3 ms·

Mapping is, for me, the single greatest boon of smartphones. Nothing else is appreciated in a pinch like a good map or routing - I could do away with everything

by vosper 14y ago

Mapping is, for me, the single greatest boon of smartphones. Nothing else is appreciated in a pinch like a good map or routing - I could do away with everything else. For Apple to cripple such a fantastic feature and leave themselves at the mercy of their arch-rival - whom they've been energetically suing - is baffling.

joshu 14y ago
I love the fact that I can parachute in to some random city and walk around like I know what I am doing between maps and Yelp. I do not want to give that up.
- philjohn 14y ago
  Have you tried the new maps? The only real regressions I can see are poorer satellite imagery coverage (big whoop - it's a gimmick for 90% of the time) and non existent public transport routing. In my experience in the UK, the public transport routing never really worked on the google provided maps either. The maps themselves are provided by TomTom and in the UK and Europe at least they are very high quality, can't speak for the US.
  - starik36 14y ago
    I agree. I used it on the way home with the step by step directions and it was pretty nice and right on the spot. The graphics are also very pleasant and the visual cues are easy to grok. The only thing I miss is street view. But I doubt that's coming back.
  - trin_ 14y ago
    the maps for the town i'm living in (250k people, state capital in germany) are not entirely accurate. the positions of the listed businesses especially. some are downright false and some are misplaced by sometimes 400-500m.
  - masklinn 14y ago
    > The only real regressions I can see are poorer satellite imagery coverage Map coverage of US campuses is also way down. Which makes a very small but vocal segment (US uni students) completely lose their mind over the issue. If you go to the apple/iphone subreddit, 9 out of 10 maps criticisms are US uni campus. On the other hand, considering how those things work, I'd expect non-US locations to be just as downgraded as US campus (and testimonies in this thread seem to confirm it)
headShrinker 14y ago
Actually, I don't believe Apple has sued Google.
greengarstudios 14y ago
In one sense, it's actually the opposite. In iOS 5 and earlier, they were at the mercy of their arch-rival. Now, by doing their own map, "crippled" or not, they're independent. They're less at Google's mercy than they were before. If the Apple Maps app someday becomes as good as (or better) than Google Maps, this move will be seen as genius.

by vosper 14y ago

joshu 14y ago

I love the fact that I can parachute in to some random city and walk around like I know what I am doing between maps and Yelp. I do not want to give that up.

philjohn 14y ago
Have you tried the new maps? The only real regressions I can see are poorer satellite imagery coverage (big whoop - it's a gimmick for 90% of the time) and non existent public transport routing. In my experience in the UK, the public transport routing never really worked on the google provided maps either. The maps themselves are provided by TomTom and in the UK and Europe at least they are very high quality, can't speak for the US.
- starik36 14y ago
  I agree. I used it on the way home with the step by step directions and it was pretty nice and right on the spot. The graphics are also very pleasant and the visual cues are easy to grok. The only thing I miss is street view. But I doubt that's coming back.
- trin_ 14y ago
  the maps for the town i'm living in (250k people, state capital in germany) are not entirely accurate. the positions of the listed businesses especially. some are downright false and some are misplaced by sometimes 400-500m.
- masklinn 14y ago
  > The only real regressions I can see are poorer satellite imagery coverage Map coverage of US campuses is also way down. Which makes a very small but vocal segment (US uni students) completely lose their mind over the issue. If you go to the apple/iphone subreddit, 9 out of 10 maps criticisms are US uni campus. On the other hand, considering how those things work, I'd expect non-US locations to be just as downgraded as US campus (and testimonies in this thread seem to confirm it)

headShrinker 14y ago

Actually, I don't believe Apple has sued Google.

greengarstudios 14y ago

In one sense, it's actually the opposite. In iOS 5 and earlier, they were at the mercy of their arch-rival. Now, by doing their own map, "crippled" or not, they're independent. They're less at Google's mercy than they were before. If the Apple Maps app someday becomes as good as (or better) than Google Maps, this move will be seen as genius.