4 ms·

A competitor of TomTom indicates that Apple is relying mostly on TomTom for mapping data, and says "they've chosen the weakest partner" and "their data is terri

by mattdw 14y ago

A competitor of TomTom indicates that Apple is relying mostly on TomTom for mapping data, and says "they've chosen the weakest partner" and "their data is terrible." Not exactly a neutral source. Not that it's necessarily untrue; they might be gambling like they did with Siri, that the best way to get a service like this running well is to ship it and respond to real-world feedback.

eyko 14y ago
As anyone who has tried the iOS6 betas can confirm, the maps are pretty bad. I've looked for directions to nearby towns and it will send me to another country. Searching for directions from my office to a friends house sent me to a point that didn't even have the town's name anywhere near it. And as far as I know, you can't search for public transport directions (at least in London a month ago), which was practically 60% of my maps usage. I had to either use google maps mobile web app or downgrade to iOS5. I did the latter.
- mattdw 14y ago
  Ah interesting. I wonder if they had to part ways with Google a little before they were ready to?
  - taligent 14y ago
    I don't understand this as mapping is an endlessly moving target. There is never going to be a perfect time to release it. The best Apple can do is make sure it is okay and then update it as frequently as possible. That's exactly what Google have done.
- ghshephard 14y ago
  "As anyone who has tried the iOS6 betas can confirm"... by violating their NDA and confirming issues with _beta_ software? I'm guessing, myself, that the Apple Maps are going to be crappy compared to google for at least a year, or two. And it's probably going to be half a decade before we see even rough parity on their routing (particularly walking/transit). But lets be critical about their released product and respect the Beta envelope until it's opened.
  - guelo 14y ago
    No, I'd rather we didn't all voluntarily self censor to benefit Apple's paranoid secretive marketing.
  - kristofferR 14y ago
    The final GM version has been out for over a week now, you don't sign an NDA if you download it from third party sources. The maps still sucks in the GM version.
    - Bud 14y ago
      Not to be a stickler, but the map data comes from the server, not from the Maps app itself. Thus, even though you have the GM Maps app, you do not necessarily know whether the user experience will still suck on the final release day, tomorrow. They could push out some final massive improvement to the server data before then. :) (No, I have no special knowledge of this, and if I did I wouldn't say.) Full disclosure: I am biased. I worked on Apple's maps team, last year, so naturally I want the app to be good.
      - kristofferR 14y ago
        Well, the reviewers have had access to the same data as I have and critized the map data quality - I doubt Apple would delay an update of their map data they have ready to launch just for the heck of it at the cost of a lot of negative commentary. The app itself is great, unfortunately the data quality isn't anywhere close to even the quality the iOS 5 Google Maps data. Apart from the obvious flaws like no street view or transit data, the pure data is not good too unfortunately. Let's hope Apple improves it fast, but I'm not too hopeful considering that Google has spent the last 7 years gathering data and improving their maps (and getting a lot of exclusive info submitted by their users).
    - tptacek 14y ago
      No, you just admit publicly to violating Apple's copyright in order to disparage them. Good play.
- dan1234 14y ago
  Apple are allowing apps, in iOS6, to declare that they can provide routing info so I don't thin it'll be too long before these gaps close themselves. http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/06/13/apple_hands_off_transit_directions_to_third_party_apps_in_ios_6_maps.html http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/06/13/apple_hands_off_tr...
  - gman99 14y ago
    This might work well in android where if one app (maps) hands over control to another (third party public transit info) -- the global back button will take you back to the first application when needed. iOS always seemed to be designed with monolithic apps that did everything and hence not require too much app switching to complete a certain task. (at least on the iPhone. On the iPad the four finger swipe makes this a moot point) But what iOS needs is for google to provide a replacement maps app and to register itself as the default maps handler (in effect stop the built in and useless-at-this-point-to-me maps application from ever launching) I guess I'll hold off judgement until I actually use it.
    - dan1234 14y ago
      From the release notes: "Apps that offer routing information, such as turn-by-turn navigation services, can now register as a routing app and make those services available to the entire system" Makes me hope a 3rd party transit app will be able to provide routing information in a format the default maps app will be able to display. I would love Maps to be able to mash together the data from 2 or more routing apps in order to give me a complete journey!
- taligent 14y ago
  Google Maps ALWAYS send me to other countries so I am used to it. And in the two main Australian cities is not far off Google Maps. Definitely not bad or unusable in any way.
- brokenlogins 14y ago
  The problem isn't merely bad directions. It simply DOESN'T WORK. The defectiveness of this application is so profound that it stands to embarrass Apple quite a bit. For example, see how the sign in the screen grab says "6.1 miles"? Well, that never changes. You can drive and drive all day, and that 6.1 will not decrement. And see how it says "for U.S. 101"? Well after you turn onto the 101, it will still say that. It never moves on to the next step of your trip. It also doesn't recalculate if you deviate from the route. It also lets you drive right off the map, and doesn't scroll to keep your position in view. Just incredible.
nvmc 14y ago
Off on a slight tangent here, but http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/04/tom-tom-gps-tracking.html http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/04/tom-tom-g... is interesting. Made me replace my GPS.
- alttag 14y ago
  From the article you linked: > The Dutch police use the information obtained "to put up > speed cameras and speed traps. I'm amused, as the Tomtom I just recently purchased purports to show the location of red light and speed cameras. It works both ways.
heed 14y ago
>A competitor of TomTom.. Was it Navteq/Nokia or Google? Because those are TomTom's only major competitors.
- jlarocco 14y ago
  God forbid you click the article link and read 3 sentences. But then you wouldn't have time to make snarky comments, right?

by mattdw 14y ago

eyko 14y ago

As anyone who has tried the iOS6 betas can confirm, the maps are pretty bad. I've looked for directions to nearby towns and it will send me to another country. Searching for directions from my office to a friends house sent me to a point that didn't even have the town's name anywhere near it. And as far as I know, you can't search for public transport directions (at least in London a month ago), which was practically 60% of my maps usage. I had to either use google maps mobile web app or downgrade to iOS5. I did the latter.

mattdw 14y ago
Ah interesting. I wonder if they had to part ways with Google a little before they were ready to?
- taligent 14y ago
  I don't understand this as mapping is an endlessly moving target. There is never going to be a perfect time to release it. The best Apple can do is make sure it is okay and then update it as frequently as possible. That's exactly what Google have done.
ghshephard 14y ago
"As anyone who has tried the iOS6 betas can confirm"... by violating their NDA and confirming issues with _beta_ software? I'm guessing, myself, that the Apple Maps are going to be crappy compared to google for at least a year, or two. And it's probably going to be half a decade before we see even rough parity on their routing (particularly walking/transit). But lets be critical about their released product and respect the Beta envelope until it's opened.
- guelo 14y ago
  No, I'd rather we didn't all voluntarily self censor to benefit Apple's paranoid secretive marketing.
- kristofferR 14y ago
  The final GM version has been out for over a week now, you don't sign an NDA if you download it from third party sources. The maps still sucks in the GM version.
  - Bud 14y ago
    Not to be a stickler, but the map data comes from the server, not from the Maps app itself. Thus, even though you have the GM Maps app, you do not necessarily know whether the user experience will still suck on the final release day, tomorrow. They could push out some final massive improvement to the server data before then. :) (No, I have no special knowledge of this, and if I did I wouldn't say.) Full disclosure: I am biased. I worked on Apple's maps team, last year, so naturally I want the app to be good.
    - kristofferR 14y ago
      Well, the reviewers have had access to the same data as I have and critized the map data quality - I doubt Apple would delay an update of their map data they have ready to launch just for the heck of it at the cost of a lot of negative commentary. The app itself is great, unfortunately the data quality isn't anywhere close to even the quality the iOS 5 Google Maps data. Apart from the obvious flaws like no street view or transit data, the pure data is not good too unfortunately. Let's hope Apple improves it fast, but I'm not too hopeful considering that Google has spent the last 7 years gathering data and improving their maps (and getting a lot of exclusive info submitted by their users).
  - tptacek 14y ago
    No, you just admit publicly to violating Apple's copyright in order to disparage them. Good play.
dan1234 14y ago
Apple are allowing apps, in iOS6, to declare that they can provide routing info so I don't thin it'll be too long before these gaps close themselves. http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/06/13/apple_hands_off_transit_directions_to_third_party_apps_in_ios_6_maps.html http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/06/13/apple_hands_off_tr...
- gman99 14y ago
  This might work well in android where if one app (maps) hands over control to another (third party public transit info) -- the global back button will take you back to the first application when needed. iOS always seemed to be designed with monolithic apps that did everything and hence not require too much app switching to complete a certain task. (at least on the iPhone. On the iPad the four finger swipe makes this a moot point) But what iOS needs is for google to provide a replacement maps app and to register itself as the default maps handler (in effect stop the built in and useless-at-this-point-to-me maps application from ever launching) I guess I'll hold off judgement until I actually use it.
  - dan1234 14y ago
    From the release notes: "Apps that offer routing information, such as turn-by-turn navigation services, can now register as a routing app and make those services available to the entire system" Makes me hope a 3rd party transit app will be able to provide routing information in a format the default maps app will be able to display. I would love Maps to be able to mash together the data from 2 or more routing apps in order to give me a complete journey!
taligent 14y ago
Google Maps ALWAYS send me to other countries so I am used to it. And in the two main Australian cities is not far off Google Maps. Definitely not bad or unusable in any way.
brokenlogins 14y ago
The problem isn't merely bad directions. It simply DOESN'T WORK. The defectiveness of this application is so profound that it stands to embarrass Apple quite a bit. For example, see how the sign in the screen grab says "6.1 miles"? Well, that never changes. You can drive and drive all day, and that 6.1 will not decrement. And see how it says "for U.S. 101"? Well after you turn onto the 101, it will still say that. It never moves on to the next step of your trip. It also doesn't recalculate if you deviate from the route. It also lets you drive right off the map, and doesn't scroll to keep your position in view. Just incredible.

nvmc 14y ago

Off on a slight tangent here, but http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/04/tom-tom-gps-tracking.html http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/04/tom-tom-g... is interesting. Made me replace my GPS.

alttag 14y ago
From the article you linked: > The Dutch police use the information obtained "to put up > speed cameras and speed traps. I'm amused, as the Tomtom I just recently purchased purports to show the location of red light and speed cameras. It works both ways.

heed 14y ago

>A competitor of TomTom.. Was it Navteq/Nokia or Google? Because those are TomTom's only major competitors.

jlarocco 14y ago
God forbid you click the article link and read 3 sentences. But then you wouldn't have time to make snarky comments, right?