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Counterpoint - Google maps has been fine for me, my only annoyance being that iPhone often defaults to Apple Maps and I have to manually switch over. Nonethele

Counterpoint - Google maps has been fine for me, my only annoyance being that iPhone often defaults to Apple Maps and I have to manually switch over. Nonetheless, your comment convinces me that I should try Apple Maps more seriously. Maybe I’m missing out.

mikepurvis 2y ago
I've been an iPhone user for about ten years and have largely had the same relationship with Apple Maps for that time. Indeed, for the first time in a long time, I'm seriously considering switching back to Android later this year over a handful of annoying interop issues— chief among them the stuff recently surfaced by Pebble around APIs for wearables. Not sure if that means I should try Apple Maps again at the 11th hour or not— maybe if it's finally gotten good it would be better to not know and just remain in blissful ignorance.
hnlmorg 2y ago
I was a defender of Google Maps last week. Then I had to drive some roads I was unfamiliar with at the weekend to get to a familiar funeral. Google Maps gave me instructions to turn off a junction right at the turn off, resulting in me missing it. Worst still, it did this not once but twice. And the detour was via road works. Google Maps added a considerable amount of time onto what was already a 3 hour journey. Thankfully I had planned for problems so there wasn’t any negative outcomes aside time lost and a considerable amount of additional stress when I was already in an emotionally bad place. On the journey home I used Apple Maps and the difference in the directions were night and day. Apple Maps gave me ample warning before each junction. It described the junctions (eg “right turn 100 yards after the traffic lights”) so I knew exactly where I was going. Even told me what lane I needed to be in. Google Maps did do this on occasions to be fair. But it was highly inconsistent. Hence why I got stung so badly when its instructions were last minute. Whereas Apple Maps was 100% reliable 100% of the time. It will be a long time before I rely on Google Maps for satnav again.
- mway 2y ago
  I've had a similar experience as well. I had sort of hand waved it as being better due to tighter CarPlay integration (i.e. that there is usually, IME, higher-detail UX - which ostensibly leaves less room for interpretation). > It will be a long time before I rely on Apple Maps for satnav again. I assume you mean Google Maps :)
  - hnlmorg 2y ago
    Haha good spot. I’ll correct it in my original comment (while I still can)
  - kridsdale1 2y ago
    My team works on the CarPlay implementation of Google Maps. Apple severely dictates and limits what we or any other app can do there as far as UX, while not holding themselves to the same rules. I ran Android Auto for the first time yesterday and was impressed by how much more “Google” it was.
hosh 2y ago
My wife doesn't have that problem with Google Maps on her iPhone, so I'm aware of that counter-point. It might have something to do with that I use offline maps. Things started breaking -- points of interest doesn't load, or maps freezes, etc. I have not been able to unbork it. And it had been noticeably getting worse. But even when it had been working, I had started noticing navigation errors started creeping in. It was nice that I hear things like, "at the next McDonald's, turn left" ... but I also get other strange navigational errors. Even just last year, my wife and I hear the directions, and it is having us go in a confused way. I don't trust it as much. (And there is a lot I can say about this using Promise Theory to analyze all of this). Last night, at a town I do not reside in, I'm making an errand to got to the grocery store, and Google Maps breaks again. So I use Apple Maps. Apple Maps navigation tells me to turn in, and that I am in the parking lot for my destination. I have never heard Google Maps doing that. Another time just last night, it told me that I am crossing this light, and to turn at the next light. I also never heard Google Maps tell me that. Those were literally the kinds of things I would ask my human navigator to tell me in addition to the standard Google Maps navigation (on my wife's phone).
boplicity 2y ago
I used to trust Google Maps, but in the last year it has given me some very bad directions that not only were wrong, but were sometimes dangerous. I've started to very much not trust its directions, which is unfortunate, because it used to be so great.
- duderific 2y ago
  I've been using Apple Maps exclusively for a few years now, as I like the turn by turn directions much better, and the UI is more readable to me, as others have noted. My wife seems to like Google Maps better, so we tried it on a recent trip. I ended up going around in circles in an unfamiliar area, and it kept telling me to turn where no road existed. I was flabbergasted it was so bad, as the last time I used it, I didn't remember it being so unreliable.
  - hosh 2y ago
    Engineering excellence has been a part of the Google founding culture, but I think that has been eroding in the past few years ... MBA types are taking over and engineering talent are slowly draining away. I'm just a nobody opining here -- they needed better product leadership than better business leadership. Now that their cash cow (ads on search) is eroding and they don't have a way to make solid products, they're kinda floundering.
pinkmuffinere 2y ago
FWIW I tried apple maps today, motivated by this thread. I doubt my observations are one-of-a-kind but: - Apple Maps has a different UI (obviously), which I think was the most annoying aspect of the switch - Google Maps shows the speed limit, and the speed you're going at. Apple Maps just shows the limit. I prefer the google maps version here - Apple Maps gave instructions like "go through this light, and turn left at the next one" or "turn right after the Starbucks". This is very close to how a human would give instructions, and I like that -- I'm already 'familiar' with it. I find Google's spoken instructions less natural. I didn't notice anything else very different. Are there killer features that I missed? If not, I'll probably stay with google maps for just because of the UI familiarity.

mikepurvis 2y ago

I've been an iPhone user for about ten years and have largely had the same relationship with Apple Maps for that time. Indeed, for the first time in a long time, I'm seriously considering switching back to Android later this year over a handful of annoying interop issues— chief among them the stuff recently surfaced by Pebble around APIs for wearables. Not sure if that means I should try Apple Maps again at the 11th hour or not— maybe if it's finally gotten good it would be better to not know and just remain in blissful ignorance.

hnlmorg 2y ago

I was a defender of Google Maps last week. Then I had to drive some roads I was unfamiliar with at the weekend to get to a familiar funeral. Google Maps gave me instructions to turn off a junction right at the turn off, resulting in me missing it. Worst still, it did this not once but twice. And the detour was via road works. Google Maps added a considerable amount of time onto what was already a 3 hour journey. Thankfully I had planned for problems so there wasn’t any negative outcomes aside time lost and a considerable amount of additional stress when I was already in an emotionally bad place. On the journey home I used Apple Maps and the difference in the directions were night and day. Apple Maps gave me ample warning before each junction. It described the junctions (eg “right turn 100 yards after the traffic lights”) so I knew exactly where I was going. Even told me what lane I needed to be in. Google Maps did do this on occasions to be fair. But it was highly inconsistent. Hence why I got stung so badly when its instructions were last minute. Whereas Apple Maps was 100% reliable 100% of the time. It will be a long time before I rely on Google Maps for satnav again.

mway 2y ago
I've had a similar experience as well. I had sort of hand waved it as being better due to tighter CarPlay integration (i.e. that there is usually, IME, higher-detail UX - which ostensibly leaves less room for interpretation). > It will be a long time before I rely on Apple Maps for satnav again. I assume you mean Google Maps :)
- hnlmorg 2y ago
  Haha good spot. I’ll correct it in my original comment (while I still can)
- kridsdale1 2y ago
  My team works on the CarPlay implementation of Google Maps. Apple severely dictates and limits what we or any other app can do there as far as UX, while not holding themselves to the same rules. I ran Android Auto for the first time yesterday and was impressed by how much more “Google” it was.

hosh 2y ago

My wife doesn't have that problem with Google Maps on her iPhone, so I'm aware of that counter-point. It might have something to do with that I use offline maps. Things started breaking -- points of interest doesn't load, or maps freezes, etc. I have not been able to unbork it. And it had been noticeably getting worse. But even when it had been working, I had started noticing navigation errors started creeping in. It was nice that I hear things like, "at the next McDonald's, turn left" ... but I also get other strange navigational errors. Even just last year, my wife and I hear the directions, and it is having us go in a confused way. I don't trust it as much. (And there is a lot I can say about this using Promise Theory to analyze all of this). Last night, at a town I do not reside in, I'm making an errand to got to the grocery store, and Google Maps breaks again. So I use Apple Maps. Apple Maps navigation tells me to turn in, and that I am in the parking lot for my destination. I have never heard Google Maps doing that. Another time just last night, it told me that I am crossing this light, and to turn at the next light. I also never heard Google Maps tell me that. Those were literally the kinds of things I would ask my human navigator to tell me in addition to the standard Google Maps navigation (on my wife's phone).

boplicity 2y ago

I used to trust Google Maps, but in the last year it has given me some very bad directions that not only were wrong, but were sometimes dangerous. I've started to very much not trust its directions, which is unfortunate, because it used to be so great.

duderific 2y ago
I've been using Apple Maps exclusively for a few years now, as I like the turn by turn directions much better, and the UI is more readable to me, as others have noted. My wife seems to like Google Maps better, so we tried it on a recent trip. I ended up going around in circles in an unfamiliar area, and it kept telling me to turn where no road existed. I was flabbergasted it was so bad, as the last time I used it, I didn't remember it being so unreliable.
- hosh 2y ago
  Engineering excellence has been a part of the Google founding culture, but I think that has been eroding in the past few years ... MBA types are taking over and engineering talent are slowly draining away. I'm just a nobody opining here -- they needed better product leadership than better business leadership. Now that their cash cow (ads on search) is eroding and they don't have a way to make solid products, they're kinda floundering.

pinkmuffinere 2y ago

FWIW I tried apple maps today, motivated by this thread. I doubt my observations are one-of-a-kind but: - Apple Maps has a different UI (obviously), which I think was the most annoying aspect of the switch - Google Maps shows the speed limit, and the speed you're going at. Apple Maps just shows the limit. I prefer the google maps version here - Apple Maps gave instructions like "go through this light, and turn left at the next one" or "turn right after the Starbucks". This is very close to how a human would give instructions, and I like that -- I'm already 'familiar' with it. I find Google's spoken instructions less natural. I didn't notice anything else very different. Are there killer features that I missed? If not, I'll probably stay with google maps for just because of the UI familiarity.