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DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

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Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#41

Post by Erik816 »

scrooched_moose wrote: post #31
bilbo0s wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty sure you can forget about DDG supporting Google. The whole point of DDG is privacy. Not sure how they could use Google and still keep your location information private?

They do have the !g option in their search though. If you aren't happy with the results, append your string with !g and it will send you to google results. You do lose the privacy layer though. From a purely privacy standpoint this isn't much different. There are a ton of other bang options here: https://duckduckgo.com/bang ?

I was under the impression that a !g search was somehow anonymized. Was that just wishful thinking?

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#43

Post by JumpCrisscross »

burlesona wrote: post #40

This is cool to see, and I think should be a virtuous cycle. As I understand it, maps is the kind of thing where more usage really helps make the map better, and while DDG doesn’t bring the scale of being the iphone’s default map, it should be adding a non-trivial amount of traffic. I’ve used Apple Maps as my primary map since it came out, and I’ve only gotten a wrong location one time in literally thousands of searc…

> Not saying it’s clearly better than Google

If privacy is worth something to you, it’s clearly better than Google.

I, too, use Apple as my primary map. In many cases, Apple Maps is better Google. The ones in which it’s behind are more than made up for by Apple’s values.

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#44

Post by Nightshaxx »

gpm wrote: post #26
Spivak wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Firefox is slightly better in this regard but it still searches when what you typed isn't a prefix match for something in your history,bookmarks,whatever. It's extremely annoying behavior and the go-to add-on "Enter Selects" that fixes doesn't work with WebExtensions. https://github.com/Mardak/enterSelects/issues/16

Does preferences->search->provide search suggestions=(unchecked) not do what you want?

Also in Firefox you can opt to have an entirely separate search box and address box.....it's somewhere in appearance settings.

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#45

Post by papln »

bilbo0s wrote: post #34
Naac wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DDG already "supports" google via !g searches

Which are explicitly required to be non-private. Users know this and are cautioned, explicitly against using it for that very reason. Now if you don't care that google knows your information, then yeah, just use google maps. But a user must be at DDG for some reason right? And that reason is as likely to be privacy as it is not. So if you're at DDG for privacy, why ask for all google information?

Where is the warning on https://duckduckgo.com/bang?c=Online+Services&sc=Google ?

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#46

Post by bogonic »

ilikehurdles wrote: post #38
rootusrootus wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use it all the time. In Portland it is as good as GMaps is at navigating fastest route during heavy traffic. Which is to say, not perfect, but adequate. It has yet to take me to the wrong location.

I also exclusively use it in Colorado. There are times when I'm on heavily-trafficked mountain routes where I've swapped to google maps expecting to get a better ETA estimate or detour suggestions, but I haven't seen it perform any better in those cases either. I feel like I trust GMaps more in the mountains but I haven't tested that trust lately. Privacy reasons aside, I just despise using GMaps for its clashing app…

I use Apple Maps almost exclusively (Seattle and New York), except when I'm on a bike. Google Maps remains the best I've found for navigation on a bike.

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#47

Post by nvrspyx »

oldgun wrote: post #21

Not sure if it's a lot to ask, but I'll consider it a killer app if DDG can let user opt which map source to choose from? e.g. Some may prefer Google, and some may prefer openstreetmap? Just a thought.

They at least let you choose which one to use for directions. Apple Maps is the default as far as I can tell, but if you go to the settings page on DDG [1] and scroll down to Directions Source, you can change to Bing, Google, HERE, and OpenStreetMap. However, this only affects what it directs you to when you click "Get Directions" and you can't change the actual map source that's embedded or used for location results, although I believe they used to let you change that. It's a bummer that it was changed and that their Help page still refers to that feature [2].

[1] https://duckduckgo.com/settings

[2] https://help.duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help-pages/features/m...

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#48

Post by Freak_NL »

solarkraft wrote: post #24

Why support proprietary Apple Maps instead of Open Street Map? Is the data a lot more precise? Is the viewer smoother? Is it just another step towards aligning with Apple for an eventual buyout/search engine standard? That said: If privacy is the only concern Apple seems to be a pretty good ally, as the only major player with a significant interest in it.

> Is the data a lot more precise?

Perhaps in Apple's own backyard. In the Netherlands it's laughably bad. Cycle tracks? Mostly missing (in a country that has a huge cycling infrastructure). The map doesn't even have building outlines.

Google Maps is slightly better, but mostly because of the more extensive mapping of points-of-interest; because business owners add their own information with an almost religious zeal.

Bing interestingly enough uses OpenStreetMap (and properly attributes its usage) to gain access to the municipally contributed building outlines OpenStreetMap can use due to its permissive licence. The roads are their own though, and they are quite inaccurate at the lower end of the road hierarchy.

OpenStreetMap is probably the most complete map here in the Netherlands (disclaimer: I contribute to OpenStreetMap).

DuckDuckGo using Apple Maps instead of OpenStreetMap is a really weird choice for many countries, but perhaps it works better in the US?

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#49

Post by dmix »

larrysalibra wrote: post #37

I thought people complaining in the comments were just being critical, but I clicked the “coffee shops” example search in the post - I’m in Hong Kong - and it showed me only 2 results: One coffee shop in Hong Kong and one on the other side of the Pearl River Delta in Macau. That’s pretty bad. Screenshot here: https://twitter.com/larrysalibra/status/1151182624108318720?...

That looks more like it has to do with query detection than the lack of results. It clearly didn’t understand the Hong Kong part, which is the main issue.

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#50

Post by scrooched_moose »

Erik816 wrote: post #41
scrooched_moose wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They do have the !g option in their search though. If you aren't happy with the results, append your string with !g and it will send you to google results. You do lose the privacy layer though. From a purely privacy standpoint this isn't much different. There are a ton of other bang options here: https://duckduckgo.com/bang ?

I was under the impression that a !g search was somehow anonymized. Was that just wishful thinking?

Not from my reading of the site I linked:

Remember, though, because your search is actually taking place on that other site, you are subject to that site’s policies, including its data collection practices.

It's possible the strip some information in the transfer but not everything?

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