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How can you do a comparison of iOS / Android and not even mention Google Maps & Navigation? I used the original iPhone for 2.5 years, spent nearly 2 with a Nex
by bgentry 15y ago
How can you do a comparison of iOS / Android and not even mention Google Maps & Navigation?
I used the original iPhone for 2.5 years, spent nearly 2 with a Nexus One, and now switched back to iPhone 4S. As the reviewer mentioned, Gmail integration is still very poor on the iPhone. Hopefully Sparrow for iOS will fix this.
But iOS Maps is still stuck in 2007. The Android maps app has improved tremendously even just over the past year. Features that make it far better than the iOS maps app:
1) Excellent turn-by-turn, voice-guided navigation
2) Vector-based maps. You'd be surprised how much this improves the experience. Maps load and render much faster due to the smaller binary sizes of vector maps.
3) Ability to cache the maps for multiple 10x10 mile areas. This is a feature that is possible because of (2). When I visit a foreign city, I can cache a 10x10 square around my current location. From that point forward I can view detailed maps for that area without any connection.
4) See detailed information for locations. I can tap on a place in maps, see reviews and ratings for it, get a link to its website
5) Street view.
6) 3D maps with building shapes. While this may not seem useful, I've found it helpful on several occasions since it helps me orient based on the shapes/sizes of surrounding buildings.
Most importantly, the Google Maps app on Android has a major release about once a month and each one generally improves the quality.
- Anechoic 15y ago>How can you do a comparison of iOS / Android and not even mention Google Maps & Navigation? It's funny that I just bought a touchscreen phone with an UX that most will consider to be unquestionably worse than both iOS and Android - namely the Nokia E6 with Symbian Anna - for the same reason that a lot of folks here are touting Android: Ovi Maps and navigation. Or more specifically, Ovi Maps and navigation with offers downloadable maps which is extremely important to me since my business travels often take me to places where there is no cell phone coverage. It's interesting how we let our specific needs color our decisions. In my case, I would much rather have an iOS or Android device, but the downloadable mapping options on either platform (that I've been able to find) are inferior or far more expensive that what I get with Nokia, so I'm willing to live with the Symbian failings. That said, I am one of those folks that also carries an iPod touch along with my phone.
- dminor 15y agohttp://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/download-map-area-added-to-labs-in.html http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/download-map-area-add...
- morsch 15y agoI've used an inexpensive Nokia smartphone for a year or two. I've switched to an inexpensive Android phone, and I don't regret it. But for maps and navigation, Nokia wins hands down. It's great you can precache maps in GMaps now, but fast, offline vector maps are a totally different beast. Particularly useful for abroad, no roaming charges and precaching is not always an option. Also, it's just cool to run around with a map of half the world in your pocket.
- vetinari 15y agoFor offline navigation, I'm using Sygic Aura. Sure, it is extra 50 EUR for maps of Europe and takes almost 2 gigs on your SD card, but you don't need to precache anything, it just works just GPS gadget.
- Anechoic 15y agoI saw that when when it was announced on HN. However downloading a map "for a 10-mile radius" is not useful when you don't know what 10-mile radius you might need ahead of time. Compare with Nokia maps where I can download a map of New Hampshire and Vermont ahead of time and know that when I'm unexpectedly out of cell coverage, I'll still be able to route (or re-route) with my phone GPS. This is an area where GMaps is still playing catchup.