4 ms·

Please can we switch back to Google maps now?

ra 14y ago
Oh man I wish Apple would just get over themselves and allow it in the app store. I've started carrying around my Nexus 7 in addition to my iphone just because of maps. If iOS maps isn't seriously fixed by the time my contract is out, there's no way I'd by another iphone.
- lostlogin 14y ago
  Is it Apple that not letting it into the App Store? I thought that this was just speculation? The reason maps changed was, as I understood it, not just due to Apple, as google wouldn't give access to 'the good data' - vector based maps.
- taligent 14y ago
  According to TechCrunch, Google was hoping to have it submitted by Christmas. There is NO evidence that Apple is blocking it from the store.
  - rdtsc 14y ago
    Exactly. This is really Apple's loss at this point. As more stories like these accumulate, there will be a good number of users who will think twice before jumping in and buying an Apple device. Getting stuck in a bad part of a city, getting lost on some unpaved road at night in a national park, is many people's nightmare. At this point many don't even carry paper maps or if they did they probably couldn't use it effectively.
randomdata 14y ago
Google Maps on my iPhone has tried to send me down roads buried in several feet of snow (no winter maintenance road) before. Switching back to Google Maps doesn't make this sort of problem magically go away.
- charliesome 14y ago
  The difference is that the road is still there, it's just buried beneath snow. It's a maps app, not a weather reporting app.
  - randomdata 14y ago
    Sorry if I wasn't entirely clear before. The road wasn't buried in snow because we just had a blizzard, the road was buried because it has no winter maintenance. The road should not have come up as a passable route. For all intents and purposes, it does not exist.
    - kedean 14y ago
      That's an interesting issue I've never considered, living in an area where most roads are maintained, and if they are not they can still be driven on. Are there any digital map services that do take that into account when providing possible routes?
  - gutnor 14y ago
    There are a few road in France (some very famous Tour de France "col") that I know become part of a ski resort in winter time. Sure the road is indeed still there but for several months a year you need a pair of ski, a pass and the skill to manage a red track. The important point to note though, is that independent of the quality of the map in your GPS, there is plenty of indication along the road. Turn by turn indication is great, but indication on the road itself should take precedence. I don't know what makes somebody follow blindly a magical widget in a way they would never follow local people giving them indication. ( I had quite often the situation of friends following the GPS instead of my indication, despite having lived in the area for 30+ years. )
- rdtsc 14y ago
  Would you expect a paper map to clear the road from snow for you?
  - 14y ago

ra 14y ago

Oh man I wish Apple would just get over themselves and allow it in the app store. I've started carrying around my Nexus 7 in addition to my iphone just because of maps. If iOS maps isn't seriously fixed by the time my contract is out, there's no way I'd by another iphone.

lostlogin 14y ago
Is it Apple that not letting it into the App Store? I thought that this was just speculation? The reason maps changed was, as I understood it, not just due to Apple, as google wouldn't give access to 'the good data' - vector based maps.
taligent 14y ago
According to TechCrunch, Google was hoping to have it submitted by Christmas. There is NO evidence that Apple is blocking it from the store.
- rdtsc 14y ago
  Exactly. This is really Apple's loss at this point. As more stories like these accumulate, there will be a good number of users who will think twice before jumping in and buying an Apple device. Getting stuck in a bad part of a city, getting lost on some unpaved road at night in a national park, is many people's nightmare. At this point many don't even carry paper maps or if they did they probably couldn't use it effectively.

randomdata 14y ago

Google Maps on my iPhone has tried to send me down roads buried in several feet of snow (no winter maintenance road) before. Switching back to Google Maps doesn't make this sort of problem magically go away.

charliesome 14y ago
The difference is that the road is still there, it's just buried beneath snow. It's a maps app, not a weather reporting app.
- randomdata 14y ago
  Sorry if I wasn't entirely clear before. The road wasn't buried in snow because we just had a blizzard, the road was buried because it has no winter maintenance. The road should not have come up as a passable route. For all intents and purposes, it does not exist.
  - kedean 14y ago
    That's an interesting issue I've never considered, living in an area where most roads are maintained, and if they are not they can still be driven on. Are there any digital map services that do take that into account when providing possible routes?
- gutnor 14y ago
  There are a few road in France (some very famous Tour de France "col") that I know become part of a ski resort in winter time. Sure the road is indeed still there but for several months a year you need a pair of ski, a pass and the skill to manage a red track. The important point to note though, is that independent of the quality of the map in your GPS, there is plenty of indication along the road. Turn by turn indication is great, but indication on the road itself should take precedence. I don't know what makes somebody follow blindly a magical widget in a way they would never follow local people giving them indication. ( I had quite often the situation of friends following the GPS instead of my indication, despite having lived in the area for 30+ years. )
rdtsc 14y ago
Would you expect a paper map to clear the road from snow for you?
- 14y ago