just plain refuses to acknowledge the town we are located in exists. It also ignores all businesses on the reservation and points to the local Coca-Cola bottling location as the closest grocery store. I've filed bugs going back years and no changes. Privacy and UI cannot overcome really poor data.
- tclancy 7y agoIs this still true after the update?
- protomyth 7y agoYep
- koolba 7y agoWhy would you expect a UI update to change the underlying server data?
- jolux 7y agoIt's not just a UI update, they went through and captured all the data themselves as well so they won't have to supplement with TomTom anymore.
- BoorishBears 7y agoIt's not just a UI update, it's brand new maps with completely revamped datasets.
- wlesieutre 7y ago"More precise addresses" sounds deeper than a UI update.
- jamesgeck0 7y agoBecause the website says that the map data has been updated as well.
- pkaye 7y agoIs there an Apple Maps for the web browser?
- fetus8 7y agohttps://duckduckgo.com/?q=maps&t=h_&ia=maps&iaxm=maps https://duckduckgo.com/?q=maps&t=h_&ia=maps&iaxm=maps DDG has been using Apple Maps via browser for the last year or two IIRC.
- vucetica 7y agoYou can use them from browser if you use duckduckgo as your search engine. There is still not an option to navigate there (if you are, for example, planning your trips in advance). Very basic, unfortunately.
- pastor_elm 7y agoTheir international maps still don't look that great unfortunately. And there is still no ability to download offline maps like Google Maps, which is essential for avoiding international roaming fees. C'mon Apple, you make a billion dollars a day. Put a little more juice into this team.
- zkms 7y agoi have been using Apple Maps exclusively for the past year (in Los Angeles and Denver/Boulder areas) with no issue/problems. Google Maps is cluttered with an ugly phantasmagoria of adverts and after a while of not needing to use it, i just deleted it from all my devices. The only feature i find myself wanting that Google Maps has that Apple Maps lacks is an "offline maps" feature.
- skrause 7y agoWhat I hate most about Apple Maps is that reports about incorrect data never seem to go anywhere. Apple Maps thinks that the road that leads to my house is a one-way street. It's not. But because of this error Apple Maps always wants to send me on a 5 minutes detour if I try to use it to navigate home. I've reported the problem twice but never got an answer or a correction. In fact all problems I've ever reported in the Maps app were completely ignored. This is why I don't use Apple Maps.
- zippergz 7y agoThis is absolutely true, but it's not unique to Apple Maps. I've had an issue with the major road near my house in Google Maps for over three years, where it thinks a certain stretch is either absent or impassible. It shows it on the visual map, but it will go to astounding lengths to route you around that one-block stretch of (perfectly fine) road. I have reported it MANY times, and nothing has ever changed.
- chipperyman573 7y agoI report things on GMaps all the time and it usually updates the maps within minutes (I get an email) I'm also a local guide though so that might have something to do with it
- icebraining 7y agoSame here, though it's usually a few hours, not minutes. I'm not in the US, tough, it may be that there are different review teams for different areas.
- FireBeyond 7y agoI have something like that too. There's a one block section that didn't have a road through it due to a water tower, but now (as in 10 years ago) does. Apple Maps routes me around it constantly. Despite error submissions _and_ the trip data that they must have, showing multitudes of vehicles apparently driving through a field to continue on the road... no change.
- sixstringtheory 7y agoDecent cosmetic upgrade. I just opened it to check out my home though and the road names are shifted halfway across the screen. Some are duplicated: both a name on the street, and then the name again out in the middle of nowhere. Guess there are a few glitches but those should be quick to clear up. Along with cycling directions like others are asking for, I would love for them to add multi-destination navigation. It was really nice being able to make a detour to an ad-hoc location while navigating in GMaps, or plan a route with multiple stops ahead of time.
- ilikehurdles 7y agoYou can do so with Apple Maps. I do it regularly, but unfortunately you can only add it as an intermediate destination when en route to a destination. You can't pre-plan a multi-point trip which I feel like is a big oversight. I've wanted to estimate multi-day road trips and it doesn't seem possible with Apple Maps.
- sixstringtheory 7y agoWow, I didn't know this was possible. To anyone else who doesn't know this, while you're navigating, tapping or dragging up on the toolbar on the bottom of the screen causes it to expand and show a few options you can tap to add to your route. Unfortunately it's just a few preselected destination types, instead of a new search.
- ilikehurdles 7y agoHm, it seems different and more limited than the CarPlay UI. Yeah they really need to expand this feature. I thought you could have arbitrary search, but maybe that's on via CarPlay when stationary. Certainly there were more categories of things on CarPlay.
- gingericha 7y agoThis reminds me of the individual who was doing an in-depth comparison of the history of Google Maps, Apple Maps, and how far ahead Google Maps was. They dove into comparisons for walking paths, "activity hot spots", green spaces, 3D mapping of buildings, etc. Does anyone remember the post and maybe has a link?
- londons_explore 7y agoThis is what you were thinking of: https://www.justinobeirne.com/google-maps-moat https://www.justinobeirne.com/google-maps-moat
- gingericha 7y agoYes, this was the one! Would be interesting to see an update here as it looks like this was from 2017
- ribosometronome 7y agoHe did another write up when the data updates started: https://www.justinobeirne.com/new-apple-maps https://www.justinobeirne.com/new-apple-maps
- joelkek 7y agoJustin O’Beirne. https://www.justinobeirne.com/cartography-comparison https://www.justinobeirne.com/cartography-comparison
- aresant 7y agoIn the midst of the world (rightly) turning on big tech's abuses, efforts like these make me optimistic about our industry on a whole and help me recover some of the enthusiasm that led me into tech in the first place. I love how this effort relies on & amplifies what were before relatively obscure specialties The mapping wars elevate cartographers, mapping specialists, GIS data nerds, mobile computing / compression phds, GPS parsing engineers, ex-dod intertial navigation specialists, etc. And rallied them around a massive, insanely big problem of mapping and organizing the entire physical world in real time and relying on consumer grade hardware to drive incredible fidelity. It's humbling and really cool to see people that have dedicated their lives to these disciplines that were somewhat relegated to specialized use cases enter the "rockstar" stadium to deliver something that legitimately changes the way that billions of humans interact with the world
- theboat 7y agoAs much as I agree with your general sentiment, Apple Maps, like many of Apple's mobile apps, gets a boost from Apple's anti-competitive practices. It's utterly ridiculous that we can remove default apps from iOS, including Maps and Safari, but we can't set new default apps to replace them. If we ever get serious about increasing competition in the tech sector, an easy place to start is letting users set default browsers, maps, and email clients on their devices.
- dkonofalski 7y agoIsn't that kind of self-defeating, though? Like the ACA without the individual mandate? The only way this works is if people use the apps on the iPhone. There's nothing stopping you from using Google Maps on an iPhone but, in order for the tech to improve while remaining strong with privacy, is for Apple to utilize their existing technology. Also, I disagree that it's anti-competitive. Users are always allowed and able to switch to another device/ecosystem.
- judge2020 7y agoIt's extremely similar to the microsoft IE issue, users should be able to set a default web browser.
- andrewljohnson 7y agoShameless plug, but we just shipped our huge Gaia Topo update too. Gaia Topo focuses on the backcountry, and specifically downloading for offline use: https://blog.gaiagps.com/easy-to-read-tiny-to-download-the-all-new-gaia-topo/ https://blog.gaiagps.com/easy-to-read-tiny-to-download-the-a...
- justusthane 7y agoI just found Gaia (and became a Premium member) not too long ago as I was preparing for a kayaing trip. I love Gaia! Thanks for the great work. Edit: Although can you tell me whether there's a way, on iOS, to have the map not switch to dark mode when my device is in dark mode?
- mthoms 7y agoHappy user, reporting in. Nice work!
- leokennis 7y agoAbsolutely love Gaia! Almost 10 years of my outdoor life are in that app! With the current pricing and amount of users, is it a sustainable business?
- andrewljohnson 7y agoThanks, we'll be going strong for another 10 years :) I think the business is very healthy. Headcount continues to grow, but not in a crazy way, and the great majority of the expenses are R&D. We're certainly default alive.
- kylebarron 7y agoI've thought for a while that your Gaia Topo layer could be improved, especially because until now I don't think you had any hillshade at all for a topo map! I spent some time checking out your map this morning, and it looks really nice at low zooms, but I'm still a little disappointed at high zooms. At zoom 13 the hillshading ends! For example, at zoom 14, I still much prefer a map with a hillshade (my own work): https://www.gaiagps.com/map/?loc=14.0/-121.1500/48.1582&layer=GaiaTopoRasterFeet https://www.gaiagps.com/map/?loc=14.0/-121.1500/48.1582&laye... https://nst.guide/#14/48.1582/-121.15 https://nst.guide/#14/48.1582/-121.15
- bhahn 7y agoI just switched to an iPhone after being a long time Android user, and I've found Apple Maps directions not to be as good as Google Maps'. I live in central LA, and it regularly routes me through long and congested intersections. Does anyone else feel this as well? Is it just my small sample size? I would like to continue using Apple Maps over Google Maps because of the integration with Apple Watch, but it's getting harder and harder each day to justify.
- ilikehurdles 7y agoTraffic data is just not as good with Apple Maps. In some places they aggregate reports from traffic reporting agencies, but user-reporting is dependent on people using it and opting in to sharing data, but this is a challenge with a privacy-focused approach.
- judge2020 7y agoI wouldn't be surprised if Apple is piggybacking off of other apps' GPS location requests to aggregate traffic data in order to compete with how Google Maps uses its own algorithms for traffic.
- ptasci67 7y agoAs some one who exclusively uses Apple Maps on the west side of LA, I have found the routing to be similar or the same. The killer function for me is the HUD when I have it mounted on my dash. Light-years better. Also...the lane accuracy is unparalleled.
- chrisjc 7y ago> The killer function for me is the HUD when I have it mounted on my dash. What do you mean? That the phone's screen provides turn by turn instructions, while the car's screen provides more a trip/map perspective? edit: i just realized that I can use the phone's screen for turn by turn, and have the car's screen display music, or whatever else!!!
- tomrod 7y agoGiven their integration with DDG, I wonder if Apple would consider purchasing DDG to have the best privacy mindset on the web. Then... maybe purchasing Mozilla for networking suite?
- londons_explore 7y agoDDG and Mozilla would loose a lot of users (and therefore value) if bought by apple. There is only a partial overlap in 'cultures', and they're both products where culture is very important.
- frankus 7y agoThis morning I noticed stop signs and traffic lights indicated on the map in CarPlay. Hadn’t seen that until today (to be fair I’m not in a major city by any stretch).
- drunken-serval 7y agoSame here. I'm in a major city and they just showed up this morning.
- Ididntdothis 7y agoIf they only could provide offline maps like google maps. That feature is fantastic in the desert areas in the west where you have no connectivity. Even the search function works great when offline. Also search still works better in google maps. Apple Maps doesn’t find the Office Depot near me but one 100 miles away for example.
- SlowRobotAhead 7y agoWe use this when traveling abroad, it's extremely helpful to know exactly how to get from A to B before you buy a local sim card.
- dickjocke 7y agoYes it seems kind of comical that a simple offline cache wouldn't be included as an easy to tick off thing to include in this huge undertaking.
- Nextgrid 7y agoIt’s sad that technology has actually regressed despite exponential increments in processing power and storage capacity. It used to be that you could buy a mapping software and install it on your PDA/Pocket PC and it would run fine despite a CPU speed in the megahertz. Nowadays offline maps is some niche advanced feature despite even low-end devices have enough processing power to come preinstalled with an offline map.
- Ididntdothis 7y agoOpenStreetMaps has some good apps with offline support but their search function is usually pretty bad. If they could crack search OpenStreetMaps would be a winner.
- m4rtink 7y agoCheck the OSM Scout Server & related apps: https://github.com/rinigus/osmscout-server https://github.com/rinigus/osmscout-server It's a local service running on your device that handled offline data updates (all data packs are generated from SOM data) and then provides various services (routing/tiles/geocoding/advanced PoI search) based on this offline data to navigation apps running on the device. I really nice concept IMHO, but I'm a bit biased as I'm the author of one of the navigation apps (modRana) that make use of OSM Scout Server if available on the device. :)
- atourgates 7y agoThey're taking their sweet time with the implementation of their "Look Around" feature. I passed an Apple Maps camera car in rural Idaho on a state highway in the summer of 2018. If they were already in that much of an "out of the way" place back then, it's surprising to see that they're just getting around to adding major cities now.
- throw7 7y agoThis is only for apple users/devices correct? The title makes it seem I can use it from my web browser or android device?
- foobiekr 7y agoDuckDuckGo seems to use Apple Maps for its mapping: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=duckduckgo.com&atb=v194-1&ia=web&iaxm=maps https://duckduckgo.com/?q=duckduckgo.com&atb=v194-1&ia=web&i... ... but I honestly can't tell if this has the new stuff or not.
- pier25 7y agoApple Maps is still totally useless in Mexico. Even the most die hard Apple fans still rely on Google Maps or Waze.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- mistrial9 7y agoit seems that OSM is a data pivot point -- Apple and Google are directly competing with OSM (super-walled-garden-data) while Facebook, Microsoft and who-knows-who-defense are augmenting OSM as fast as possible
- reaperducer 7y agoI'm OK with this. I think the three-way competition is improving all of the products better than a two-way (Apple v. Google) competition would.
- rmc 7y ago> Apple and Google are directly competing with OSM Apple Maps _is_ OpenStreetMap in many countries. In Denmark it's used for turn-by-turn navigation even. (Source: Talk by Apple employee at the OSM'a 'State of the Map' conference 2018 https://2018.stateofthemap.org/2018/T081-Working_with_the_Community/ https://2018.stateofthemap.org/2018/T081-Working_with_the_Co... )
- mistrial9 7y agothis is interesting of course - but, the topic post here is "Brand New Maps, North America Only" ?
- let_var 7y agoMapping is hard, really hard. Now I'm finding it first hand. So kudos to the team for persisting with it and delivering a better result.
- tpmx 7y agoSo only 194 countries left. Go Apple! Also, we really love being considered second priority to the US!
- SalimoS 7y agoI know it’s unrelated but I can’t understand why Apple removed directions in my country (I’m sorry not only mine but many countries) I didn’t have real navigation but just directions (and the blue line in the map) and that was enough to not use google maps But after the release of iOS 13 it’s not possible anymore « directions not available from this location » And because of that i have to install google maps on my iPad ...
- kiwijamo 7y agoWhich country are you in? I’m in New Zealand and it’s working fine for me here.
- SalimoS 7y agoTunisia but as you can see the list of supported countries is short for directions (compared to standard ) https://www.apple.com/ios/feature-availability/#maps-directions https://www.apple.com/ios/feature-availability/#maps-directi...
- fudged71 7y agoIn this thread: everyone talking about the quality of the previous Apple Maps rather than the update...
- jonplackett 7y agoI would love for Apple maps to be good. But it’s not. In the UK it is terrible. Unusable. I’ve tried. I’ve tried hard. But it is useless. It doesn’t know where things are. And that is a map’s core competency.
- JackFr 7y agoMy experience too. It's too annoying to use. And I know that's I highly personal opinion that I can rationalize, but I am not ready to subject to some analysis. It's taste. And the last couple iOS updates have been really disappointing, functionality has not improved and useless flourishes have been added. I feel its passed the Microsoft Excel 2003 tipping point. (IMO MS Excel 2003 was peak MS Excel. It was brilliant, robust, intuitive and made it possible to do amazing work, in so far as a spreadsheet can. For the past 15 years all of the work on Excel has made it less functional, less robust and far less intuitive, but I guess a software product has gotta have new releases).
- companyhen 7y agoApple Maps got me lost 3 times in a row, put me at least 1 mile out of the way. Never used it again.
- reaperducer 7y agoApple Maps got me lost 3 times in a row, put me at least 1 mile out of the way Unless you were on foot... that doesn't sound that bad. Never used it again. So you have no idea if it's improved since then.
- overcast 7y agoAs small as it sounds, the collections feature is a big deal for me. Particularly in my line of work marketing food and drinks. Unfortunately sharing your collection with someone is a point in time. If you update your list, the link doesn't update to reflect that, nor does it update their collection if they've imported yours. What I would LOVE to see is Apple Maps developing it's own little social circle of recommendations with your contacts and or other Apple Maps users, instead of shitty Yelp integration. Sharing collections, keeps a pointer to your collection as manage it. I suspect this is where it's going to go(hopefully).
- SaulOfTheJungle 7y agoI agree. The only reason I'm still using Google Maps on my iPhone is because of Apple Map's Yelp integration. I boycott Yelp because of how they've treated businesses.
- MikeKusold 7y agoThe Yelp integration is so terrible because Yelp forces you to download the app to see any information. My flow is: Find place via Apple Maps, click the reviews, get sent to Yelp's mobile website that says "We don't do mobile websites, download the app", then I say screw it and open up Google Maps.
- mdb333 7y agois it at all usable in Dark mode? that's what I really want to know...
- leokennis 7y agoI’m looking forward to using the similarly updated maps of Europe, somewhere between our first contact with aliens and the heat death of the universe.
- shd4 7y agoFrom the PR: "Apple completed the rollout of this new Maps experience in the United States and will begin rolling it out across Europe in the coming months."
- projektfu 7y agoIt doesn't look like they added a way to set a route with several stops before starting navigation. Any word there?
- dsalzman 7y agoShout out to all of Justin O’Beirne' amazing analysis on all things maps. https://www.justinobeirne.com/ https://www.justinobeirne.com/ -he's even got an updated post related to this press release.
- pgodzin 7y agodirect link: https://www.justinobeirne.com/new-apple-maps-continental-united-states https://www.justinobeirne.com/new-apple-maps-continental-uni...
- noelsusman 7y agoIt makes me sad that Apple followed Google with the idea of coloring maps green based on satellite photos of trees rather than actual parks. Why anyone in Silicon Valley thinks I give a shit where trees are is beyond me. I used to be able to pull up maps and instantly see any parks around me. Now they're practically invisible.
- tomaskafka 7y agoWhat? You aren't interested in forests unless they are in a park?
- noelsusman 7y agoWhy would I be? Where I live virtually everywhere is a forest, so the entire map is painted green. When I open a map I'm generally looking to go somewhere, so knowing that my neighbor Bob has a lot of trees in his yard isn't very helpful.
- criley2 7y agoReally have to give kudos to Google for basically inventing this design language, because this Maps update really looks like a "catch-up" to much of the design language Google Maps has been using for a long time now. Honestly, looking at these images, Apple Maps looks like a desaturated/less colorful Google Maps (and that's not necessarily a good thing either).
- odysseus 7y agoWere stoplights and stop signs at intersections supposed to be part of the redesign? I still don’t see those except in certain areas of the country (some parts of NYC/NJ, for example)
- kube-system 7y agoI see them while navigating. I tried navigating to some rural US locations and I see them all the way through the route.
- odysseus 7y agoHmm, as of now I see them when navigating too, even when in CarPlay. Thanks!
- pauljonas 7y agoI'd been using Waze for a couple of years, and initially it was far superior to Apple Maps. But a few months back, I got really frustrated with it because it led me down some closed roads & ended up doubling my commute time home from work that day. I'd also been noting how off it was on its estimates on when I'd get to my destination. And I was also perturbed by it not knowing the back street entrance to my work site, though I've "paved it" on multiple occasions, it it remains uncorrected. So I switched over to Apple Maps and started tracking how often it is off in its estimates (& also trip duration) -- I have like a commute that can be anywhere from 40 minutes to 90 minutes or more, depending on traffic -- and I was pleasantly surprised that it got me to destination within +/-5 minutes of when it said it would and that the journey was taking less time that with Waze. It also knew about the back entrance of my work site and was able to route better with some of the smaller side streets in the neighborhood too. I've always preferred the Apple Maps UI -- it shows all the lanes at top, stoplights are more prominently shown, though the speedometer on Waze was nice, plus Waze alerted you to police presence too. It gives you a buffer when wishing to change route (Waze frequently would change the route and instruct me to take an exit that was 300 feet away when I was in the furthest lane from the exit side) to check off and is totally ad-free, and incorporated into iOS (yeah, Apple monopoly and all, true).
- prepend 7y agoWaze also shows me distracting landmarks like McDonalds that stand out on my map, annoyingly. It doesn’t offer me a way to customize what I see or add in restaurants I’m interested in.
- gowld 7y agoCustomize it here: https://www.waze.com/business2 https://www.waze.com/business2
- oflannabhra 7y agoI seem to remember someone posting their results of testing Google Maps, Apple Maps, and Waze for ETA accuracy, and what you describe was also what they found: Apple Maps was the most accurate, Google Maps was optimistic, but accurate, Waze basically reported the best case scenario. Edit: found the original [0] I've long thought that Waze creates the illusion of saving massive amounts of time, when its benefits are marginal (although real). I know I personally prefer an active commute to one waiting in traffic, even if travel times are identical. Waze seems to maximize for the latter. [0] - https://arturgrabow.ski/2018/02/19/navigation-apps/amp/ https://arturgrabow.ski/2018/02/19/navigation-apps/amp/
- bdcravens 7y agoGoogle Maps appears to do a better job of mixed mode (for instance, I have to drive about 15 minutes to get to the Park and Ride to hop on the Houston Metro; Apple Maps says no route available, whereas Google calculates that first leg)
- city41 7y agoI really hope this new Maps updates with new addresses better. The place I am living in now is about 18 months old. Google added the address in about 8 months ago, Apple still has not. People who use Apple maps and put in my address end up with an address clear on the other side of town. Pretty much everyone just trusts map apps, so this has been pretty annoying. I now have to give out my address and warn people to not use Apple Maps. Many still do despite my warning :-/ I submitted a correction inside the app a couple times over the course of several months to no avail. So I tweeted at AppleSupport. They assigned a support representative to my case and he's been calling me about once a week for weeks now. It's almost comical at this point. So here's hoping this new map app avoids this kind of headache.
- wh1t3n01s3 7y agoIn this case I would send the actual GPS coordinates of my home.
- spectramax 7y agoNo one has mentioned this yet - Apple Maps provides a very accurate representation of traffic: RED - Actually red (unlike Google Maps)... its bumper to bumper or less than 5 mph (8 kph) ORANGE - Slow moving, perhaps less than (25 mph or 40 kph) Google just shows everything RED. Yellow doesn't necessarily mean slow down in Google Maps. Its a mess. Also, Apple maps is tremendously accurate in estimating how long it is going to take. Major feature missing in Apple maps: Time it takes at a user specified hour. I use this to hunt for apartments, and test out how long it is going to take to and from work everyday. Google has this built in for a while "Leave at ____ time).
- ChuckMcM 7y agoSomething I still miss in Apple Maps is any way to plot out and measure distances. I like to take walks to keep my step count up on my fitness tracker and I use Google Maps to plan a route using their distance measuring feature. Would love to do that on my iPad but alas, no such luck.
- ChrisMarshallNY 7y agoI've used Apple Maps pretty much exclusively for the last couple of years. It's worked fine for me. However, I am in a very populated area (Long Island, NY), so YMMV.
- m0zg 7y agoThere's no way for them to beat a decade+ of effort (and billions of dollars) that Google has put into their maps unless they are prepared to really invest. And they are stingy AF when it comes to multibillion-dollar investments that aren't hardware. This is the reason why they suck at AI as well.
- mrfusion 7y agoI wish they’d fix the issue where if I click on reviews it prompts me to install the yelp app. I don’t want that nonsense.
- wmeredith 7y agoNot sure Maps needs a redesign. It certainly needs better search. I just opened up maps, searched the name of my company, and it gave me the London Office. I'm sitting in our office in Kansas City.
- scep12 7y agoDid you read the article? It's mostly about the new features and data they've added, and less about a reskin.
- duderific 7y agoI'm excited about the Share ETA feature. Every night after work, I get in the car, open Google maps, get the ETA and text my wife my expected arrival time. If this works out well it will be one less thing I have to remember to do.
- jeromegv 7y agoYou can also use Shortcuts to automate that process quite well, been using it already. There's a few examples here: https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/ https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/
- Y-Bopinator 7y agoApple maps sucks. I use google maps on iOS.
- joewrong 7y agothe only thing stopping me from uninstalling google maps is setting the map view to north-up during turn by turn navigation. I can't handle the map turning while I am for some reason.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- toadkicker 7y agoI can't believe on this page "Users" exists. What happened to Apple's brand language? "Now you can" would make more sense to the reader.
- bobbyi_settv 7y agoThis is a press release in their "Newsroom" section. They don't say "you" because they are describing what users can do, not what reporters covering this can do
- bluenose69 7y agoI wonder when it's coming to Canada. Google maps (and openstreet maps) are much better than apple maps in terms of buildings, at least on the east coast.
- jaimex2 7y agoAnother flower in the garden. It would be nice if Apple branched outside their own devices. I'll never use this simply because its not available on the phone I love, my OnePlus.
- OrgNet 7y agoI tried to access Apple Maps using Firefox on my Linux computer at https://maps.apple.com https://maps.apple.com, but no luck at first glance... do I need to install an app?
- matt-attack 7y agoThe only thing I detest about Apple Maps is that during navigation they got rid of the North up view. I feel that anything but north up is complete gibberish. I literally can’t recognize my own neighborhood if the map is originated beyond 10 or so degrees off north. I don’t believe anyone ever holds up an actual paper map and ever rotates it to any orientation other than north up. So why are digital maps so obsessed with non-north up.
- Quasimoto3000 7y agoBecause when you're navigating, you generally want to orient to whats in front of you. I definitely agree with you if you are just "studying" a map... But nobody wants to perform a mental re-orientation while driving.
- bstar77 7y agoI was blown away this morning when I fired up maps. I use maps for traffic data for my commute. The UI improvements are great and I love that there's geometry now for just about everything. Looking forward to discovering new features as I use it more.
- kndjckt 7y agoWait does Apple maps not having cycling directions??? Only just realised that.
- binthere 7y agoReading so many positive things about Apple Maps here for sure looks like astroturfing since I've had some really frustrating experiences with Apple Maps in the past.
- jalons 7y agoMy experiences line up with yours. It was terrible then, it's not any better now.
- kevindong 7y agoThe street view on Apple Maps (or whatever they call it) is shockingly good in NYC. All of their imagery is super duper recent and in very crisp detail too. They also managed to make it have a genuine 3D effect (by shifting the view slightly without "moving positions", you can see slightly more detail around corners and such).
- wycy 7y agoI decided to give Apple Maps a shot for my drive home today. At first I thought it discovered a clever new shortcut for my drive, but I quickly realized it was going to have me drive on a bike path. And I live in a major US city. Sigh.
- lqs469 7y agoThere is no perfect map application in the world because of realistic data changes rapidly, especially the Indoor Map and Real-time transit. It's still a problem today. More 3D and redesign maybe improve user experience in the Apple Maps(they always good at it), but the accuracy and reliability are more important points.
- Rapzid 7y agoAm I the only person that finds the "after" image in that article too visually busy and the labels harder to read?
- destitude 7y agoStill seems like there needs to be more context in rural USA areas where at not too low of zoom levels it is only showing state highways which makes it difficult to determine how to get to certain areas. When you zoom in enough for the other "major" roads to show up you lose all context because you are zoomed in too far now.
- johnwalkr 7y agoApple maps has steadily improved over the years. About a year ago, I started to use it for cycling Instead of google maps because it has good Apple Watch integration (google maps had this but dropped it at some point). I noticed transit directions were good enough around the same time. But 2 things kept me from using it for most use cases: - lack of direction arrow, which I could only sometimes figure out how to enable. - lack of organization for saved places. Those are fixed now and I use google maps only when needed for street view. Apple’s version of this is much better and once it’s rolled out more widely I can delete google maps.