Looks like Apple's map software has lots of issues

[Spoooon]

I put in that address but did city and state (new york, new york) in apple maps and it came up with the right location first attempt.

I put in the address as depicted in the ad and got the same results (as the ad). I wonder if it'd be different if you were in New York? And why did the Apple app prioritize 315 Marlborough Road over any other 315 e 15th result?

 

[zerocool84]

Open Safari.
Type maps.google.com

Not sure why people just don't use that. It works.

Because you lose a lot of functionality that a built in app provides. The same reason people use the twitter or Facebook app instead of the websites.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

How does Apple release such a sub par app? this is very unlike them.

They had to do this. They don't have the data that Google has with their maps and the only way they can get that data is by releasing it and crowdsourcing the information. Google is so good because it's been 5 years. Apple has had their maps app for a total of 4 days. Should they have put a beta moniker on it like Siri? I don't know but it pretty much is in the same position as Siri in that it has to crowdsource some of the information.

 

[Cattykit]

You were the same guy complaining about icons not matching the UI design and you think being upset about a useless map application is taking things out of proportion?

:thumbsup:

 

[badb0y]

I finally used the navigation and my only gripe with it so far is the search function, I like google's implementation way better but I guess this should improve over time.

As for the actual turn by turn and the navigation is worked pretty damn well for me. I am in NYC btw.

 

[jpeyton]

I put in that address but did city and state (new york, new york) in apple maps and it came up with the right location first attempt.

Apple's search algorithms are years behind Google. GMaps doesn't need handholding. If you type NY Google will search for a best match in NY. Apple's map search needs you to enter everything in long notation.

Just like in that video I posted, Apple's map search couldn't cross-reference the term "emergency room" with hospital, whereas GMaps could.

There is no easy fix for Apple short of buying a top tier mapping solution outright, but I don't know any that are for sale.

 

[mafia]

I played with the iOS 6 maps last night and while I wasn't very impressed, I also didn't notice any obvious mistakes. I still think Google's/Android's version is substantially better.

And Apple not including voice routing for iPhone 4 (you need a 4S) is just so annoyingly wrong. It's one of the things that really annoys me about the company, this funky artificial differentiation.

Can anyone explain why Apple does this? I'm pretty sure all the iPhones have enough CPU/Battery capacity to do voice routing. In fact, you can just download a GPS App that does it and it runs fine.

 

[lothar]

Can anyone explain why Apple does this? I'm pretty sure all the iPhones have enough CPU/Battery capacity to do voice routing. In fact, you can just download a GPS App that does it and it runs fine.

Because they want you to stand in line to get the next iPhone.

 

[mafia]

For all of you making fun of Apple and complaining about the maps. Yes they suck, it's like Google Earth when it first came out. But think about this way; Apple is trying to take Google's piece of the pie, and that promotes more competition, which is good for us consumers. So I applaud Apple for trying.

 

[WelshBloke]

They had to do this. They don't have the data that Google has with their maps and the only way they can get that data is by releasing it and crowdsourcing the information. Google is so good because it's been 5 years. Apple has had their maps app for a total of 4 days. Should they have put a beta moniker on it like Siri? I don't know but it pretty much is in the same position as Siri in that it has to crowdsource some of the information.

Apple have been harvesting location data for quite a few years now.

 

[WelshBloke]

Apologies if this was already posted; an analysis by someone who actually knows how to make maps: http://blog.telemapics.com/?p=399

That's a good little piece, I'll be pissed if apple buy ALK though.

 

[jpeyton]

which is good for us consumers. So I applaud Apple for trying.

What Apple is doing at this current time is the opposite of what is good for consumers. It's only good for their bottom line.

Price fixing eBooks. Trying to ban all Android handsets from the #1 Android device maker (Samsung). Trying to ban handsets from #2 and #3 as well. Producing a locked-down operating system which has removed functionality in its latest iteration.

 

[PingviN]

:biggrin:

 

[Wonderful Pork]

Apple's search algorithms are years behind Google. GMaps doesn't need handholding. If you type NY Google will search for a best match in NY. Apple's map search needs you to enter everything in long notation.

Just like in that video I posted, Apple's map search couldn't cross-reference the term "emergency room" with hospital, whereas GMaps could.

There is no easy fix for Apple short of buying a top tier mapping solution outright, but I don't know any that are for sale.

I agree Apple's maps are years behind Google's. They've been out for 6 months compared to 7+ years. Still, it would be disingenuous to say that Google's maps did not (and still do not) have issues since inception. Apple Maps shows the roads in my condo complex correctly and has more up to date satellite pictures. Google doesn't even have the roads drawn. I'm in greater Boston, MA.

With that said, I would love for Google to develop Maps for iOS, if only so that I can sync my starred items from the web to my device (which couldn't be done on previous iOS Maps anyway).

 

[waggy]

bwhahahahah i seen that the other day. but still fucking funny.


Tom Tom are good GPS i have aold one i got for $140 the maps got outdated (it was 2 yrs old) and they wanted $100 to update it. at the time you could buy a ok gps for that.

then i got my driod with google maps. nothing has come close to useing that. I love my SGSIII big screen and google maps.

 

[abaez]

http://news.yahoo.com/google-exec-not-yet-offered-map-apple-061410153--sector.html

Referring to an iOS6 map application:

"We have not done anything yet," he said.

 

[jpeyton]

http://news.yahoo.com/google-exec-not-yet-offered-map-apple-061410153--sector.html

Referring to an iOS6 map application:

Ouch, yeah he elaborates a little more here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/25/google_maps_on_ios6/

Schmidt took the opportunity to make a few more points about the iPhone: "Apple is the exception, and the Android system is the common model, which is why our market share is so much higher."

Schmidt said that the success of Linux-powered Android smartphones has been overlooked by the media, which he said was "obsessed with Apple's marketing events and Apple's branding".

And he's right, at the rate Android's market share and numbers are growing, they'll have more crowd-sourced data than their maps team knows what to do with (especially for a mapping product that's already years more mature than Apple's).

 

[Aikouka]

And he's right, at the rate Android's market share and numbers are growing, they'll have more crowd-sourced data than their maps team knows what to do with (especially for a mapping product that's already years more mature than Apple's).

It makes sense why the media doesn't care... because their new releases happen potentially a few times every month. The Android ecosystem is full of tons of devices. That doesn't mean that they're bad, but why would the media get into a fervor when there's a new phone every 3-4 weeks? Apple only releases a single phone every calendar year. What's interesting is that Samsung is pushing toward that model with their Galaxy series, and it seems to be working rather well for them. The S3 was released over a year after the S2 (according to what I see on Wikipedia).

 

[chewietobbacca]

It makes sense why the media doesn't care... because their new releases happen potentially a few times every month. The Android ecosystem is full of tons of devices. That doesn't mean that they're bad, but why would the media get into a fervor when there's a new phone every 3-4 weeks? Apple only releases a single phone every calendar year. What's interesting is that Samsung is pushing toward that model with their Galaxy series, and it seems to be working rather well for them. The S3 was released over a year after the S2 (according to what I see on Wikipedia).

Samsung isn't making a push towards it - they've already been there. The thing is, Samsung makes phones for every tier of consumer - hence it seems like Samsung comes out with a lot of devices. The truth is that its flagship tier, the Galaxy series, has basically only come out once a year. And now that Samsung has sold enough phones, they have amazing clout over the carriers - the S3 device has essentially identical hardware across all carriers, and is branded as Samsung wants it branded. The same is now true for the Note 2.0. In fact, Apple hasn't even gotten to as many carriers as Samsung has now (all 4 major ones + regional ones)

And it is true Apple gets way disproportional media coverage - of course, that can bite them in the butt too if this Maps thing doesn't get fixed fast

For all of you making fun of Apple and complaining about the maps. Yes they suck, it's like Google Earth when it first came out. But think about this way; Apple is trying to take Google's piece of the pie, and that promotes more competition, which is good for us consumers. So I applaud Apple for trying.

Good for competition... in the long run. But don't kid yourself. Marketing Maps as if it were the best out there, talking about iOS6 as being some huge new upgrade (despite Maps clearly being a downgrade), and still having fanboys talk about how Apple treats them the best... no surprise Apples does that of course. Its supporters will pay $$ for junk and defend them, so Apple has no need to change. Truth is, if they really gave two hoots about the consumer, they wouldn't have released Maps in its current state

The worst part of it all is that their drive for profits is hurting even non-iphone consumers:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/24/iphone-margins-idUSL1E8KLN2720120924

He estimates the iPhone subsidy at about $400, compared with $250 to $300 for other smartphones. That means iPhone customers only start to become profitable for carriers about nine months after they buy the device, compared with a five- to six-month timeframe for other smartphones.

As a result, mobile operators' profit margins usually suffer in the months after an iPhone launch, when sales volumes are highest.

"We always say an Apple a day keeps the profits away," Neil Montefiore, chief executive of Starhub, said during the Singapore wireless service provider's August earnings conference call.
....

In the United States, carriers have changed their policies to make customers wait longer for a subsidized upgrade and levied new fees, after Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint Nextel Corp suffered dramatic declines in profit margins based on earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) as a percentage of service revenue in the fourth quarter of 2012, when the iPhone 4S was launched.

No surprise that VZW, AT&T, and Sprint - the carriers of the iPhone - have all been raising plan rates and doing gimmicks like data sharing. F that!

 

[abaez]

http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/25/3...t-on-google-maps-contract-google-maps-ios-app

Apple's got some balls that's for sure.

 

[pandemonium]

WTF... You don't burn bridges like this...you subvert and conquer. Why did they change up their tactics for the worse? So sad.

 

[zerocool84]

WTF... You don't burn bridges like this...you subvert and conquer. Why did they change up their tactics for the worse? So sad.

They were too quick to get rid of everything Google which for them it's understandable why but they rushed it too quickly with this.

 

[Mopetar]

WTF... You don't burn bridges like this...you subvert and conquer. Why did they change up their tactics for the worse? So sad.

They were too quick to get rid of everything Google which for them it's understandable why but they rushed it too quickly with this.

Perhaps their mapping is at the point where it can't get too much more improvement without actual users using it and providing Apple with usage data. The world is a pretty big place and there's almost no way that they can get things working without millions of users actually using the app, finding bugs, and getting Apple some usage data.

If that's the case, another year behind closed doors isn't going to make things that much better and they'd still be going through the same problems as before.

 

[pandemonium]

That's probably true, but denying their users a functional mapping software is an overly presumptious move. If anything, you'd think they'd kindly request people to be a part of their data collection, while still allowing other software to be available.

Power users will of course find a way around this whole issue, but the majority won't be very thrilled with a sub-par product. I have a feeling Apple will lose a lot of fanatics over this. Having turn-by-turn navigation on a well developed mapping program on a smartphone has become a standard in today's day and age. This was poor planning. Very poor.

 

[Mopetar]

That's probably true, but denying their users a functional mapping software is an overly presumptious move.

It's a bit of a trade really. The Google maps app definitely had better maps, but was lacking a key feature like turn-by-turn navigation. Might have been better to leave the old app still around, but that might have been confusing for some.