Apple Maps directions beat Google Maps, Waze in pundit's head-to-head test

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  • Reply 61 of 138
    goofy1958goofy1958 Posts: 165member


    The Apple Maps app worked great for me in Colorado while on a trip.  It correctly led me to every restaurant that I asked it to.  I have no problem with it, and you can bet that Apple is hard at work to correct the issues.  So it seems that people complain that Apple is resting on it's laurels lately, but sometimes, so does Google.  image

  • Reply 62 of 138
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    solipsismx wrote: »
    At your age I figured you were born in BC.




    (did that joke work?)

    :D

    Well I thought it was funny, but he's three years older than me.
  • Reply 63 of 138
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    hill60 wrote: »
    It looks like Google Maps might not work so well in Germany soon.

    No surprise. Google apparently never saw IP that it didn't attempt to steal.
  • Reply 64 of 138
    timbittimbit Posts: 331member
    11thindian wrote: »
    As someone who lives in another part of the world, you are incorrect.  I've used Apple Maps exclusively since launch and have never had an issue in Southern Ontario (Canada).

    I live in the same area and used to have major issues with Apple Maps. I would have to type in the EXACT address, down to the postal code just to get the correct area. However, it has vastly improved now and is much better.

    I still find Apple struggles with searches though. I can type any street name into google (even if it is slightly misspelled) and google will find a street in the city that matches (or closely matches) my search. Apple can't do that, you have to be very precise, which makes it difficult if you spell the street name wrong, or the restaurant, etc.
  • Reply 65 of 138
    v5vv5v Posts: 1,357member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jragosta View Post



    Why is it that every time someone tries to do a side-by-side comparison, Apple Maps comes out looking at least as good as Google Maps. Yet it doesn't stop the trolls from "well, in MY part of the world, it doesn't work at all".


     


    <*Sigh*> Seriously? The test was in one of the most widely documented/cartographed areas of the world that also just happens to be APPLE'S OWN BACK YARD. You don't think that colors the results? Honestly?


     


    Further, for every person that wrote, "It still doesn't work in my area" there was one who wrote, "It works fine here, too."


     


    Finally, why is it so difficult for you to believe that perhaps there are areas of the country... continent... PLANET that may not be well served by Apple maps? Fer crissake, it's barely out of diapers. OF COURSE it's gonna have holes.

  • Reply 66 of 138
    vicpvicp Posts: 11member
    I guess Google hates me too. They managed do do their street view drive-by on trash day, so all the houses on my street have their trash cans in front.

    And to top it off, some time ago I was looking up the places I lived as a kid, and the apartment house in New York had trash in front as well. But maybe that is standard in New York...
  • Reply 67 of 138
    I found Apple's Maps to be more accurate than Google's Maps while driving around the Yucatan in Mexico this last Winter. I ran them both side by side out of curiosity, Google sent me the wrong way several times, down streets that weren't even there. Never had any problems with Apple's maps.

    I'm starting to think there may have been some hiccups at rollout that were amplified by the media (and google fanboys).
  • Reply 68 of 138
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

















    Apple Maps

    Google Maps

    Open Street Map


     


     


    People are always going to say you are lying if you claim Apple Maps is bad unless you have proof. Even then they will say, sure, you can cherry pick remote regions that are not yet served and you are just a troll. This is my home town. I want Apple to be quite a bit better than they are now because it is unusable in its current state. Open Street Map is by far the best of the three.

  • Reply 69 of 138
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    mstone wrote: »
    [TABLE]
    [TR]
    [TD]<img alt="" class="lightbox-enabled" data-id="21705" data-type="61" height="468" src="http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/21705/width/264/height/468/flags/LL" style="; width: 264px; height: 468px;" width="264">
    [/TD]
    [TD]<img alt="" class="lightbox-enabled" data-id="21703" data-type="61" height="331" src="http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/21703/width/366/height/331/flags/LL" style="; width: 364px; height: 331px;" width="364">
    [/TD]
    [TD]<img alt="" class="lightbox-enabled" data-id="21704" data-type="61" height="362" src="http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/21704/width/369/height/362/flags/LL" style="; width: 368px; height: 362px;" width="368">
    [/TD]
    [/TR]
    [TR]
    [TD]Apple Maps[/TD]
    [TD]Google Maps[/TD]
    [TD]Open Street Map[/TD]
    [/TR]
    [/TABLE]


    People are always going to say you are lying if you claim Apple Maps is bad unless you have proof. Even then they will say, sure, you can cherry pick remote regions that are not yet served and you are just a troll. This is my home town. I want Apple to be quite a bit better than they are now because it is unusable in its current state. Open Street Map is by far the best of the three.

    That's nice. There are places where Apple Maps isn't perfect. There are also places where Google Maps isn't perfect. You haven't listed any of those.

    In the end, it's quite simple:

    Apple Maps has X mistakes.
    Google Maps has Y mistakes.

    Unless you can prove that X > Y, your repeated claims that Apple Maps is inferior is nothing more than FUD. So where's your evidence?

    It's funny how every published report says that Apple Maps is at least as good (often better) than Google Maps, but you never seem to pay any attention. You always come back to your one example. Why is that?
  • Reply 70 of 138
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    v5v wrote: »
    <*Sigh*> Seriously? The test was in one of the most widely documented/cartographed areas of the world that also just happens to be APPLE'S OWN BACK YARD. You don't think that colors the results? Honestly?

    Further, for every person that wrote, "It still doesn't work in my area" there was one who wrote, "It works fine here, too."

    Finally, why is it so difficult for you to believe that perhaps there are areas of the country... continent... PLANET that may not be well served by Apple maps? Fer crissake, it's barely out of diapers. OF COURSE it's gonna have holes.

    I never claimed that Apple Maps was perfect or that it didn't have problems. I've simply asked for proof of the assertion that Apple Maps is inferior. It's really simple:

    Apple Maps has X mistakes.
    Google Maps has Y mistakes.

    Unless you can prove that X > Y, your repeated claims that Apple Maps is inferior is nothing more than FUD. So where's your evidence?
  • Reply 71 of 138
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jragosta View Post




    It's funny how every published report says that Apple Maps is at least as good (often better) than Google Maps, but you never seem to pay any attention. You always come back to your one example. Why is that?



    I've heard numerous times that Apple uses Open Street Map for data, then why the hell don't they use it? It is clearly an excellent resource in my area. Also I could post plenty of other comparisons throughout that region and neighboring countries. What is wrong with wanting Apple to improve their maps in my area? I want people who come to our town as a vacation or retirement destination to be able to find the hospital, the gas station, the banks or the language school, etc.

  • Reply 72 of 138
    iqatedoiqatedo Posts: 1,822member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Lerxt View Post



    Who is he kidding? It may work within 20 miles of Silicon Valley but Apple maps is still a disaster in the rest of the world.


    I'm about as far from Apple headquarters as one can be and it has not once been a disaster. Go back to papa googes.

  • Reply 73 of 138
    mechanicmechanic Posts: 805member
    I have used apple maps in beta and in the gm version and never had any issues with it at all in all kinds of different areas ranging from city to small towns to out in the middle of nowhere.
  • Reply 74 of 138
    lerxtlerxt Posts: 186member
    I l
    11thindian wrote: »
    As someone who lives in another part of the world, you are incorrect.  I've used Apple Maps exclusively since launch and have never had an issue in Southern Ontario (Canada).
    I live in Hong Kong and commute to my place in Australia once or twice a month. I travel 20 days a month to most of the rest of the world in the course of my job. I cannot use Apple Maps as it almost never can find my destinations because the map data is inadequate.
  • Reply 75 of 138
    hftshfts Posts: 386member
    lerxt wrote: »
    Who is he kidding? It may work within 20 miles of Silicon Valley but Apple maps is still a disaster in the rest of the world.
    I live in Australia and Apple Maps works very good.
    Sure there are some issues, but google maps also has issues.
  • Reply 76 of 138
    hftshfts Posts: 386member
    drblank wrote: »
    Are you just being a jealous Android/Windows user or do you have valid RECENT data.  Like anything that requires 3rd party data, Apple gets updates for their Maps app on a regular basis.  I know if you have a bad experience one day, that you might not recheck it.  But so far, in MY area, which is well over 120 miles away from Apple HQ, I have not had any issues.  I've done my own comparisons between Apple, Google Maps and others (I haven't tried Waze yet) and I have found Apple to be better in MY area.  I also like the fact that there are little icons of places like restaurants, gas stations, etc. which Google does not.

    I've also checked out photos of places that were posted as being poorly rendered and they fixed them, so the Hoover Dam road doesn't look weird like it USED to.

    So, the only thing I can say is, check your area on a monthly basis, and send in via the app fixes.  It takes time to fix whatever problems there are, as like everything things don't happen in a vacuum or over night, it takes time.

    But in terms of just the user interface, Google does a bad job IMO.  They can't even get YouTube to have a decent interface.  I have still yet to find a Google app that actually has a nice interface.  To me, that's as important as the accuracy, security, and how fast it works.
    You hit the nail on he head.
    All google's stuff has really terrible UI, who the hell are their designers?
    They keep on changing YouTube (the only part of google I touch), for no apparent benefit.
    I don't have that garbage flash installed and before I could filter by WebM, now that's gone.
    Stop defending crap people, tear away your loyalties and be unbiased. Call crap what it is, crap.
    I think Apple's web site is crap, it used to be better, now it's hard to do the simple and easy things.
    I could redesign it to be much better than it is now. Same with iTunes.
  • Reply 77 of 138
    hftshfts Posts: 386member
    In the late '70's I used to be in the U.S. Navy. Mostly in the Med. Whenever a Russian destroyer was in the vicinity, they would go out of their way to cut across our bow (that's the "pointy" end for you non-sailors). Not too close and they would dump their trash so we would go thru it.

    The reaction on our bridge was always the same..no big deal, it just seemed infantile and unnecessary. 

    It's hopefully not intentional on Google's part.

    :)
    Ever thought why they did that?
    Perhaps being surrounded with pro-US enemies armed to the teeth, ready to destroy your country and kill your loved ones. I think throwing trash is minor, don't you? I bet you never did that ??????????
  • Reply 78 of 138
    cash907cash907 Posts: 893member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    driving test orchestrated by columnist John C. Dvorak.


     


    And that's where this lost credibility. Sorry, John, but I stopped trusting your word after one too many complete BS statements on TWiT.

  • Reply 79 of 138
    hftshfts Posts: 386member
    And before I get cited by talking politics, remember I didn't start it.
    It wasn't me Gov'nor.
  • Reply 80 of 138
    I use Apple's Maps as a resource to verify other nav apps. I have been given bad directions by several nav apps & have used Apple's Maps app to get me un-lost & to my destination many times. I also use it to verify dubious directions & I rely on it for more accurate travel times. I don't use Maps as my regular nav app because the features are too basic & I prefer to have my map data onboard. All nav apps make dubious choices in route planning & I have found that they also give spurious directions enroute, such as driving on an interstate & out of the blue saying to make a left turn onto the street below. True, Apple's new 3-D flyover tech proved to be still in alpha, but that doesn't affect the directions. A major issue with Maps' POI is the rusult of bad data from Yelp. The clear indicator is any POI with a Yelp rating. If there is a dupe or a misplaced pointer (location) it probably from Yelp's data

    Cheers !
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