Looks like Apple's map software has lots of issues

[WelshBloke]

TomTom and iOS look the same to me.

I haven't use TomTom in a while but they used to make very good mobile nav stuff. The WM app I had was great.

Not sure what your trying to say there.

 

[Eug]

TomTom and iOS look the same to me.

I think you missed the point of that article. Yeah, the Tom Tom data there in that picture is limited. Tom Tom doesn't have as good data overall as Google.

However, it's usually accurate. What Tom Tom is saying is that the mislabelling and the wonky images are all Apple's fault. Tom Tom sold Apple its data, but Apple screwed up the implementation.

 

[TuxDave]

I think you missed the point of that article. Yeah, the Tom Tom data there in that picture is limited. Tom Tom doesn't have as good data overall as Google.

However, it's usually accurate. What Tom Tom is saying is that the mislabelling and the wonky images are all Apple's fault. Tom Tom sold Apple its data, but Apple screwed up the implementation.

That "wonky image" is definitely Apple's fault. The incorrect road is TomTom's fault. Those curvy images is only when using the flyby feature and honestly, I played with it for 5-10 minutes and really can't see myself using it on a day-to-day basis. I'd rather stick with the "no satellite image 2D" maps.

(don't know where to point the finger at the Burger King thing... I guess whoever provided the POI database. Either that or it's behind the church and the image is just trying to make it look like it IS the church)

 

[TuxDave]

I haven't use TomTom in a while but they used to make very good mobile nav stuff. The WM app I had was great.

Not sure what your trying to say there.

The link that eug had wasn't to the article he quoted but instead to a picture. In that picture the top two were iOS and TomTom. They were both incorrect which means the incorrect road data is TomTom's fault.

 

[shabby]

TomTom and iOS look the same to me (equally incorrect if Google maps is the most correct. Look at the missing loop at the bottom).

Ya but its purple looking, totally different.

 

[WelshBloke]

The link that eug had wasn't to the article he quoted but instead to a picture. In that picture the top two were iOS and TomTom. They were both incorrect which means the incorrect road data is TomTom's fault.

Ah sorry, I thought you were talking about the TomTom app.

 

[Eug]

The link that eug had wasn't to the article he quoted but instead to a picture.

Sorry, wrong link. Here's the article:

http://9to5mac.com/2012/09/20/as-apples-new-maps-get-ridiculed-its-partners-feel-the-burn-lash-out/

Also: Apple Partner: Your New iPhone May Get You Lost

"What's going to happen with the Apple maps, is that you're literally not going to find things," Bardin says. "When you do find them, they might be in the wrong place or position geographically. And if you do have it, the route to it may not be the optimal route."

Bardin says that a lot of mobile app developers have reached out to Waze to see if they can integrate Waze directly into their apps, bypassing Apple's.

"They're saying many things that used to work on Google don't work on Apple," Bardin says. "Going forward now, we're going to see this around maps, it's the question of how fast Apple can work with their partners to update the data and how good the user experience will be."

 

[Phynaz]

(don't know where to point the finger at the Burger King thing... I guess whoever provided the POI database. Either that or it's behind the church and the image is just trying to make it look like it IS the church)

It could be also be nearby. For example if you put my address into Google maps it drops the pin on a house which is actually on a different street.

The reason is because of how the map companies lay out their maps. They don't pinpoint every single address. They get the addresses for each end of the street, and the number of addresses on the street. Then when creating the map data, they fix the end addresses to each end of the street and divide up the remaining addresses equally over the length of the street.

A 1,000' street that has 10 addresses has them spaced 100' apart regardless of where they actually exist.

The reason why it mis-identifies my house is because I have the last address on the street, and therefore the map companies plot me as the last house on the street. But, the last house physically on the street actually faces the cross-street (they are the corner house, I'm one off the corner)

 

[s44]

Why would you let something as small as maps on a mobile phone get you in such a rage that you have to resort to calling people names?

I don't know if you guys remember, but Google Maps was *the* original killer app on the iPhone.

It's a huge deal.

 

[NaOH]

Nope. But then again the old iOS Google maps didn't so you'll just be going back to what you used to have. I thought that was the point of the suggestion.

The problem is. The browser version is laggy and is no where near as elegant as what used to be on the phone. It works, to a low level degree, but it won't make anyone feel like they're going back to what they used to have. Not by a long shot.

 

[cheezy321]

I don't know if you guys remember, but Google Maps was *the* original killer app on the iPhone.

It's a huge deal.

I agree google maps was the original killer app. That and the full web browsing experience.

However back then there werent any apps to compete with google maps. There are some other options out there that you can use.

That being said, none of that excuses the sub-par maps experience that apple is currently delivering. I also don't think anyone honestly expected apple to knock it out of the park with their first foray into maps.

 

[TuxDave]

The problem is. The browser version is laggy and is no where near as elegant as what used to be on the phone. It works, to a low level degree, but it won't make anyone feel like they're going back to what they used to have. Not by a long shot.

Yeah I played with the website version... and I didn't think Google maps on iOS could get any worse.

 

[Spoooon]

I agree google maps was the original killer app. That and the full web browsing experience.

However back then there werent any apps to compete with google maps. There are some other options out there that you can use.

That being said, none of that excuses the sub-par maps experience that apple is currently delivering. I also don't think anyone honestly expected apple to knock it out of the park with their first foray into maps.

I don't know about that. While it may have been unrealistic, I think a lot of people probably expected it to be awesome.

 

[Mopetar]

Updated to iOS 6 on my iPad and tried out the new maps. The 3D stuff is definitely cool, but it really isn't very useful. It seems to have pretty good data for my area, but that's obviously not going to be the case for everyone. I never used the maps on my iPad much previously so this is more of a curiosity for me. I imagine that Google will be releasing an app in the next few months so I don't see this being a huge issue for long.

 

[zerocool84]

I don't know about that. While it may have been unrealistic, I think a lot of people probably expected it to be awesome.

People will probably take this the wrong way but Apple supporters always said that the reason Apple takes a long time to implement things in iOS is because they take the time to do it right and it just works (copy/paste, multitasking, etc). Well with Jobs gone, that seems to be gone as well. I've said this before and I'll say it again, Apple will never be the same company without Jobs. His attention to detail and hands-on micro managing of so many things at Apple is gone forever. Jobs would have never let something like this maps get released in the state it is now.

 

[Eug]

People will probably take this the wrong way but Apple supporters always said that the reason Apple takes a long time to implement things in iOS is because they take the time to do it right and it just works (copy/paste, multitasking, etc). Well with Jobs gone, that seems to be gone as well. I've said this before and I'll say it again, Apple will never be the same company without Jobs. His attention to detail and hands-on micro managing of so many things at Apple is gone forever. Jobs would have never let something like this maps get released in the state it is now.

iMovie '08
Final Cut Pro X

 

[cheezy321]

People will probably take this the wrong way but Apple supporters always said that the reason Apple takes a long time to implement things in iOS is because they take the time to do it right and it just works (copy/paste, multitasking, etc). Well with Jobs gone, that seems to be gone as well. I've said this before and I'll say it again, Apple will never be the same company without Jobs. His attention to detail and hands-on micro managing of so many things at Apple is gone forever. Jobs would have never let something like this maps get released in the state it is now.

You could also look at it the opposite way. This could have been directed specifically by him. Steve Jobs hated android and thought it was a stolen product. In that sense, he probably also felt betrayed by Google and specifically Eric Schmidt. He wanted to do whatever it takes to remove as many Google branded products from his phone. This probably set the course for a demand to have google maps and other properties removed from his phone by a specific time. He could have demanded to have an alternative by the time the iPhone 5 gets released.

Who knows who really made the decision. I bet Jobs had a lot more input on moving away from Google maps as soon as possible than you think.

 

[Mopetar]

People will probably take this the wrong way but Apple supporters always said that the reason Apple takes a long time to implement things in iOS is because they take the time to do it right and it just works (copy/paste, multitasking, etc).

They may have had their hand forced a little early. Apparently, the original deal that Apple and Google signed to use Google's maps with iOS was set to expire around this time. They could have renewed the deal with Google, but who knows what kind of terms Google wanted out of the deal.

Besides, it's not as though Apple's history isn't littered with other examples of things that were pushed out too early, or otherwise were lacking based on people's expectations of Apple.

 

[TheStu]

iMovie '08
Final Cut Pro X

iPod Boombox
3rd Gen Shuffle
G4 Cube
Stitched Leather
iPhone Bluetooth Headset

What Eug and I are both saying is that you can point at all these instances of 'mis-steps' by Apple during Steve Jobs' tenure. I think it is too easy to say that it is because Jobs isn't around. Yes, the 'waited until it was ready' argument is used by people, but could Apple have built Maps completely in a backroom? I am not so sure, I think it had to get into everyone's hands in order to make it better. As to why they opted to drop Google, I can't say for sure, but there is a quote from Tim Cook that basically says that Apple prefers to be in control of the fundamental technologies that drive their products. That is why they bought PA Semi and developed the A6 in house (so the story goes, we'll wait for the teardown). Mapping is a fundamental part of how many use their phones, and so Apple wanted to be in control of it, they couldn't with Google.

 

[Eug]

The G4 Cube was awesome... just way overpriced. I also don't know that the iPod Boombox was actually bad either. It was just expensive. From what I understand it worked just fine.

The 3rd gen shuffle was the biggest brainfart product ever though.

 

[TheStu]

The G4 Cube was awesome... just way overpriced. I also don't know that the iPod Boombox was actually bad either. It was just expensive. From what I understand it worked just fine.

The 3rd gen shuffle was the biggest brainfart product ever though.

Ok, then replace those with basically every mouse they have ever made.

 

[Phynaz]

The 3rd gen shuffle was the biggest brainfart product ever though.

Which one was that? The thing that was wired into the headphones? Did they manage to sell any of those?

 

[Eug]

Which one was that? The thing that was wired into the headphones? Did they manage to sell any of those?

Given the designs of the releases, my guess is they didn't sell very many of the 3rd gens.

2nd gen:

3rd gen:

4th gen:

Here is how to use the iPod shuffle 3rd gen:

 

[ControlD]

The G4 Cube was awesome... just way overpriced. I also don't know that the iPod Boombox was actually bad either. It was just expensive. From what I understand it worked just fine.

The 3rd gen shuffle was the biggest brainfart product ever though.

The last generation nano wasn't too far behind. Talk about a good concept gone terribly wrong. Been through a couple of them and they are junk.

 

[Eug]

Yes, I got the last gen nano. I actually didn't want to but it was a recall on my click-wheel nano, and I didn't want an exploding battery. I hate that touch screen nano.

In any case, back on topic...

I think in North America in large centres the data and implementation may be OK for the most part, although I realize there are glaring omissions like transit support. For me it's not a deal killer because I drive and I generally find car GPSs better in nearly every way (except portability) so I simply wouldn't use turn-by-turn etc. in my iPhone. Plus my GPS maps are reasonably up-to-date because I have lifetime map updates.

OTOH for those who use Maps a lot, you might want to just stick with iOS 5 for now. For many people, the other aspects of iOS 6 just don't make for a great upgrade, so the backwards step of Apple Maps is a good reason to hold off.

About the only things that really interest me in iOS 6 are Do Not Disturb and Panorama photos, the latter of which I can't use anyway with my iPhone 4. Passbook is pretty irrelevant at the time being (just like NFC), and I hate facebook and twitter so I have no need for their integration.