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Google Maps Testing New Apple Maps-Inspired Map Style
- bunabhucan 3y ago>It increasingly feels as if Google Maps has gotten lost. Just maps?
- j45 3y agoMaybe maps hasn’t grown with its users, or can’t be everything for everyone. If the only metric is engagement it might not be across the features relevant in a single user journey vs head to head. I needed a map the other day for a repeat need and built it in a few minutes in mapbox studio, only ever used mapbox via code in another life. Didn’t know what to think. Oddly haven’t looked back for that use. It just embeds and shares and delights. Still want to try out osm.
- ars 3y agoWell that explains why it changed. They should add an option "focus on roads" "focus on landscape". Although to be realistic focus on roads is probably way more common, and that appears to be the new design - the roads really stand out.
- bandergirl 3y agoThey should really allow custom palettes. I don’t understand how they got the product so far along without better accessibility options.
- bluSCALE4 3y agoSounds like a terrible idea. Can't imagine a good UI for that.
- mcphage 3y agoIt's not like Google Maps has a good UI for anything else it does, so doesn't seem to be a knock against the idea.
- plibither8 3y agoOne of my biggest irks with Google Maps is how aggressively it shows pins for hotels, bars and restaurants, even on their search results map. Do users really feel the need for this constant in-your-face advertisement? But as I type this, I realized Google is primarily an ad business and whatever will drive that revenue will get pushed further. Oh well.
- kristopolous 3y agoGoogle maps can't be a cheap service to run. If this is the trade-off then ok. There's always OSM
- londons_explore 3y agoGoogle telephones most businesses in the world multiple times per year to confirm opening hours and ask what their hours will be at Christmas/other holidays. Let that sink in. They have an actual human put actual minutes into speaking with every single business in their database. Think how much that alone must cost. And they put all that money in simply so users can be a little more certain that the opening hours shown are correct.
- beebeepka 3y agoMost businesses in the world? I'd like some proof. Unless, of course, you and I have different ideas of what "the world" is
- spyke112 3y agoI own a business in Denmark, I never received a call as described. I received lots of email reminders though, because this is something you can update yourself.
- retSava 3y agoSnarky, but I expect that to be a kind-of circle with a small radius, around their offices and the favorite places their employees in SF visit. Never heard of this happening, and not something I'd expect google to do. I'd expect them to send emails at most, with a link to some page that is broken for anyone not using Chrome, then no support available.
- dietr1ch 3y agoIt's almost like perf is starting next week
- whalesalad 3y agoApple Maps rendering surpassed Google a lil while ago. I still use Google for a variety of reasons but I do think Apple’s map design is superior.
- atourgates 3y agoDepends on what you're talking about. For aesthetics? No question Apple's superior. For navigation? A tossup in my experience? For discovery of places and reviews? Google's so far ahead it's not even close. Apple's interface with Google's database of places and reviews would be the holy grail.
- toomuchtodo 3y agoOpen POI on top of OSM? Would have to figure out how to accept and lifecycle reviews, but could probably be done. Perhaps reaching critical mass is the hard part.
- willio58 3y agoFor car based nav I stay on Google. For transit, I’ve found Apple is the way to go. I’m sure it depends on the location though
- c0nducktr 3y agoI agree 100%. I use Apple Maps for navigation but Google Maps is so much better for discovery of places. It's the only reason I keep it installed, tbh. My "places to go" is contained within Google Maps, just because they have so much more data. It's wild to me that Apple hasn't spun off their own reviews system yet. Relying on Yelp in 2023 seems foolish.
- coldsunrays 3y ago> The new New York map above looks comically bad, almost like student-level work. I found the new NY map refreshing because of its higher contrast between the streets and city blocks. Feels like it's easier to get a handle on what's on the screen. Granted, whenever a product gives me the opportunity to opt for increased contrast, I usually go for it.
- bandergirl 3y agoYeah, I don’t know what the author is talking about. I loved his comparisons over the years, but Google Maps (and others, really) are atrocious to use because of extremely low contrast; the blue version is much better (even if potentially “uglier”) For a product meant to be used outdoors, Maps does an awful job at being readable.
- drc500free 3y agoInteresting, do you mean contrast between non-roads and roads, or between map and text? I think (bear in mind I have some color blindness) that it's gone from a low-contrast road grid with high contrast text to a high-contrast road grid with low-contrast text. It would be easier to trace the shape of the roads, but that's not how I personally use a map. I'm much more focused on the name of a neighborhood or the name of a road, and its relative position.
- fouc 3y agoSeems like the road text still needs some fixing/adjustments, assuming they keep that light-gray blueish road color. The apple map road color is a lot darker, creating more context. For the google map road color, they'd almost need to use something like a yellow text perhaps.
- yufeng66 3y agoI stopped using google map to navigate while driving due to the low contrast issue. I used to be able to scan the map and figure out which fork I should take. with the current google map, I have to stare at it for a fraction of a second to be sure. Now I use Apple map and works much better for me.
- ShadowBanThis01 3y agoSo... one that sucks?
- KMnO4 3y agoI can’t believe there’s only one image of Apple Maps in that article. Every image is captioned with “See! Look how similar it is” but I have nothing to compare it to.
- zdragnar 3y agoI think the point is (despite the title) less that they're aping Apple's style, and more that the author believes the new style is generally worse than the old style. On that point I personally agree, though it seems there's at least a few other people in the comments here who prefer the new style.
- switch007 3y agoI’m not sure if it’s a law already but if not I’m claiming it in my name: The more useful some graphics would be in an article, the less likely it is to contain any.
- mcphage 3y agoOh yeah, that's Switch007's Law—the more useful some graphics would be in an article, the less likely it is to contain any.
- xrayarx 3y agoI always enjoy the analysis of this guy. Thorough and to the point. Apple and Google should care more about usability and readability.
- thrdbndndn 3y agoGoogle Maps has changed styles quite a few times, and it usually won't take long to get used to the new one. One particular change before I remembered was when they reduced the contrast (and amount of details) when zoomed out, which I hated at the time, but now can't go back. It makes finding neighborhoods and such much easier. It looks like the author found the opposite, I guess it's just something very subjective. (The author provided a comparison between various previous versions at the end (sans the newest), and I genuinely can't say the older ones were better, even the "before 2018" ones.) But I do agree this newest one is bad, mainly due to the color choice of the roads. I really like GMap's white/yellow roads.
- yieldcrv 3y agoConvergent evolution occurs when the same problems are being solved and with the same traits being selected for multiple times
- hyperhello 3y agoWhat if you just got a well compressed map of your area on device and could scroll around it like any other picture?
- asselinpaul 3y agoHas anyone found a good way to export starred/want-to-go places in Google Maps? Ideally want to move to Apple Maps.
- kyrra 3y agohttps://takeout.google.com https://takeout.google.com probably
- xenospn 3y agoApple Maps has an almost game-like UX, which is far superior to Google’s. It really does make them look amateurish in comparison. Here in the US, Apple has surpassed Google and now has a 2-3 year lead, in my opinion (I travel quite a lot, and use both products interchangeably).
- cypress66 3y agoWish I could get rid of all points of interest (hotels, restaurants, etc). Just show me the streets.
- mike503 3y agoI like Google Maps. More than Waze, more than Apple. I just want Waze's socialized data in Google Maps. Not a redesign of the app :/
- danans 3y agoI'm pretty sure Waze data, in highly processed form, makes it into Google Maps. That's why you get speed trap notifications in Google Maps, IIRC. Aw t the very least, they have been organizationally combined within the company. https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/8/23499734/google-maps-waze-development-teams-combined-productivity https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/8/23499734/google-maps-waze...
- bobek 3y agoTBH https://mapy.cz/ https://mapy.cz/ are still the clear winner in map presentation and usefulness.
- cl3misch 3y agoThanks for the tip. The map style is very dense but IMHO the best for urban areas. Some names are only rendered in Czech, and hill shading seems to be available only with an active internet connection. I still prefer the shading of "Bergfex Touren" for mountain sports.
- PufPufPuf 3y agoThey also have an international version called Windy Maps (Mapy.cz has some Czech-centric features): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cz.seznam.windymaps https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cz.seznam.wind...
- Toutouxc 3y agoAbsolutely. I’m actually Czech, so they’re my no. 1 choice anyway, but I’m currently on vacation in Italy and the maps are still great and very useful.
- satvikpendem 3y agoWow the streets and avenues are especially bad, they are borderline unparseable if you're looking for things around the area rather than the roads themselves, which is usually my use case.
- wetpaws 3y ago[dead]
- jinushaun 3y agoI love-hate this blog. It covers the long and slow enshittification of one of my most beloved websites. I vividly remember their previous post about the loss of labels on Google Maps, which rendered them useless for manual navigation.
- pjmlp 3y agoWhat about actually improving directions, not sending us through barely usable roads in Mediterranean islands, if we can consider them roads at all. Or shortcuts that might be interesting in a computer game, how the RTS units select their path, but hardly so when driving through a medieval village, instead of the somehow longer circular road that everyone should use.
- cl3misch 3y agoIn this context (driving in central Europe) I've found Apple Maps to choose the conventional route more often. The trip may be slightly longer but more enjoyable, for the exact reasons you mentioned. Google Maps indeed seems to be weighted towards stressful shortcuts.
- tasuki 3y agoMore enjoyable? Conventional routes are rarely what I'd call enjoyable. Convenient, perhaps. A month ago I was driving hundreds of kilometers across Poland, and Google sent me from a freeway through a comfy road to a literal dirt road with holes, which after ten kilometers led us back to a large asphalt road. That was fun!
- jailbirdBD 3y agoWe have been in Italy in the mountains near Lake Garda, and the hosts where we were staying specifically instructed us not to use Google Maps as it will lead us to sketchy shortcuts which is barely managable to pass trough, while the "official" route to their village is paved, easy to follow, and thus, much faster to pass than Google's route. I left on Google Maps out of curiosity and indeed, it started to show directions which lead to poor dirty roads where my car would barely fit trough. One would think that Google has some data about much less cars passing through that road than the paved one and drive some conclusion out of it, as I hardly think anyone would use those roads apart from a few locals who are living there. Especially in an area which is filled with tourists. Also, Google Maps also often suggests much less efficients routes in my local area where I definitely know that there's a route which not shorter, but still much faster.
- zmmmmm 3y agoI hate it
- ra7 3y agoI never thought I would see the day when Google Maps would copy Apple Maps. Apple has absolutely nailed the map UI and even the UX (like richer details during navigation, requiring fewer touches to do things, etc.) is so good and well thought out. GMaps just looks so cluttered and bloated. The only reason for me not to use Apple Maps (in the US) is that they are far behind GMaps in POI data.
- kccqzy 3y agoSeveral years ago when I was testing the Apple Maps navigation UI, I started a random navigation trip at home, looked around and tested the UI out without actually driving anywhere. Looked fine until I pressed the power button. Then I found that the Apple Maps hijacked my lock screen to display its own UI. That's the point I noped out of Apple Maps. This is malware-level behavior. No app should be able to override my Lock Screen. Especially not a first-party app because third-party apps are so well sandboxed that they cannot do that. Where are the cries of antitrust? Apple Maps is malware. Any app that could modify system level behavior such as the Lock Screen is malware. You probably don't agree, but still I will never use it.
- politelemon 3y agoNo I agree, it's abusive behaviour but the people that use it are conditioned to accept it.
- n42 3y agoyou're entitled to your preferences in UX, but it's a bit melodramatic to call that malware.
- Toutouxc 3y agoI get what you’re trying to say and it makes sense if you think of your phone as a tiny computer. An app should not be able to escape out of its window and app-level capabilities and it should be clear if an app is running or not. I don’t share the same view, because I consider my iPhone an appliance. If my goal is to get to a place, I’ll let the appliance do anything and everything to get me there, including changing the UI or jumping out of my hand and leading the way.
- unethical_ban 3y agoI miss that dark orange for the freeways.
- Solvency 3y agoIt's absolutely terrible. Please change it back.
- shellfishgene 3y agoHas anyone else noticed that Google maps has lately become a lot worse on Firefox compared to Chrome? Zooming is less smooth, even with the whole map flashing in between levels, and in satellite view the tiles seem to load a lot slower.
- serial_dev 3y agoWe haven't, and I hope you are not implying that one of the largest tech companies in the world would take advantage of their complete dominance of the internet to weaken their remaining competition. In all seriousness, it's not a new issue, if you search for it, there are complaints about it going back years. Now, I'm sure there is a "non-evil" explanation, such as "oh we just test more with Chrome so we optimized for that, but we will try to convince an intern to install Firefox", "Chrome is just better", "Firefox doesn't have x and y features, so it's slow, but it they implement it, it will be fast, too"... ... and there are the "evil" explanation, "let's make one of our most popular products slightly slower on a competing browser to nudge people into using our browser".
- londons_explore 3y agoIt shouldn't flash. You probably have a bad webgl implementation. New graphics drivers?
- LuisAPI 3y agoI second GP, it does flash exclusively on Firefox. Google Maps doesn't load terribly on any Chromium-based browser (Edge, Vivaldi, Opera, Brave...)
- dkga 3y agoTo be fair, I think Apple Maps has by far the best design and look (even if not yet the usability), and Google Maps seems to be catching up but not quite there yet.
- xnx 3y agoLooks like it's going for more literal coloring of roads where concrete/asphalt is in gray as opposed to the previous yellow.
- lazycouchpotato 3y agoThe changes to foliage and general terrain I like. The updates to roads and streets? Not so much. There is way too much emphasis on streets, distracting you from seeing the labeled places. The streets and highways shouldn't be a city's prominent showcase, the landmarks should. That second-to-last image of Chicago streets around The Art Institute of Chicago show the lack of contrast between the green of a street and the green of the park - it all just blends in. It was better before, but just barely.
- Takennickname 3y agoAuthor is literally crying about getting used to a new interface even though it's better.
- 0110101001 3y agoHaven't seen these new Google Maps yet, but from the screenshots, I couldn't disagree more. Broadway is completely invisible in the "old" map, but visible on the "new" map. But I guess the more usable contrast makes the Madame Tussauds label slightly harder to read?
- MiddleEndian 3y agoI just want Google Maps to slide the location of the street labels so they always stay visible. Zooming into an area and having a street label simply vanish is an absurd behavior for software in the 21st century.
- n42 3y agoI don't know how to say this without it coming off as typical internet hyperbole. I mean it quite literally that this makes the thing unusable (as a map) for me. it is a major contributor to why I use Apple Maps for actual maps now. unfortunately, I still have to use Google Maps to find POI. I suspect this is all they want me to use it for, anyways, since that's all that gives them money.
- MiddleEndian 3y agoI've never used Apple maps (since it's not available for the web/android/pc), but Google maps has much better public transit directions than any other map software, and that's what keeps me on it despite the terrible labeling of streets.
- sunflowerfly 3y agoApple Maps is hard to use in rural areas. It is just a pretty green page with the faintest lines. Labels are maddening to read. Google maps also needs label improvements, but generally has enough contrast to see the lines.
- lost_tourist 3y agoThe biggest advantage of apple maps is that they don't sell every move you make to 3rd party vendors or keep a long history of where you've been and sell that to vendors.