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I really want to use Apple Maps full time on my iPhone, just because of how much clutter Google Maps has accumulated on the screen. If anything tells me Google

I really want to use Apple Maps full time on my iPhone, just because of how much clutter Google Maps has accumulated on the screen. If anything tells me Google is losing the ability to innovate it's the newly added pill buttons for pre-set searches and branded POIs on the map. I remember when this was added to MapQuest circa 2010, and was the transition from trying to have an excellent mapping experience to just adding revenue focused features. Google is still operating from an extremely strong position, by nature of having nearly infinite budget and owning their mapping and search dataset. It's concerning that the iOS app seems to be suffering from the same issues that preceded the gradual downfall of MapQuest from a product perspective.

nr2x 6y ago
I wanted Apple Maps to succeed so I’ve been using it from day one. It’s gotten much, much better. That said, if I’m going on a long trip where a non-optimal route is a big deal, I’ll double check with google maps and often (but not always) find a better route.
- antipaul 6y ago
  I also _want_ to like Apple Maps. But I always need to double check business hours using Google.
  - jimktrains2 6y ago
    I usually check the store's site or call. I've had enough entries on Google be wrong to blindly trusy it either.
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    - dasil003 6y ago
      Store sites tend to be less reliable than Google. Just last night I was searching one and the website had been out of date for months and yet Google had it right.
      - jkaplowitz 6y ago
        I've seen that divergence go both ways. Of course, neither source is as reliable as calling (if you get a human to answer), as much of a hassle as calling can sometimes be.
  - mlazos 6y ago
    I actually don’t really trust business hours on google anymore, I have to go to the restaurant directly or just call since I’ve been burned so many times looking forward to dumplings/teriyaki/pizza and then having the restaurant be closed.
    - spideymans 6y ago
      This has become an even bigger problem recently, with COVID forcing businesses to suddenly change their hours.
      - erik_seaberg 6y ago
        Stores don’t even bother to fix their own signage when they change their hours. You’d pretty much have to crowdsource it.
    - canofbars 6y ago
      Its a pretty hard problem. Businesses typically only list their opening hours on the door and then those are prone to change without notice. Planned to go somewhere for lunch and needed to check in to a train station in an hour, turns out the lunch place decided today they open half an hour late so I had to quickly rush somewhere else. If google could deploy that tech demo that calls a business on public holidays to check if they are open, that would be amazing.
  - chipotle_coyote 6y ago
    Hmm. At least in the US, Apple Maps gets their business info from Yelp, so it tends to be about as reliable as Yelp is. In general I find Yelp to be mostly on point -- not perfect, but not worse on the whole than Google.
    - setman2 6y ago
      In my experience, I find Google business hours to be more accurate than Yelp. Not sure why, but I think restaurants find Google easier or more important to update when they adjust their hours slightly.
- porknubbins 6y ago
  On Apple maps day one I was an iPhone user living in Tokyo and Apple maps was like “what are trains? Here’s a 20 mile driving route through Tokyo”. Google maps was gone and I’m not sure whether to its on Apple or Google but my ability to get around was impaired significantly.
  - reaperducer 6y ago
    I was an iPhone user living in Tokyo and Apple maps was like “what are trains? Apple Maps has had Tokyo transit data since 2016. Tokyo got transit data years before many other cities.
    - porknubbins 6y ago
      The Apple maps debut in 2012 was when Google maps was removed from the Apple store. Maybe there was a way for Apple maps to do train/subway directions then but the UI was ridiculously bad- giant stations equivalent to Grand Central were hardly visible and highway names were highlighted.
      - canofbars 6y ago
        >Google maps was removed from the Apple store They actually removed it entirely? You couldn't install google maps in any way?
        sirn 6y ago
        It wasn’t that Apple removed Google Maps from App Store. Maps.app on iPhone were using Google Maps data prior to iOS 6. Google Maps the app didn’t existed when Apple switched to use Apple Maps. Timeline: Sep 19, 2012 - iOS 6 Dec 13, 2012 - Google Maps launched on App Store
lotsofpulp 6y ago
The ads on Google maps are getting ridiculous.
- person_of_color 6y ago
  And YouTube.
  - dleslie 6y ago
    NewPipe on Android solves this handily.
    - WC3w6pXxgGd 6y ago
      Watching YouTube in the mobile Brave Browser works for this as well.
    - on_and_off 6y ago
      or just paying for youtube premium ...
      - grishka 6y ago
        With uBO on desktop and YouTube Vanced on mobile, you get the exact same experience AND save $12/month.
        on_and_off 6y ago
        and you also don't contribute to the creators incomes. I can understand people vouching for using youtube premium or nebula instead, but not this.
        grishka 6y ago
        I don't feel responsible for creators' incomes. It's their own choice and their own risks — no one's forcing them to quit their jobs and rely on YouTube for their only income. Or, simply put, "implicit contracts" aren't a thing for me. Anyway, many, if not most, youtubers have pateron now in case you want to contribute to their incomes without feeding surveillance capitalism.
ashtonkem 6y ago
It’s incredibly clear from the outside that Google is an organizational mess that struggles to make product decisions and keep them. From the surprisingly bad UX of a lot of their services, to the random creation and destruction of services and apps. It all reeks of bad political infighting.
- notsureaboutpg 6y ago
  Is Google Maps an example of this? I think it's very clearly an app which dominated the market by offering best-in-class service for untenable prices (Maps API used to be free for developers up to an absurd amount) and is adding monetization elements now that it dominates the market. That's every VC's dream isn't it?
  - julianlam 6y ago
    Yes, of course, except that the decision-making has shifted towards priorities that do not benefit the customer, though they used to. I have no interest in seeing where the nearest McDonalds is, unless I search for it. POI markers for places I need to go (via bookings/appointments) are good, but POIs for places I have never been are bad. For whatever reason I can never see the street name I want to see anymore. Between the excessive labelling, there is simply no space, and Maps decides to prioritise other labels instead of the STREET NAME. When I am navigating, I really _really_ need to know the street name.
    - oconnor663 6y ago
      > For whatever reason I can never see the street name I want to see anymore. It's been this way for years, and it's my #1 gripe with Maps. It's particularly bad in a dense grid like NYC, where some streets only appear for a block or two. If Maps doesn't decide to print the name on that block...I guess I'm not allowed to know what street that is?
      - julianlam 6y ago
        Yes, you're right, it's been aggravating me for years. I vaguely recall reading about this on HN when it happened, and the consensus was that the logic for determining whether to print the street label had been changed for aesthetic reasons. Peak form over function. Anecdotally, I don't see any rhyme nor reason for whether it decides to show the street name or not. Oftentimes, it will value a side-street over the main street, and in _some_ cases this makes sense (e.g. you are on the larger street, and want to see intersecting streets), but Maps doesn't seem to read contextual clues... if I am not navigating, or zooming in from further away, showing larger streets first would be better.
nikodunk 6y ago
Since they added biking directions in the city I live, I've managed to switch to Apple Maps full-time! Just recently completed a cross country drive with only Apple maps - works really well. Of course now I've locked myself even further into the Apple's ecosystem, but at least my maps are smooth and minimal for now...
- Lio 6y ago
  Apple’s approach to cycling directions is second rate IMHO. It’s only available in certain media city locations. If you stray out of those areas you’re out of luck. Basically Apple seem more interested in rolling this out as a tick box item for journalists than helping me get to work. This tells me that Apple is not serious about its Maps app.
  - colejohnson66 6y ago
    I see it as then wanting to do it right through curation. Contrast that with Google where they just throw ML at everything.
    - Lio 6y ago
      That seems to be their approach to a lot of things. Often though this “curation” is never rolled out to a wider audience. Take for example on site servicing. Apple have never offered that and instead you’re encouraged to visit your local Apple Store. Except that Apple Stores are still not present out side of certain blessed locations. If you don’t live somewhere Apple thinks is trendy enough for an Apple Store you’re out of luck. I’m not expecting a wider roll out of routing for cyclists anytime soon.
      - madeofpalk 6y ago
        > Take for example on site servicing. Apple have never offered that Apple has offered on-site servicing as standard under AppleCare for many many years.
y-c-o-m-b 6y ago
> how much clutter Google Maps has accumulated on the screen I have to use Google Maps "Go" (the light-weight version) on my phone because of all the clutter in their mobile version. Granted I have an older phone - Galaxy S7 - but for something that worked just fine on even older devices, I don't think that's a valid excuse for it being nearly unusable on an S7 now. Thankfully Maps Go is pretty quick, but the biggest feature I miss out on with the Go version is offline maps.
- everybodyknows 6y ago
  Maps Go requires Chrome -- after download, the installer tells me Firefox is "not supported".
- sellyme 6y ago
  Honestly I think that's on the phone. I also have an S7 with extremely heavy performance issues opening Google Maps (and almost every other application, for that matter), yet my ancient Nexus 4 is as quick as ever.
17a9f4a4f4e5b3f 6y ago
To me, Apple Maps still doesn't feel as good for searching obscure things as Google Maps did 5 years ago, but neither does Google Maps. An example: I recently searched for "photography repair" in my area and Apple gave me film developing places and local event photographers, Google gave me (I kid you not, first result) McDonalds and Best Buy. The latter I can understand, they sell photography equipment and they do repair things (I don't think photo gear?..) but McD? McD pin is also always visible in Google Maps for me now. Neither result set was helpful, though I guess that's because what I was looking for probably doesn't even exist in the area. Apples results were more useful, I could at least call those places and ask for advice and they're local businesses. Google on the other hand was just irrelevant paid advertising basically. They are regressing. I should say too I've been trying to main Apple Maps for 5 years and it has gotten a lot better as a mapping/navigation tool, it has been my main navigator for 3 years but I still bounce to Google for search variety.
- freedomben 6y ago
  With Google Maps I will know about a Maverik gas station that is on my route that I know I want to stop at. I'll search for it "along my route" and I get a bunch of other gas stations that I don't want. I suspect they are prioritizing the other gas station brands because they paid for preference, and selected "Maverik" as one of their keywords, but the impact to me is that the exact thing I searched for doesn't come up even though I know it's there because I've stopped there before. If somebody gives me a simple maps product algorithm that just shows me what I'm asking for without preferencing paid people using key words and I'll likely switch. I've loved Google for many years but they are getting much worse.
  - MichaelZuo 6y ago
    Perhaps one day they, or a competitor, will do a ‘Maps Premium’ that simply charges the user inserted of all the ads, targeting, etc. And maybe a ‘Maps Premium+’ that allows for customization and going back to the peak usability design of Maps.
    - 6y ago
rorykoehler 6y ago
I’d use Apple Maps if they got rid of Yelp.
- matwood 6y ago
  This is from the summer, but at least we know they are working on native ratings. https://www.macrumors.com/2020/08/26/apple-maps-new-ratings-places-of-interest/ https://www.macrumors.com/2020/08/26/apple-maps-new-ratings-...
  - rorykoehler 6y ago
    Wow. Great news. Can't wait! Really looking to ditch Google Maps.
spideymans 6y ago
>I really want to use Apple Maps full time on my iPhone, just because of how much clutter Google Maps has accumulated on the screen. Apple Maps UI: A big map, with a search bar at the bottom. Simple and nothing but the essentials. Google Maps UI: A page full of ads, a map full of ads and ads masquerading as recommendations. Plus five tab bar buttons at the bottom to not accomplish very much. I've switched to Apple Maps simply because of its better UX and how much easier the app is to use. As far as I can tell, their mapping and navigational data in Canada is every bit as good as Google's. The only thing keeping Google Maps on my phone is their superior reviews. Once Apple replaces Yelp reviews, I'll jettison the Google Maps app into the sun.
- throwaway201103 6y ago
  Apple Maps navigation used to do things like take me to vacant lots in major midwestern cities instead of the correct property which was several blocks away. Sounds like it works reliably well outside of California now?
  - spideymans 6y ago
    I'd say it's very reliable. I'll still cross reference Waze and Google Maps, if I absolutely need to arrive at somewhere on time, but over the past year or so there's only been a very small number of instances where I thought that Apple's navigation directions were inferior to the competition (and even then, we're talking a few minutes)
    - soperj 6y ago
      It's not reliable if you're cross referencing constantly. I live outside of the USA, and Apple maps consistently screwed up to the point that I've deleted it.
      - spideymans 6y ago
        >It's not reliable if you're cross referencing constantly. Eh, I cross reference Google Maps with Waze all the time back when I used it, but I wouldn't dare call Google Maps unreliable. It costs nothing to do, so why wouldn't it?
grishka 6y ago
8 years later, Apple Maps still doesn't show buildings in Russia, even in largest cities. So it's essentially useless for actual navigation. It's okay-ish when all you want is to see a point on a map in a city you know, and that's about it. Out of other companies, Yandex and Google have by far more detailed maps. This leaves me with one question — why does Apple reinvent it anyway? Why can't they just use ridiculously detailed OpenStreetMap data (with appropriate attribution) and call it a day?
- zapzupnz 6y ago
  > why does Apple reinvent it anyway? Because Apple learnt a long time ago that something essential needs to be in their hands; third parties let Apple down. Google let Apple down by refusing to allow Apple to craft vector-based maps, only allowing Apple to download bitmaps. Thus Apple Maps. Intel let Apple down by failing to predict where the market was moving since about 2012 or so, with the Core processors not gaining much in terms of performance and somehow managing to guzzle more energy. Thus Apple Silicon. Plenty of other examples where Apple realised they can't offer the whole package until they own all the components. The formula is "<Company> didn't do <Thing> and it impacted Apple's offerings. Thus <Apple Thing>".
  - grishka 6y ago
    Good point, except OSM isn't dependent on any company or person in particular. It's a community effort. Apple could as well contribute whatever improvements it deems necessary to benefit themselves and everyone else. They could write their own renderers and whatnot, it's been done many times by different companies. It would've been a much better starting point, too, than whatever proprietary data they licensed to get started.
    - zapzupnz 6y ago
      > except OSM isn't dependent on any company or person in particular. It's a community effort That doesn't stop Apple needing control, or at least feeling that way. > Apple could as well contribute whatever improvements it deems necessary to benefit themselves and everyone else They do. Apple uses OSM data and contributes to OSM indirectly (https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Apple https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Apple). > It would've been a much better starting point, too Who's to say? As stated, Apple does use OSM data. They use data from multiple different sources. (http://gspa21.ls.apple.com/html/attribution.html http://gspa21.ls.apple.com/html/attribution.html) > than whatever proprietary data they licensed to get started I detect a bit of a fallacy in what you're saying, that Apple wanting to have control over their own geographical data must mean that they aren't using or contributing to OSM. It isn't a zero-sum situation.
unethical_ban 6y ago
GMaps changes their UI constantly, with what I perceive to be inconsistencies in what is one-tap accessible vs. hidden in the hamburger menu. I, too, noticed the new branding which must be for-pay. Looking for something unrelated to food or auto over a dozen city blocks showed me where the McDonalds and the Firestone were, with logos. I use maps for more than just directions: I use it as a defacto search engine for finding local businesses, phone numbers and websites. It is a GUI for geo-search. I wish another search engine could recreate it effectively.
bamboleo 6y ago
I use the pills daily. One-tap access to gas stations and coffee shops is pretty useful when you’re on the road. The AR button however is incredibly annoying as I seem to activate it by mistake a little too often.
- setman2 6y ago
  Totally agree on that AR button!
canofbars 6y ago
What issues do you have with Apple maps? I started using it a few months ago and haven't even bothered to install google maps. The only things I have seen lacking is traffic data which I don't really care about and street view which I just use the web version for.
- benhurmarcel 6y ago
  I try to use Apple Maps when I can because the app is much simpler, smoother, and impacts the battery a lot less. I find the traffic data to be good. But it's still lacking in quite a few areas (in western Europe at least). Basically for now it's usable if you already know where you're going, and it's not a long road trip, and you're not cycling. - Their data isn't as good. Easily half the businesses are missing, and most businesses don't have details like hours. Even the road type and quality is unreliable in some areas, leading the routing to prefer bad roads that are technically shorter in length but worse in time in reality. - No reviews, although it's coming in the future it seems. - Speed limits aren't indicated. - Speed traps aren't indicated. - No cycling directions even in major cities, although it's coming slowly. - It doesn't display areas of interest, like Google Maps does in yellow. That is essential in a city you're not familiar with, to know where to go to find active streets. - No street view in most places, although it's also coming slowly. I find it very useful quite often, like finding a street with free parking before navigating there. - Transit directions use theoretical schedules, not real-time. Google Maps doesn't either, but Citymapper/Transit does. - It doesn't have data on "busy times". I wish there was a way to contribute more efficiently to the map. That app is improving slowly but it could be much faster with trusted local mappers (or local employed mappers). In my opinion Apple Maps could "easily" get a significant lead on Google Maps if they added toll prices, especially if it optimized your route for time vs price. It's a major feature missing from every service now.

nr2x 6y ago

I wanted Apple Maps to succeed so I’ve been using it from day one. It’s gotten much, much better. That said, if I’m going on a long trip where a non-optimal route is a big deal, I’ll double check with google maps and often (but not always) find a better route.

antipaul 6y ago
I also _want_ to like Apple Maps. But I always need to double check business hours using Google.
- jimktrains2 6y ago
  I usually check the store's site or call. I've had enough entries on Google be wrong to blindly trusy it either.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - dasil003 6y ago
    Store sites tend to be less reliable than Google. Just last night I was searching one and the website had been out of date for months and yet Google had it right.
    - jkaplowitz 6y ago
      I've seen that divergence go both ways. Of course, neither source is as reliable as calling (if you get a human to answer), as much of a hassle as calling can sometimes be.
- mlazos 6y ago
  I actually don’t really trust business hours on google anymore, I have to go to the restaurant directly or just call since I’ve been burned so many times looking forward to dumplings/teriyaki/pizza and then having the restaurant be closed.
  - spideymans 6y ago
    This has become an even bigger problem recently, with COVID forcing businesses to suddenly change their hours.
    - erik_seaberg 6y ago
      Stores don’t even bother to fix their own signage when they change their hours. You’d pretty much have to crowdsource it.
  - canofbars 6y ago
    Its a pretty hard problem. Businesses typically only list their opening hours on the door and then those are prone to change without notice. Planned to go somewhere for lunch and needed to check in to a train station in an hour, turns out the lunch place decided today they open half an hour late so I had to quickly rush somewhere else. If google could deploy that tech demo that calls a business on public holidays to check if they are open, that would be amazing.
- chipotle_coyote 6y ago
  Hmm. At least in the US, Apple Maps gets their business info from Yelp, so it tends to be about as reliable as Yelp is. In general I find Yelp to be mostly on point -- not perfect, but not worse on the whole than Google.
  - setman2 6y ago
    In my experience, I find Google business hours to be more accurate than Yelp. Not sure why, but I think restaurants find Google easier or more important to update when they adjust their hours slightly.
porknubbins 6y ago
On Apple maps day one I was an iPhone user living in Tokyo and Apple maps was like “what are trains? Here’s a 20 mile driving route through Tokyo”. Google maps was gone and I’m not sure whether to its on Apple or Google but my ability to get around was impaired significantly.
- reaperducer 6y ago
  I was an iPhone user living in Tokyo and Apple maps was like “what are trains? Apple Maps has had Tokyo transit data since 2016. Tokyo got transit data years before many other cities.
  - porknubbins 6y ago
    The Apple maps debut in 2012 was when Google maps was removed from the Apple store. Maybe there was a way for Apple maps to do train/subway directions then but the UI was ridiculously bad- giant stations equivalent to Grand Central were hardly visible and highway names were highlighted.
    - canofbars 6y ago
      >Google maps was removed from the Apple store They actually removed it entirely? You couldn't install google maps in any way?
      - sirn 6y ago
        It wasn’t that Apple removed Google Maps from App Store. Maps.app on iPhone were using Google Maps data prior to iOS 6. Google Maps the app didn’t existed when Apple switched to use Apple Maps. Timeline: Sep 19, 2012 - iOS 6 Dec 13, 2012 - Google Maps launched on App Store

lotsofpulp 6y ago

The ads on Google maps are getting ridiculous.

person_of_color 6y ago
And YouTube.
- dleslie 6y ago
  NewPipe on Android solves this handily.
  - WC3w6pXxgGd 6y ago
    Watching YouTube in the mobile Brave Browser works for this as well.
  - on_and_off 6y ago
    or just paying for youtube premium ...
    - grishka 6y ago
      With uBO on desktop and YouTube Vanced on mobile, you get the exact same experience AND save $12/month.
      - on_and_off 6y ago
        and you also don't contribute to the creators incomes. I can understand people vouching for using youtube premium or nebula instead, but not this.
        grishka 6y ago
        I don't feel responsible for creators' incomes. It's their own choice and their own risks — no one's forcing them to quit their jobs and rely on YouTube for their only income. Or, simply put, "implicit contracts" aren't a thing for me. Anyway, many, if not most, youtubers have pateron now in case you want to contribute to their incomes without feeding surveillance capitalism.

ashtonkem 6y ago

It’s incredibly clear from the outside that Google is an organizational mess that struggles to make product decisions and keep them. From the surprisingly bad UX of a lot of their services, to the random creation and destruction of services and apps. It all reeks of bad political infighting.

notsureaboutpg 6y ago
Is Google Maps an example of this? I think it's very clearly an app which dominated the market by offering best-in-class service for untenable prices (Maps API used to be free for developers up to an absurd amount) and is adding monetization elements now that it dominates the market. That's every VC's dream isn't it?
- julianlam 6y ago
  Yes, of course, except that the decision-making has shifted towards priorities that do not benefit the customer, though they used to. I have no interest in seeing where the nearest McDonalds is, unless I search for it. POI markers for places I need to go (via bookings/appointments) are good, but POIs for places I have never been are bad. For whatever reason I can never see the street name I want to see anymore. Between the excessive labelling, there is simply no space, and Maps decides to prioritise other labels instead of the STREET NAME. When I am navigating, I really _really_ need to know the street name.
  - oconnor663 6y ago
    > For whatever reason I can never see the street name I want to see anymore. It's been this way for years, and it's my #1 gripe with Maps. It's particularly bad in a dense grid like NYC, where some streets only appear for a block or two. If Maps doesn't decide to print the name on that block...I guess I'm not allowed to know what street that is?
    - julianlam 6y ago
      Yes, you're right, it's been aggravating me for years. I vaguely recall reading about this on HN when it happened, and the consensus was that the logic for determining whether to print the street label had been changed for aesthetic reasons. Peak form over function. Anecdotally, I don't see any rhyme nor reason for whether it decides to show the street name or not. Oftentimes, it will value a side-street over the main street, and in _some_ cases this makes sense (e.g. you are on the larger street, and want to see intersecting streets), but Maps doesn't seem to read contextual clues... if I am not navigating, or zooming in from further away, showing larger streets first would be better.

nikodunk 6y ago

Since they added biking directions in the city I live, I've managed to switch to Apple Maps full-time! Just recently completed a cross country drive with only Apple maps - works really well. Of course now I've locked myself even further into the Apple's ecosystem, but at least my maps are smooth and minimal for now...

Lio 6y ago
Apple’s approach to cycling directions is second rate IMHO. It’s only available in certain media city locations. If you stray out of those areas you’re out of luck. Basically Apple seem more interested in rolling this out as a tick box item for journalists than helping me get to work. This tells me that Apple is not serious about its Maps app.
- colejohnson66 6y ago
  I see it as then wanting to do it right through curation. Contrast that with Google where they just throw ML at everything.
  - Lio 6y ago
    That seems to be their approach to a lot of things. Often though this “curation” is never rolled out to a wider audience. Take for example on site servicing. Apple have never offered that and instead you’re encouraged to visit your local Apple Store. Except that Apple Stores are still not present out side of certain blessed locations. If you don’t live somewhere Apple thinks is trendy enough for an Apple Store you’re out of luck. I’m not expecting a wider roll out of routing for cyclists anytime soon.
    - madeofpalk 6y ago
      > Take for example on site servicing. Apple have never offered that Apple has offered on-site servicing as standard under AppleCare for many many years.

y-c-o-m-b 6y ago

> how much clutter Google Maps has accumulated on the screen I have to use Google Maps "Go" (the light-weight version) on my phone because of all the clutter in their mobile version. Granted I have an older phone - Galaxy S7 - but for something that worked just fine on even older devices, I don't think that's a valid excuse for it being nearly unusable on an S7 now. Thankfully Maps Go is pretty quick, but the biggest feature I miss out on with the Go version is offline maps.

everybodyknows 6y ago
Maps Go requires Chrome -- after download, the installer tells me Firefox is "not supported".
sellyme 6y ago
Honestly I think that's on the phone. I also have an S7 with extremely heavy performance issues opening Google Maps (and almost every other application, for that matter), yet my ancient Nexus 4 is as quick as ever.

17a9f4a4f4e5b3f 6y ago

To me, Apple Maps still doesn't feel as good for searching obscure things as Google Maps did 5 years ago, but neither does Google Maps. An example: I recently searched for "photography repair" in my area and Apple gave me film developing places and local event photographers, Google gave me (I kid you not, first result) McDonalds and Best Buy. The latter I can understand, they sell photography equipment and they do repair things (I don't think photo gear?..) but McD? McD pin is also always visible in Google Maps for me now. Neither result set was helpful, though I guess that's because what I was looking for probably doesn't even exist in the area. Apples results were more useful, I could at least call those places and ask for advice and they're local businesses. Google on the other hand was just irrelevant paid advertising basically. They are regressing. I should say too I've been trying to main Apple Maps for 5 years and it has gotten a lot better as a mapping/navigation tool, it has been my main navigator for 3 years but I still bounce to Google for search variety.

freedomben 6y ago
With Google Maps I will know about a Maverik gas station that is on my route that I know I want to stop at. I'll search for it "along my route" and I get a bunch of other gas stations that I don't want. I suspect they are prioritizing the other gas station brands because they paid for preference, and selected "Maverik" as one of their keywords, but the impact to me is that the exact thing I searched for doesn't come up even though I know it's there because I've stopped there before. If somebody gives me a simple maps product algorithm that just shows me what I'm asking for without preferencing paid people using key words and I'll likely switch. I've loved Google for many years but they are getting much worse.
- MichaelZuo 6y ago
  Perhaps one day they, or a competitor, will do a ‘Maps Premium’ that simply charges the user inserted of all the ads, targeting, etc. And maybe a ‘Maps Premium+’ that allows for customization and going back to the peak usability design of Maps.
  - 6y ago

rorykoehler 6y ago

I’d use Apple Maps if they got rid of Yelp.

matwood 6y ago
This is from the summer, but at least we know they are working on native ratings. https://www.macrumors.com/2020/08/26/apple-maps-new-ratings-places-of-interest/ https://www.macrumors.com/2020/08/26/apple-maps-new-ratings-...
- rorykoehler 6y ago
  Wow. Great news. Can't wait! Really looking to ditch Google Maps.

spideymans 6y ago

>I really want to use Apple Maps full time on my iPhone, just because of how much clutter Google Maps has accumulated on the screen. Apple Maps UI: A big map, with a search bar at the bottom. Simple and nothing but the essentials. Google Maps UI: A page full of ads, a map full of ads and ads masquerading as recommendations. Plus five tab bar buttons at the bottom to not accomplish very much. I've switched to Apple Maps simply because of its better UX and how much easier the app is to use. As far as I can tell, their mapping and navigational data in Canada is every bit as good as Google's. The only thing keeping Google Maps on my phone is their superior reviews. Once Apple replaces Yelp reviews, I'll jettison the Google Maps app into the sun.

throwaway201103 6y ago
Apple Maps navigation used to do things like take me to vacant lots in major midwestern cities instead of the correct property which was several blocks away. Sounds like it works reliably well outside of California now?
- spideymans 6y ago
  I'd say it's very reliable. I'll still cross reference Waze and Google Maps, if I absolutely need to arrive at somewhere on time, but over the past year or so there's only been a very small number of instances where I thought that Apple's navigation directions were inferior to the competition (and even then, we're talking a few minutes)
  - soperj 6y ago
    It's not reliable if you're cross referencing constantly. I live outside of the USA, and Apple maps consistently screwed up to the point that I've deleted it.
    - spideymans 6y ago
      >It's not reliable if you're cross referencing constantly. Eh, I cross reference Google Maps with Waze all the time back when I used it, but I wouldn't dare call Google Maps unreliable. It costs nothing to do, so why wouldn't it?

grishka 6y ago

8 years later, Apple Maps still doesn't show buildings in Russia, even in largest cities. So it's essentially useless for actual navigation. It's okay-ish when all you want is to see a point on a map in a city you know, and that's about it. Out of other companies, Yandex and Google have by far more detailed maps. This leaves me with one question — why does Apple reinvent it anyway? Why can't they just use ridiculously detailed OpenStreetMap data (with appropriate attribution) and call it a day?

zapzupnz 6y ago
> why does Apple reinvent it anyway? Because Apple learnt a long time ago that something essential needs to be in their hands; third parties let Apple down. Google let Apple down by refusing to allow Apple to craft vector-based maps, only allowing Apple to download bitmaps. Thus Apple Maps. Intel let Apple down by failing to predict where the market was moving since about 2012 or so, with the Core processors not gaining much in terms of performance and somehow managing to guzzle more energy. Thus Apple Silicon. Plenty of other examples where Apple realised they can't offer the whole package until they own all the components. The formula is "<Company> didn't do <Thing> and it impacted Apple's offerings. Thus <Apple Thing>".
- grishka 6y ago
  Good point, except OSM isn't dependent on any company or person in particular. It's a community effort. Apple could as well contribute whatever improvements it deems necessary to benefit themselves and everyone else. They could write their own renderers and whatnot, it's been done many times by different companies. It would've been a much better starting point, too, than whatever proprietary data they licensed to get started.
  - zapzupnz 6y ago
    > except OSM isn't dependent on any company or person in particular. It's a community effort That doesn't stop Apple needing control, or at least feeling that way. > Apple could as well contribute whatever improvements it deems necessary to benefit themselves and everyone else They do. Apple uses OSM data and contributes to OSM indirectly (https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Apple https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Apple). > It would've been a much better starting point, too Who's to say? As stated, Apple does use OSM data. They use data from multiple different sources. (http://gspa21.ls.apple.com/html/attribution.html http://gspa21.ls.apple.com/html/attribution.html) > than whatever proprietary data they licensed to get started I detect a bit of a fallacy in what you're saying, that Apple wanting to have control over their own geographical data must mean that they aren't using or contributing to OSM. It isn't a zero-sum situation.

unethical_ban 6y ago

GMaps changes their UI constantly, with what I perceive to be inconsistencies in what is one-tap accessible vs. hidden in the hamburger menu. I, too, noticed the new branding which must be for-pay. Looking for something unrelated to food or auto over a dozen city blocks showed me where the McDonalds and the Firestone were, with logos. I use maps for more than just directions: I use it as a defacto search engine for finding local businesses, phone numbers and websites. It is a GUI for geo-search. I wish another search engine could recreate it effectively.

bamboleo 6y ago

I use the pills daily. One-tap access to gas stations and coffee shops is pretty useful when you’re on the road. The AR button however is incredibly annoying as I seem to activate it by mistake a little too often.

setman2 6y ago
Totally agree on that AR button!

canofbars 6y ago

What issues do you have with Apple maps? I started using it a few months ago and haven't even bothered to install google maps. The only things I have seen lacking is traffic data which I don't really care about and street view which I just use the web version for.

benhurmarcel 6y ago
I try to use Apple Maps when I can because the app is much simpler, smoother, and impacts the battery a lot less. I find the traffic data to be good. But it's still lacking in quite a few areas (in western Europe at least). Basically for now it's usable if you already know where you're going, and it's not a long road trip, and you're not cycling. - Their data isn't as good. Easily half the businesses are missing, and most businesses don't have details like hours. Even the road type and quality is unreliable in some areas, leading the routing to prefer bad roads that are technically shorter in length but worse in time in reality. - No reviews, although it's coming in the future it seems. - Speed limits aren't indicated. - Speed traps aren't indicated. - No cycling directions even in major cities, although it's coming slowly. - It doesn't display areas of interest, like Google Maps does in yellow. That is essential in a city you're not familiar with, to know where to go to find active streets. - No street view in most places, although it's also coming slowly. I find it very useful quite often, like finding a street with free parking before navigating there. - Transit directions use theoretical schedules, not real-time. Google Maps doesn't either, but Citymapper/Transit does. - It doesn't have data on "busy times". I wish there was a way to contribute more efficiently to the map. That app is improving slowly but it could be much faster with trusted local mappers (or local employed mappers). In my opinion Apple Maps could "easily" get a significant lead on Google Maps if they added toll prices, especially if it optimized your route for time vs price. It's a major feature missing from every service now.