What would help is allowing community members to edit and correct map details.
Apple Maps has a button that says “Report an Issue”. That button is in a few spots within AM and can be used to report issues with a business (such as incorrect hours, incorrect locations on the map, business moved or closed, etc), to report errors in navigation, etc. It’s there for anyone to use. The issue gets reported then fixed, sometimes Apple will ask for more information before a fix is issued.
With Apple’s loyal following, I would think that an army of willing editors could easily be found who conscientiously would make edits. This could propel Apple Maps ahead and would likely help especially in markets outside of the U.S., on which Apple places a lower priority (case in point: today’s news that Apple Pay is rolling out in Morocco, nine years after its inception).
Apple's following may be loyal, but its user base - especially its Maps user base - is dwarfed by Waze/Google's. I've also found that even in moderately-sized US metro areas (500k+) new, major roads were on Google/Waze the day they opened, but took weeks-to-months to appear in Apple Maps. I've also found new-ish subdivisions that have been there 1-2 years, where the streets are there, but the numbering is all wrong. If you're not in a major US city, Apple Maps is still fairly terrible, in my experience, even today.
It’s the opposite where I am. Our house is fairly new, built on a new street in 2021. People using Apple Maps get directions to my house, as expected. People using Google Maps end up on a street that’s about 1/2 a mile away from us, that isn’t similarly named and usually call asking how to find us. This was especially frustrating when we kept getting calls from furniture delivery drivers who were on the wrong street and using Google Maps. I’d have to walk them through all the turns to get to my house. We’ve been here now for over 18 months and last month Google Maps was still providing incorrect directions.
I’ve never noticed the report issue button before. Thank you for this! There’s a street that’s one-way close to where I live and Apple Maps keeps trying to get me to turn the wrong way onto it. Just sent them a report. We’ll see how long it takes to get corrected
In The Netherlands I still don't get bike directions. Google maps has that for I don't know how many years. And a commercial address is much harder to find, if at all. In Google maps I never have this difficulty. But on the flip side, our new house, in a new street, could not be found on Google for two years, whereas Apple found in right away. A mixed bag. I always start on Apple Maps, where my loyalty lies. But oftentimes I get disappointed.
Outside the USA, feature updates for Apple Maps can take a glacial time. I suspect the mapping for each roll out is being entirely conducted by a blind, walking stick using retiree with a three legged guide dog. The retiree sends the updated information by surface mail back to Apple HQ once every couple of months. When they have taken their meds and thus remember to do it.
that said, Apple Maps is definitely vastly improved compared with a few years ago, and I would say more widely used than people think, given its default in CarPlay.
It is SIRI and its poor understanding of queries that really holds Apple Maps back these days.
What would help is allowing community members to edit and correct map details.
Apple Maps has a button that says “Report an Issue”. That button is in a few spots within AM and can be used to report issues with a business (such as incorrect hours, incorrect locations on the map, business moved or closed, etc), to report errors in navigation, etc. It’s there for anyone to use. The issue gets reported then fixed, sometimes Apple will ask for more information before a fix is issued.
With Apple’s loyal following, I would think that an army of willing editors could easily be found who conscientiously would make edits. This could propel Apple Maps ahead and would likely help especially in markets outside of the U.S., on which Apple places a lower priority (case in point: today’s news that Apple Pay is rolling out in Morocco, nine years after its inception).
Apple's following may be loyal, but its user base - especially its Maps user base - is dwarfed by Waze/Google's. I've also found that even in moderately-sized US metro areas (500k+) new, major roads were on Google/Waze the day they opened, but took weeks-to-months to appear in Apple Maps. I've also found new-ish subdivisions that have been there 1-2 years, where the streets are there, but the numbering is all wrong. If you're not in a major US city, Apple Maps is still fairly terrible, in my experience, even today.
It’s the opposite where I am. Our house is fairly new, built on a new street in 2021. People using Apple Maps get directions to my house, as expected. People using Google Maps end up on a street that’s about 1/2 a mile away from us, that isn’t similarly named and usually call asking how to find us. This was especially frustrating when we kept getting calls from furniture delivery drivers who were on the wrong street and using Google Maps. I’d have to walk them through all the turns to get to my house. We’ve been here now for over 18 months and last month Google Maps was still providing incorrect directions.
I’ve never noticed the report issue button before. Thank you for this! There’s a street that’s one-way close to where I live and Apple Maps keeps trying to get me to turn the wrong way onto it. Just sent them a report. We’ll see how long it takes to get corrected
I’ve used the report button dozens of times. Mostly it works, sometimes they need more “encouragement”. As mentioned above, works on places and routes. Recently it took me down a whole brand new road that had just opened through virgin fields shown on the satellite imagery. Saved lots of time, it was deserted.
I’ve been using Apple Maps and the only complaint I have is that it doesn’t have street view like google maps does (at least not in enough areas to be useful)
rarely Apple Maps will have an issue and I’ll try Google maps but that’s maybe once or twice a year.
When I first used it I couldn't work out why it kept sending me down the back way to my house. Then I realised it was because Google Maps had a paper road at the end that I had always driven to get home. Satellite clearly showed the road but the mapping system had the paper road and so it wouldn't send the correct way.
Google Maps has only started showing this area in the past 4 months. Once again, Apple Maps had been displaying it since it became available... at least 4 years ago.
I don't know where Google Maps gets its data from but Apple's use of TomTom maps has always put it ahead of Google's product for me.
The only thing I use Google Maps for is when zoomed in you can see house numbers. I use this in my role as a postie.
I really like the improvements Apple Maps has made in the last few years, and I use it for my long distance trips regularly. However, I still tend to have Waze running in "Alerts Only" mode in the background because, unfortunately, it still lags behind Waze in the area of rerouting around traffic problems. Presumably because of the larger user base, Waze has consistently been better at rerouting around such than Apple Maps is.
For local trips, I seldom use Apple Maps, and always use Waze, even when I know the way, just because of the rerouting issue.
I really like the improvements Apple Maps has made in the last few years, and I use it for my long distance trips regularly. However, I still tend to have Waze running in "Alerts Only" mode in the background because, unfortunately, it still lags behind Waze in the area of rerouting around traffic problems. Presumably because of the larger user base, Waze has consistently been better at rerouting around such than Apple Maps is.
For local trips, I seldom use Apple Maps, and always use Waze, even when I know the way, just because of the rerouting issue.
Perhaps a classic case of privacy vs a great free (you are the product) product? I abandoned clever Waze when Google bought it — although sometimes it felt a little too loose with re-routing for minor gains.
I prefer Waze for my day-to-day navigation, including for routine trips. The reason is that I know that the maps are up-to-date and the traffic and road-closure data is accurate. What allows Waze to accomplish that is that it obtains data from all Android users, not just those that use Waze, and community-edited maps. Apple has the first component of that from all of its iPhone users. What would help is allowing community members to edit and correct map details.
To give you a couple of examples:
I am not a Waze map editor myself. It’s a bit complicated—which keeps vandals away, too, I guess. A nearby road has a 30-day closure, because of roadway realignment, starting in two days. I reported this in the Waze map. An editor has already implemented this change and scheduled it, and two days from now, I can expect Waze to send me on a detour (not necessarily the officially suggested one). After 30 days this road closure will automatically disappear, unless someone reports that the construction project finished early, or—let’s hope not—took longer.
A while back, Waze advised me to make a left turn across a median that was not interrupted at that point. I reported that, and a community editor implemented that change. Community editors are eager to help make even minor edits like that, which improve overall map accuracy.
With Apple’s loyal following, I would think that an army of willing editors could easily be found who conscientiously would make edits. This could propel Apple Maps ahead and would likely help especially in markets outside of the U.S., on which Apple places a lower priority (case in point: today’s news that Apple Pay is rolling out in Morocco, nine years after its inception).
Home-field advantage is almost always more important to most people and companies….. that’s just the way it goes.
Also, never use map programs when driving, I want to listen to music at all times when driving a car.
I prefer Waze for my day-to-day navigation, including for routine trips. The reason is that I know that the maps are up-to-date and the traffic and road-closure data is accurate. What allows Waze to accomplish that is that it obtains data from all Android users, not just those that use Waze, and community-edited maps. Apple has the first component of that from all of its iPhone users. What would help is allowing community members to edit and correct map details.
To give you a couple of examples:
I am not a Waze map editor myself. It’s a bit complicated—which keeps vandals away, too, I guess. A nearby road has a 30-day closure, because of roadway realignment, starting in two days. I reported this in the Waze map. An editor has already implemented this change and scheduled it, and two days from now, I can expect Waze to send me on a detour (not necessarily the officially suggested one). After 30 days this road closure will automatically disappear, unless someone reports that the construction project finished early, or—let’s hope not—took longer.
A while back, Waze advised me to make a left turn across a median that was not interrupted at that point. I reported that, and a community editor implemented that change. Community editors are eager to help make even minor edits like that, which improve overall map accuracy.
With Apple’s loyal following, I would think that an army of willing editors could easily be found who conscientiously would make edits. This could propel Apple Maps ahead and would likely help especially in markets outside of the U.S., on which Apple places a lower priority (case in point: today’s news that Apple Pay is rolling out in Morocco, nine years after its inception).
Home-field advantage is almost always more important to most people and companies….. that’s just the way it goes.
Also, never use map programs when driving, I want to listen to music at all times when driving a car.
I habitually turn off turn-by-turn voice instructions and keep an eye on the screen.
The voice is just too repetitive — I'd love a lower verbosity setting. i.e. tell me the junction is coming (or just bong) and then shut up about it.
Yeah, that's how I drive. However, it doesn't seem to work for me. I'm sensing I shouldn't admit that here and incur wroth, but it seems to either bug me too much about trivial navigation updates, or I miss important ones.
I prefer Waze for my day-to-day navigation, including for routine trips. The reason is that I know that the maps are up-to-date and the traffic and road-closure data is accurate. What allows Waze to accomplish that is that it obtains data from all Android users, not just those that use Waze, and community-edited maps. Apple has the first component of that from all of its iPhone users. What would help is allowing community members to edit and correct map details.
To give you a couple of examples:
I am not a Waze map editor myself. It’s a bit complicated—which keeps vandals away, too, I guess. A nearby road has a 30-day closure, because of roadway realignment, starting in two days. I reported this in the Waze map. An editor has already implemented this change and scheduled it, and two days from now, I can expect Waze to send me on a detour (not necessarily the officially suggested one). After 30 days this road closure will automatically disappear, unless someone reports that the construction project finished early, or—let’s hope not—took longer.
A while back, Waze advised me to make a left turn across a median that was not interrupted at that point. I reported that, and a community editor implemented that change. Community editors are eager to help make even minor edits like that, which improve overall map accuracy.
With Apple’s loyal following, I would think that an army of willing editors could easily be found who conscientiously would make edits. This could propel Apple Maps ahead and would likely help especially in markets outside of the U.S., on which Apple places a lower priority (case in point: today’s news that Apple Pay is rolling out in Morocco, nine years after its inception).
Apple has mechanisms for reporting issues (although not construction in the US). I've reported a number of glitches (addresses in the wrong place, missing addresses in new areas, etc.). Ironically on a recent trip one business specifically mentioned that Apple Maps sent you to the wrong place (address was something like Road Name Rd but Apple sent you to Old Road Name Rd). I submitted it to Apple and in a few days it was fixed. Imagine if the business had done that rather than likely tell customers the directions were wrong for years. I would think more businesses would want to make sure their business showed up properly in both Google and Apple Maps.
Admittedly, I've had two things that have taken multiple reports to get them to fix it correctly, but that's been pretty rare.
Comments
And a commercial address is much harder to find, if at all. In Google maps I never have this difficulty.
But on the flip side, our new house, in a new street, could not be found on Google for two years, whereas Apple found in right away.
A mixed bag. I always start on Apple Maps, where my loyalty lies. But oftentimes I get disappointed.
that said, Apple Maps is definitely vastly improved compared with a few years ago, and I would say more widely used than people think, given its default in CarPlay.
rarely Apple Maps will have an issue and I’ll try Google maps but that’s maybe once or twice a year.
When I first used it I couldn't work out why it kept sending me down the back way to my house. Then I realised it was because Google Maps had a paper road at the end that I had always driven to get home. Satellite clearly showed the road but the mapping system had the paper road and so it wouldn't send the correct way.
Day 1 of Apple Maps it sent me to correct route.
Want to see something more recent:
midsummer ave stratford — Apple Maps
midsummer ave stratford — Google Maps
Google Maps has only started showing this area in the past 4 months. Once again, Apple Maps had been displaying it since it became available... at least 4 years ago.
I don't know where Google Maps gets its data from but Apple's use of TomTom maps has always put it ahead of Google's product for me.
The only thing I use Google Maps for is when zoomed in you can see house numbers. I use this in my role as a postie.
Also, never use map programs when driving, I want to listen to music at all times when driving a car.
The voice is just too repetitive — I'd love a lower verbosity setting. i.e. tell me the junction is coming (or just bong) and then shut up about it.
I know I know. Can't have it both ways!
Admittedly, I've had two things that have taken multiple reports to get them to fix it correctly, but that's been pretty rare.