Apple expands on-foot recon for Apple Maps, debuts overhauled schedule site

AppleInsider · February 6, 2019 4:17PM

Apple has revamped its schedule site for Apple Maps ground reconnaissance, simultaneously revealing more on-foot efforts in the U.S. and plans to start the first vehicle work in Andorra.

Pedestrian data collection is ongoing not just in California, but also in Hawaii and Nevada, the site indicates. Apple only confirmed the addition of foot teams in November, beginning with the California counties of Alameda, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz. Apple's Cupertino headquarters is located in Santa Clara county.

Hawaiian recon includes the city and county of Honolulu. Nevada collection is currently limited to Clark county.

Apple is in the process of building first-party map data with enhanced details versus the mix of third-party sources it previously depended on. Foot teams are presumably needed for the sake of pedestrian and cycling directions -- Apple Maps typically assumes people have to travel the same roadways as cars.

Andorra, located between France and Spain, will see Apple Maps vehicles appear in April. Since 2015 vehicles have been scanning the U.S. along with Croatia, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the U.K.

As for actually implementing extra details in Maps, Apple has so far only added them to California and Hawaii, likely because of the difficulty of gathering and verifying complete data.

Folio · February 6, 2019 4:58PM

That’s a great show of commitment. At first I wondered why not compile user-generated volunteered info for say bike routes. But then I realized I ride the wrong way on many one way streets, cut through off road, use alleys,etc. So now I see why Apple patiently trying to build a clean and lawful database. But anyway to do it faster?

ihatescreennames · February 6, 2019 5:42PM

Folio said:

That’s a great show of commitment. At first I wondered why not compile user-generated volunteered info for say bike routes. But then I realized I ride the wrong way on many one way streets, cut through off road, use alleys,etc. So now I see why Apple patiently trying to build a clean and lawful database. But anyway to do it faster?

Please, yes, faster. Four states scheduled for this year seems amazingly low. It doesn’t take much to figure out it will take over 10 years to finish at this pace. And by that time who knows where the tech will be.

jbdragon · February 6, 2019 5:48PM

I've seen the Apple Car a few times, alone with Google's Car driving around here. I'm just wondering when Apple will have their own Street View? They have been gathering that data. Even in this Backpack version, you can see all the camera's. Not sure I'd want to be walking around for long with that backpack on. Especially walking on Dirt trails and whatnot.

StrangeDays · February 6, 2019 5:49PM

ihatescreennames said:

Folio said:

That’s a great show of commitment. At first I wondered why not compile user-generated volunteered info for say bike routes. But then I realized I ride the wrong way on many one way streets, cut through off road, use alleys,etc. So now I see why Apple patiently trying to build a clean and lawful database. But anyway to do it faster?

Please, yes, faster. Four states scheduled for this year seems amazingly low. It doesn’t take much to figure out it will take over 10 years to finish at this pace. And by that time who knows where the tech will be.

Believing it will be linear is a mistake. With new initiatives, you learn first by doing. Then you replicate and scale. After they learn by doing, they will apply that knowledge to the project plans for the other states and rollout will commence, likely with many states in parallel.

geekmee · February 6, 2019 6:51PM

Sounds like a job for AI.

Apple expands on-foot recon for Apple Maps, debuts overhauled schedule site

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