Purported iOS 6 screenshots claim to show Apple's new Maps app
A collection of blurry photos claim to reveal Apple's redesigned Maps application, expected to be a major component of the anticipated iOS 6 update for iPhone and iPad.
The five pictures claiming to show the new iOS 6 Maps application were published on Tuesday by Boy Genius Report. The images were credited to a "trusted source," and hint at a redesigned user interface with a silver color scheme, rather than the current blue.
The new Maps application will reportedly feature a button in the bottom left corner with two options: a "locate me" feature," and quick access to a new 3D mode. Apple's 3D mapping solution is expected to be driven by the acquisition of C3 Technologies in 2011.
The 3D mapping functionality is said to be near complete, and is being tested in a build of iOS 6 reportedly labeled "10A3XX."
Details on the anticipated revamped iOS Maps application first surfaced earlier this month, claiming that the 3D mapping functionality will be a key component of Apple's new in-house solution. The new Maps application is expected to be shown off as part of an iOS 6 demonstration at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference, which will be held June 11 through 15 in San Francisco, Calif.
Apple's plan to move away from Google and develop its own proprietary mapping solution has been a long time in the making. The company's plans were first signaled in 2009, when it purchased Placebase, a competitor to Google Maps.
And in 2010, Apple bought Poly9, another mapping company, and began using its own location databases for the Maps application with the launch of iOS 3.2 for the first-generation iPad. Another key acquisition came in 2011, when Apple bought C3 Technologies, a Sweden-based 3D mapping company.
Another key component of the anticipated Maps overhaul in iOS 6 could be traffic. Apple publicly announced last April that it was "collecting anonymous traffic data to build a crowd-sourced traffic database," for an "improved traffic service" that would launch in "the next couple of years."
In addition to a 3D mapping button, the purported iOS 6 Maps pictures revealed on Tuesday also include a button for "Directions," which could include Apple's in-the-works traffic service to aid in turn-by-turn driving directions. The pictures also show a different look for the mapping data that is similar to the OpenStreetMap data Apple began using with the release of iPhoto for iOS in March.
The five pictures claiming to show the new iOS 6 Maps application were published on Tuesday by Boy Genius Report. The images were credited to a "trusted source," and hint at a redesigned user interface with a silver color scheme, rather than the current blue.
The new Maps application will reportedly feature a button in the bottom left corner with two options: a "locate me" feature," and quick access to a new 3D mode. Apple's 3D mapping solution is expected to be driven by the acquisition of C3 Technologies in 2011.
The 3D mapping functionality is said to be near complete, and is being tested in a build of iOS 6 reportedly labeled "10A3XX."
Details on the anticipated revamped iOS Maps application first surfaced earlier this month, claiming that the 3D mapping functionality will be a key component of Apple's new in-house solution. The new Maps application is expected to be shown off as part of an iOS 6 demonstration at Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference, which will be held June 11 through 15 in San Francisco, Calif.
Apple's plan to move away from Google and develop its own proprietary mapping solution has been a long time in the making. The company's plans were first signaled in 2009, when it purchased Placebase, a competitor to Google Maps.
And in 2010, Apple bought Poly9, another mapping company, and began using its own location databases for the Maps application with the launch of iOS 3.2 for the first-generation iPad. Another key acquisition came in 2011, when Apple bought C3 Technologies, a Sweden-based 3D mapping company.
Another key component of the anticipated Maps overhaul in iOS 6 could be traffic. Apple publicly announced last April that it was "collecting anonymous traffic data to build a crowd-sourced traffic database," for an "improved traffic service" that would launch in "the next couple of years."
In addition to a 3D mapping button, the purported iOS 6 Maps pictures revealed on Tuesday also include a button for "Directions," which could include Apple's in-the-works traffic service to aid in turn-by-turn driving directions. The pictures also show a different look for the mapping data that is similar to the OpenStreetMap data Apple began using with the release of iPhoto for iOS in March.
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andysol
Don't mind maps now as is- but im confident apple will improve it even further.
Agreed.
I wonder if they will have a web-based version as well like Google's? I'd like to see that.
Google's web-based maps are almost unusable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
Agreed.
I wonder if they will have a web-based version as well like Google's? I'd like to see that.
Google's web-based maps are almost unusable.
Apple's tiles for OpenStreetMap can be viewed via the Web using viewers from Dair Grant and Iván Sánchez.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
Agreed.
I wonder if they will have a web-based version as well like Google's? I'd like to see that.
Google's web-based maps are almost unusable.
to be honest, probably not. They will use it as a way to push the devices. IF this is true. After all, the device wasn't seen in the photos and thus it could be anything.
I won't be surprised to find out that Apple is working on something. That they bought those companies would imply that at some point. Just not sure now is the point or that it is what folks are claiming. For example, I won't say 100% they are doing voice feedback real time turn by turn. Or going to do AR with the maps or 3D, especially on the iPhone (they could perhaps make that a feature of the iPad version only).
There is also the appeal of getting away from Google and creating another database that folks can license instead of putting google maps in everything. So through that idea there might be someone that makes a web based map system that uses Apple's database.
The best move Apple could do is to allow for crowd sourced data. A number of streets in my area have gone one way since Google mapped the area but trying to get them to update their directions is crazy. If we users could sign up to be mappers for the system we could make those updates ourselves. We could correct crap driving directions that send you 5 blocks out of the way or block off directions that go on streets that are closed for construction. And it could be done faster than Google's cars. I would even happily go out and take photos of the fronts of businesses for 'street view' stuff (I'm opposed to the inclusion of private homes so I would skip over those)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
Google's web-based maps are almost unusable.
How so? I really like Google Maps. It works for me. I especially like that I can customize it with my own KML files as well as custom icons. draw lines, colors, etc. I can even feed it live database driven data ( which I'm not supposed to do... but.. ) to plot vehicles in route using GPS services. Google Maps rules with street view and integration with Google Earth, mass transit schedules, and more. What is not to like? Besides it is dead on accurate in 99% of the time.
I hope that The Google Map for iOS remains an option. Apple has a long way to go to beat Google Maps in my opinion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by charlituna
The best move Apple could do is to allow for crowd sourced data. A number of streets in my area have gone one way since Google mapped the area but trying to get them to update their directions is crazy.
Have you tried the support page for fixing Google Maps?
http://support.google.com/maps/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=98014
I found an error and submitted it and it was fixed within a week.
Why must leaks always suck so much in quality? One of these guys has to own a dedicated camera, lol.
The problem with this "leak" is the lack of content that couldn't be done by anyone with access in Xcode.
There's not a single thing here that I couldn't fake myself, with my own pathetic knowledge.
I hope the maps are more up to date than Google. Ive switched to Bing lately. Google maps for most parts of Australia I have used it for is like an encyclopaedia "How this place looked 5-10 years ago". Directions send you the long way, wrong way or to dead ends. The C3 3d example on youtube looked excellent. Probably only works in US and parts of Europe though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
How so? I really like Google Maps. It works for me. I especially like that I can customize it with my own KML files as well as custom icons. draw lines, colors, etc. I can even feed it live database driven data ( which I'm not supposed to do... but.. ) to plot vehicles in route using GPS services. Google Maps rules with street view and integration with Google Earth, mass transit schedules, and more. What is not to like? Besides it is dead on accurate in 99% of the time.
I hope that The Google Map for iOS remains an option. Apple has a long way to go to beat Google Maps in my opinion.
Among other things (all IMO of course), the controls are awkward and often just don't work. The "zooming in from space" feature is a bit ridiculous in that clicking on it jumps the scene in such large amounts that it really is only good for backing all the way out into space. The tiles are very slowly served also. It also doesn't support pinch-to-zoom, or at least I've never been able to make it work, so you end up clicking around with an old-style mouse like a crazy person.
The database is also much less accurate than it used to be and never seems to be fixed. For instance in my city, there used to be one area where if one was clicking in street view to go down a particular street, all of a sudden one found oneself in an alley two blocks to the left. This was annoying of course but now, there are at least five or six such areas in my city that I'm aware of. These kinds of errors seem to be increasing rather than decreasing.
Finally, and stupidest of all ... street view does not work at all unless you install Flash. This is extra dumb because of course it works on iOS without flash and actually works faster.
Apple's iOS app for Maps is much faster, simpler, and easier to use than Google's web-based one. For at least the last year or two, if I'm sitting at my desk and want to use Google maps and street view, I always reach for my iPad even though the computer is right in front of me. I've seen others do the same, and that alone is a damning indicator of how awful the web-based experience is.
I'm a big fan of the current iOS Map app but also welcome improvements as other posters have already stated.
While I detest spoken driving instructions from the likes of a Tom Tom or other brand name, I'd be curious to see whether Apple can present a more elegant solution. What really pisses me off about those GPS driving gadgets is how they mercilessly interrupt conversation amongst passengers. They need to somehow be more discreet, as minimal as possible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
Apple's iOS app for Maps is much faster, simpler, and easier to use than Google's web-based one. For at least the last year or two, if I'm sitting at my desk and want to use Google maps and street view, I always reach for my iPad even though the computer is right in front of me. I've seen others do the same, and that alone is a damning indicator of how awful the web-based experience is.
Perhaps the iOS version is a bit friendlier to use in particular the pinch to zoom, however the pinch to zoom can be annoying as well if you are looking at an embedded map because once the map begins to fill up the screen you can no longer pan or zoom on the page itself because the map is intercepting the touch gestures. The web version needs to be compatible with Flash because up until very recently IE was the most popular browser and it does not support HTML5. The web based version is faster for me especially if you are trying to input text into the search box or trying to click on a particular pin in close proximity to another.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
Perhaps the iOS version is a bit friendlier to use in particular the pinch to zoom, however the pinch to zoom can be annoying as well if you are looking at an embedded map because once the map begins to fill up the screen you can no longer pan or zoom on the page itself because the map is intercepting the touch gestures. The web version needs to be compatible with Flash because up until very recently IE was the most popular browser and it does not support HTML5. The web based version is faster for me especially if you are trying to input text into the search box or trying to click on a particular pin in close proximity to another.
To each their own I suppose. Pinch-to-zoom doesn't work at all for me, the web page zooms, but not the map. It's just such an awkward, ungainly product overall I feel like I'm stumbling all the time when I use it, whereas I can get the same job done in iOS Maps in literally three pinches and a swipe.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazoobee
Agreed.
I wonder if they will have a web-based version as well like Google's? I'd like to see that.
Google's web-based maps are almost unusable.
Apple is not a web business. 95% chance for no web version.
It goes without saying that the one essential feature of any Apple map is voice turn by turn navigation. Without voice navigation what is the point? There are already plenty of map apps for iOS and Waze and Mapquest already include voice and are free, but just don't do a very good job. Apple needs something to compete with Maps on Android which is brilliant.
Both have a long way to go to get near Ovi/Nokia Maps.
A big fat YES to silver. I never did like the blue.
Both have a long way to go to get near Ovi/Nokia Maps.
Different direction is mostly good. Especially when it can be improved beyond what is regular or typical use. I never like Ovi maps, BTW but I like Google Maps or even MS is good too.Can't help but feel that Apple is losing the war on research here. Shouldn't they have the depth and breadth of technical expertise to develop this stuff in house without having to continually purchase other companies? Is it a sustainable business model going forward?
I'll gloss over the fact that it must be a slow news day if the best bit of information is three low res, blurred images showing nothing, in an article of previously openly available information. That's AI for you.
Now the big question: "Mapple" or "iMap" LOL