Apple adds iOS Maps Flyover support, 3D buildings, turn-by-turn navigation in multiple cities
Apple has been quietly updating its much maligned iOS Maps app over the past weeks, adding Flyover support for 15 new cities, while updating 3D building rendering, turn-by-turn navigation, points of interest and other tweaks for many others.
As reported by The Loop, Apple is continually updating its mapping service and has recently added a number of new cities that support the company's proprietary 3D Flyover view.
Flyover view of Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany.
New cities to offer Flyover support:
Apple also updated a number of Chinese assets, including a new coloring scheme, Chinese character readability, point of interest tweaks, and road network changes. Other improvements include expanded international points of interest with new iconography and more accurate address data.
It was reported in February that job listings pointed to ongoing development of Apple's mapping platform, with hires including software engineers and, more recently, fact checkers.
The company is working hard to rectify a shaky launch in September 2012 that drew the ire of users around the world, who complained of multiple inaccuracies, poor implementation of the Flyover feature and various usability issues. Compounding the problem was Apple's decision to ditch Google Maps, which powered iOS Maps until iOS 6, a move that left iOS device users without familiar features like Google's Street View and public transit times.
As reported by The Loop, Apple is continually updating its mapping service and has recently added a number of new cities that support the company's proprietary 3D Flyover view.
Flyover view of Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany.
New cities to offer Flyover support:
- Modesto, CA
- Stockton, CA
- Indianapolis, IN
- Baltimore, MD
- Minneapolis, MN
- Portland, ME
- Albany, NY
- Buffalo, NY
- Cleveland, OH
- Tulsa, OK
- Providence, RH
- Green Bay, WI
- Vancouver, BC
- Cologne, Germany
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Birmingham, AL
- Boston, MA
- Portland, OR
- Houston, TX
- Toronto, ON
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- London, England
- Lyon, France
- Berlin, Germany
- Munich, Germany
- Rome, Italy
- Barcelona, Spain
- Madrid, Spain
- Stockholm, Sweden
Apple also updated a number of Chinese assets, including a new coloring scheme, Chinese character readability, point of interest tweaks, and road network changes. Other improvements include expanded international points of interest with new iconography and more accurate address data.
It was reported in February that job listings pointed to ongoing development of Apple's mapping platform, with hires including software engineers and, more recently, fact checkers.
The company is working hard to rectify a shaky launch in September 2012 that drew the ire of users around the world, who complained of multiple inaccuracies, poor implementation of the Flyover feature and various usability issues. Compounding the problem was Apple's decision to ditch Google Maps, which powered iOS Maps until iOS 6, a move that left iOS device users without familiar features like Google's Street View and public transit times.
Comments
Yay, Vancouver. Going to check it out later.
Quote:
Originally Posted by quinney
Seeing Modesto and Stockton on the list makes me wonder how they are assigning priority to Maps improvements.
It's probably based on what data they can get that's clean. Modesto and Stockton are probably some of the bigger cities in Ca they still have left to do. Who knows?
Apple maps is infintly better than google maps (via web).
I cannot comment on the google map app on the iDevice, but I don't care as this shit will never get past the tighest quality control out there, thats me.
Based on the UI from past uses of google, I can be 100% certain that its rubbish.
Apple maps work fine for me, and it will only get better over time.
Where are the whiners when google first released their map app ? Where are you ? I can smell you but not see you ? Please come out and play.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cynic
Alright, Flyover takes time and whatnot. Fair enough. Generally however, there are many places around the world where the maps are almost blank. Forget flyover and complete your data first. Start with street names for example. And please do this while people still care.
Flyover and improving map data can be done completely independently, I doubt they're taking time from one to work on the other. Mapping the architecture from the sky has nothing to do with sourcing better data. I have no doubt their primary focus on maps is improving the data further.
Where? Where are "many places around the world where the maps are almost blank?" I would like a list.
Just checked out flyover for Minneapolis and the POI they have tagged to the Metrodome is the Minnesota Twins. <facepalm>
Perhaps he/she means that the maps are blank not in terms of streets but business/POI data. That's largely been my experience. Apple Maps is decent for roads but for my purposes has been fairly useless in terms of finding businesses I look up. Others seem fine with it so clearly very dependent on user location and search habits.
Where? The question is still valid.
What they need to do is to reality check all the Yelp-sourced POIs and location data. Or replace the Yelp location data entirely.
What's next? Flyover in Gary, Indiana? Compton, CA? Queens, NY? a garbage dump? LOL
The problem with this is that Apple has secured multiple data sources including Acxiom, Factual and Localeze. Yelp only provides business reviews. Acxiom, Factual and Localeze are data aggregators and are considered the authoritative sources for business listings even more so than Google.
republic of Panama
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacBook Pro
Where? The question is still valid.
I'm sure there are many places, but anywhere in the Republic of Panama is almost void of POI. In fact the only POI on the Amador Causeway is from the late 1970s when it was a US military base. Now, that it is no longer a base, there are hundreds of restaurants and shops there but none are listed.
I think one of the main problems in the world outside of the US, UK, Japan is that there are no street addresses. Things are described as x number of meters diagonal to the south east from the fire station for example. They use landmarks not numerical addresses.
Modesto and Stockton are exactly where Apple should focus.
List of United States cities by population
1. New York, NY
2. Los Angeles, CA
3. Chicago, IL
...
10. San Jose, CA
...
14. San Francisco, CA
...
35. Sacramento, CA
...
46. Oakland, CA
...
63. Stockton, CA
...
107. Modesto, CA
As we can see, Modesto and Stockton are relatively large cities within the United States. Furthermore, Modesto and Stockton are immediately adjacent to three very large metropolitan statistical areas as well as the sixth most populous combined statistical area in the United States.
The Largest Combined Statistical Areas of the United States of America
1. New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA CSA
2. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA CSA
3. Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City, IL-IN-WI CSA
4. Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV CSA
5. Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-RI-NH CSA
6. San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA CSA
San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA CSA
When we consider the preceding in conjunction with evidence that California (with Massachusetts) has the highest rate of iPhone ownership per capita (in 2010) then we can envision why Apple might desire to expend resources in this region.