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Yeah, I can't say I've ever had a problem with Google's maps on iOS being unreliable, slow or ... whatever problem is supposedly corrected by a 'cleaner' app.

by roc 14y ago

Yeah, I can't say I've ever had a problem with Google's maps on iOS being unreliable, slow or ... whatever problem is supposedly corrected by a 'cleaner' app. I'm sure Apple could improve those things and I may well notice and appreciate the improvements. But I'd much rather see turn by turn navigation and useful traffic data. [1] [1] By useful, I just mean something proactive and actionable. Allowing me to manually scan my route to look for yellow and red highlights doesn't really help. And by the time I know I'm in a jam, it's not a huge help to know how far the jam is. It's nice, but I'm already in the jam. It would be awesome if we could get something that takes a programmed commute and sends notifications about backups not yet encountered and offers alternate routes -- taking into account the full traffic situation. So that if the 'obvious' detour is already also backed up, it doesn't send me that way either.

randomfool 14y ago
Google's maps on Android kicks iOS's butt- the vector rendering makes it much much faster, turn-by-turn navigation and offline mode. In case you aren't aware, the Android version doesn't download the image tiles, rather it downloads the raw data and renders the streets and everything client side. This makes it much faster to get the data and makes a smoother zoom experience.
- roc 14y ago
  That sounds like a better way to do it, I'm just saying that I've never found myself really waiting for map tiles unless the network connection itself was awful. I'm sure less data would mean more data connections squeak into the usable column, but I'm rarely in those places, so it's just not high on my list. The turn by turn, though, would be much more welcome. Though now that I think about it, turn by turn would increase my use dramatically and probably expose more poor network situations where the client-side rendering would make a difference.
  - willyt 14y ago
    I always seem to lose data connection just when I really need it with google maps on iOS. The whole data everywhere thing works great in big mostly flat low density cities like LA but it doesn't seem to work so well in London and barely works at all in mountainous rural areas. It would be great if the mapping data were stored on the phone.

by roc 14y ago

randomfool 14y ago

Google's maps on Android kicks iOS's butt- the vector rendering makes it much much faster, turn-by-turn navigation and offline mode. In case you aren't aware, the Android version doesn't download the image tiles, rather it downloads the raw data and renders the streets and everything client side. This makes it much faster to get the data and makes a smoother zoom experience.

roc 14y ago
That sounds like a better way to do it, I'm just saying that I've never found myself really waiting for map tiles unless the network connection itself was awful. I'm sure less data would mean more data connections squeak into the usable column, but I'm rarely in those places, so it's just not high on my list. The turn by turn, though, would be much more welcome. Though now that I think about it, turn by turn would increase my use dramatically and probably expose more poor network situations where the client-side rendering would make a difference.
- willyt 14y ago
  I always seem to lose data connection just when I really need it with google maps on iOS. The whole data everywhere thing works great in big mostly flat low density cities like LA but it doesn't seem to work so well in London and barely works at all in mountainous rural areas. It would be great if the mapping data were stored on the phone.