MapQuest unveils alternative to Google Maps for iPhone
MapQuest on Monday took the wraps off a new application for iPhone users designed as an alternative to the built-in Google Maps software and billed as a "leap forward in how people interact with maps, directions and local search" on their Apple handsets.
One tap search
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Among the highlights of the free application (App Store), called MapQuest 4 Mobile, is a "place carousel" that makes it easy for users to conduct one-tap category searches from any location on a map.
Similar to the Dashboard feature of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, the carousel features icons, called 'place widgets,' that represent categories such as hotels, movie theaters, post offices, shopping centers, parking garages, schools, bars, pharmacies, gas stations and restaurants.
iPhone users can customize their place carousel with any of the 20 or so place widgets available simply by dragging and dropping them to and from the carousel. There are also place widget icons for leading brands, such as, Walmart, Autozone, Holiday Inn and Best Western, with more promised for future releases.
Driving directions
Unlike with Google Maps for iPhone, users of the MapQuest software can plan and save maps and driving routes on their computer using MapQuest.com and then retrieve them on the iPhone by logging into their My Places account. Some users may even find this interaction essential given that MapQuest for iPhone cannot access addresses stored in an iPhone's Address Book the way Google Maps can.
Asked about a lack of Address Book address, a spokesperson for MapQuest said the company is looking into adding the capability in a future release of MapQuest 4 Mobile for iPhone.
For trips that include more than one stop, the software offers multi-point routing and draggable re-ordering capabilities. Driving directions can be seen in standard map or list view, but are also available in a third view called "Max Maneuver" that kicks in when the iPhone is held in landscape mode. Under this view, each maneuver instruction fills the entire screen and users can progresses to the next or previous maneuver simply by "swiping" the screen to the right or left.
Other features
Some other features of the MapQuest iPhone app include smooth panning maps, live traffic, free-form search, GPS to identify a user's current location, and a search history.
Users can also customize the icon that represents their location on the map, either with a stock "My Position" icon that is chosen from a list of options or by using any phone available in an iPhone's photo album.
For those interested, MapQuest has also posted a silent walk-through video\t of the new software.
One tap search
\t
Among the highlights of the free application (App Store), called MapQuest 4 Mobile, is a "place carousel" that makes it easy for users to conduct one-tap category searches from any location on a map.
Similar to the Dashboard feature of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, the carousel features icons, called 'place widgets,' that represent categories such as hotels, movie theaters, post offices, shopping centers, parking garages, schools, bars, pharmacies, gas stations and restaurants.
iPhone users can customize their place carousel with any of the 20 or so place widgets available simply by dragging and dropping them to and from the carousel. There are also place widget icons for leading brands, such as, Walmart, Autozone, Holiday Inn and Best Western, with more promised for future releases.
Driving directions
Unlike with Google Maps for iPhone, users of the MapQuest software can plan and save maps and driving routes on their computer using MapQuest.com and then retrieve them on the iPhone by logging into their My Places account. Some users may even find this interaction essential given that MapQuest for iPhone cannot access addresses stored in an iPhone's Address Book the way Google Maps can.
Asked about a lack of Address Book address, a spokesperson for MapQuest said the company is looking into adding the capability in a future release of MapQuest 4 Mobile for iPhone.
For trips that include more than one stop, the software offers multi-point routing and draggable re-ordering capabilities. Driving directions can be seen in standard map or list view, but are also available in a third view called "Max Maneuver" that kicks in when the iPhone is held in landscape mode. Under this view, each maneuver instruction fills the entire screen and users can progresses to the next or previous maneuver simply by "swiping" the screen to the right or left.
Other features
Some other features of the MapQuest iPhone app include smooth panning maps, live traffic, free-form search, GPS to identify a user's current location, and a search history.
Users can also customize the icon that represents their location on the map, either with a stock "My Position" icon that is chosen from a list of options or by using any phone available in an iPhone's photo album.
For those interested, MapQuest has also posted a silent walk-through video\t of the new software.
Comments
Screw mapquest.
I wonder if anybody has ever gotten some BS government funding to conduct a study about the carbon footprint of using Mapquest? Has to be at least a few hundred thousand miles in America that have been wasted with this crappy service.
I used to use MapQuest... until Google Maps started letting me find what the places I was looking for by typing in an address that wasn't perfectly formatted, or just the place name. MapQuest sucks in comparison since their maps are no better than Google's in my estimation, and their search feature sucks worse too.
I just clicked the link in the article to go to the app in the store and it says it's not available in the US app store.
I just clicked the link in the article to go to the app in the store and it says it's not available in the US app store.
Just search for it and it comes right up. The link is broken.
As a law enforcement officer of 13 years, I can attest that over the last 10 years I've come to easily spot vehicles on the side of the road or driving erratically with the driver holding some papers in his/her hands as Mapquest users. I hate use the term profile, but they all have the same confused, desperate look about them. 98% of the time I would pull up beside some confused looking driver and ask "Let me guess, Mapquest?" and they would all say yes. They would proceed to tell me about trying to find some highway that didn't even exist in my state, much less my county. I've grown to down right hate Mapquest over the years just for the aggravation they put everybody through.
I wonder if anybody has ever gotten some BS government funding to conduct a study about the carbon footprint of using Mapquest? Has to be at least a few hundred thousand miles in America that have been wasted with this crappy service.
wow, "my state", "my country" .... feels very welcoming to people who live in your area.
By the way what does your response have to do with iPhone? If you wanna complain, there are plenty of DMV and Gov sites that can easily help you ease your anger from people who need help.
wow, "my state", "my country" .... feels very welcoming to people who live in your area.
By the way what does your response have to do with iPhone? If you wanna complain, there are plenty of DMV and Gov sites that can easily help you ease your anger from people who need help.
Did you even read what he wrote? This article is about a mapquest iphone app. He was talking about how confusing mapquest directions can make people worse drivers as they start to give more attention to the directions, and give less to the road.
So yeah, his response does have something to do with the iPhone app the rest of us are discussing. What does your response have anything to do with mapquest or the iphone? He should complain to the DMV that mapquest sends people on wild goose chases?
I just clicked the link in the article to go to the app in the store and it says it's not available in the US app store.
Just like MapQuest: It's giving the wrong directions.
As a law enforcement officer of 13 years, I can attest that over the last 10 years I've come to easily spot vehicles on the side of the road or driving erratically with the driver holding some papers in his/her hands as Mapquest users. I hate use the term profile, but they all have the same confused, desperate look about them. 98% of the time I would pull up beside some confused looking driver and ask "Let me guess, Mapquest?" and they would all say yes. They would proceed to tell me about trying to find some highway that didn't even exist in my state, much less my county. I've grown to down right hate Mapquest over the years just for the aggravation they put everybody through.
I wonder if anybody has ever gotten some BS government funding to conduct a study about the carbon footprint of using Mapquest? Has to be at least a few hundred thousand miles in America that have been wasted with this crappy service.
What about all of the miles saved by the 90ish % of correct directions, saving people from buying the paper maps that were sitting in gas station racks for 10 years and are out of date and do not mention construction closing and detours...
this may have been interesting last year, but with Googls doing such a good job, and TOMTOM and Garmin waiting in the wing, this is a non starter...
too little too late, i have to have a substantial reason to duplicate services
google does more and has more apps
i wish google had a "notes" or "to do" list that could sync with gmail or allow sharing
then when my wife needs the shopping or to do list i don't mess it up by forgetting it
but perhaps AI members could do a shoot out for mapquest and maps maybe we can learn from it.
what does each do better or best
What about all of the miles saved by the 90ish % of correct directions, saving people from buying the paper maps that were sitting in gas station racks for 10 years and are out of date and do not mention construction closing and detours...
People are sure jumping all over thebuddah
wow, "my state", "my country" .... feels very welcoming to people who live in your area.
By the way what does your response have to do with iPhone? If you wanna complain, there are plenty of DMV and Gov sites that can easily help you ease your anger from people who need help.
This seems like the perfect place to complain since we are talking about MapQuest here. Also, I like when people take ownership of their town/county/country. It doesn't mean outsiders aren't welcome, but that you have a sense of pride and responsibility towards the place you call home.
MapQuest does suck big time! This still hasn't been fixed: When I get directions to this restaurant right next door to me, it sends me 5 miles down to the nearest highway and then tells me to u-turn and come up a different street that intersects with the street I'm on. I can literally see the place if I walk outside my office. Honestly, I don't remember why I ever looked up those directions; I think it was just because I was testing their directions way back. To be really nitpicking, I don't even like the way their maps look. They are too cartoonish and harder to visualize accurately. These features won't sway me from Google Maps.
too little too late, i have to have a substantial reason to duplicate services
google does more and has more apps
i wish google had a "notes" or "to do" list that could sync with gmail or allow sharing
then when my wife needs the shopping or to do list i don't mess it up by forgetting it
but perhaps AI members could do a shoot out for mapquest and maps maybe we can learn from it.
what does each do better or best
I think you may have something there - for example you put milk on your shopping list and if you get within say 10 minutes of a grocery store you get an alert - maybe even have your favorite store plugged in - and sync across accounts would be good - you add milk to the list and your wife is heading home past the grocery store and a note pops up with the shopping list on it and directions to the store from where she is.
wow, "my state", "my country" .... feels very welcoming to people who live in your area.
By the way what does your response have to do with iPhone? If you wanna complain, there are plenty of DMV and Gov sites that can easily help you ease your anger from people who need help.
"My state" indicates he was referring to tourists from out of state.
"My country" indicates he was referring to tourists from out of state or out of country.
Both also indicate, like the previous poster said, pride in both his home and country.
His response had a great deal to do with iPhone because the topic was MapQuest on iPhone, which is the entire point of this article, and he cited a very relevant career-learned story about folks being led astray by MapQuest.
He used an emoticon to show an "angry face" which was directed from the first word toward MapQuest.
You should toughen your extremely delicate sensibilities...
What about all of the miles saved by the 90ish % of correct directions, saving people from buying the paper maps that were sitting in gas station racks for 10 years and are out of date and do not mention construction closing and detours...
Competition remains good.
And when both are free - why not try them both - compared to whatever the TomTom app and accessory will cost this may be a very good alternative for anyone.
Having both Google and Mapquest to compare against each other - or to try the other should one fail is a good thing.
I have had both success and failure with the built in Google maps - in Florida it got me from the airport to the hotel - after I drove in circles getting my bearings (original iPhone) - but on the way back to the airport Google maps sent me to the cargo/service entrance at the back of the airport rather than the passenger terminal/rental return.