Congrats to the teams who did this! It’s been a long time coming.. and a lot of people said along the way that Apple should just give up it was too far behind. Perseverance (and a lot of resources) can go a long way! It reminds me of some advice given to me by a heavily successful industrialist friend — never dismiss your competition, for the world is not static.
Honestly, the redesign aside, it's really impressive how quickly they are catching up with most Google Maps features. Given, I haven't tried these myself and can't attest to their quality, but in the article they list: Real-Time Transit info, Sharing ETA, Indoor Maps, etc. They also got street view, and more. Of course, it's much easier to copy features than innovate, the latter takes years of UX research, while the…
Apple delivers a new redesigned Maps for users in the United States
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Re: Apple delivers a new redesigned Maps for users in the United States
#322I'd been using Waze for a couple of years, and initially it was far superior to Apple Maps. But a few months back, I got really frustrated with it because it led me down some closed roads & ended up doubling my commute time home from work that day. I'd also been noting how off it was on its estimates on when I'd get to my destination. And I was also perturbed by it not knowing the back street entrance to my work site…
I love the idea of switching from Waze, which is increasingly frustrating and wrong. The problem is that having the speed traps and radar sites on there is just too crucial to give up. I've never found a replacement that does that.
Re: Apple delivers a new redesigned Maps for users in the United States
#323Not sure Maps needs a redesign. It certainly needs better search. I just opened up maps, searched the name of my company, and it gave me the London Office. I'm sitting in our office in Kansas City.
Re: Apple delivers a new redesigned Maps for users in the United States
#324Earlier quoted context omitted.
Google Maps also got the person there 5% faster than Apple Maps, in that study. This really does call for a larger study, though. It would be nice to see how the error bars and potential differences come out across different trip times, and different drivers.
You'd probably end with significantly different results based on country. Somehow the underlying logic of mapping AI seems to be more-or-less of a fit for national road systems — for instance in Europe, with lots of discrepancies between borders, it's really hit or miss: in France and Germany I end up on stupid country roads to save 2 minutes on a 2h drive, but that seldom happens in the Netherlands (granted they hav…
Maps really need a “not worth it” features for tiny optimizations. I’d often prefer a slightly slower route that’s less work to drive.
Re: Apple delivers a new redesigned Maps for users in the United States
#325Re: Apple delivers a new redesigned Maps for users in the United States
#326Earlier quoted context omitted.
I hear Apple is pretty responsive about correcting reported errors. There's error reporting inside the app that includes a spot to attach a photo. Of course, this can be problematic when driving and I much prefer Waze's error reporting.
How do you do this for directions?
Once you do so, you can select the wrong turn/other problem from the list of steps and describe the problem.
Re: Apple delivers a new redesigned Maps for users in the United States
#327Earlier quoted context omitted.
The PR piece says: "Apple completed the rollout of this new Maps experience in the United States and will begin rolling it out across Europe in the coming months."
Yes, which means that the person you are responding may have had new data already from the old rollout. Not sure what are you trying to say from this comment.
Re: Apple delivers a new redesigned Maps for users in the United States
#328Earlier quoted context omitted.
While I sympathize with your viewpoint, you're imposing your personal values on consumers who demonstrate their willingness to exchange personal data for free services every day. You and many HN users may balk at this, but most people are ok with trading privacy for real-time traffic predictions. Apple shouldn't receive an unfair market advantage because they embody the values you hold dear. Sidenote: I disagree that…
> you're imposing your personal values on consumers who demonstrate their willingness to exchange personal data for free services every day. Are they demonstrating their willingness, or do they simply not understand that there is a choice to be made? Considering the trivial difference in mapping performance in most places, I doubt most people would be willing to give up their privacy in exchange for saving a few seco…
Acting as if people are unaware of data collection is disingenuous. If you told the average facebook user how much facebook and its third-party partners knew about them, I doubt many of them would stop using the platform.
Re: Apple delivers a new redesigned Maps for users in the United States
#329Earlier quoted context omitted.
Then why not do it everywhere and upstream the changes?
Why should Apple give away their improvements? I’m genuinely curious why you think they should do this.
Because they would be legally obligated to when using OSM as a base for anything.
Also, because it would benefit society.
Re: Apple delivers a new redesigned Maps for users in the United States
#330Earlier quoted context omitted.
I love the idea of switching from Waze, which is increasingly frustrating and wrong. The problem is that having the speed traps and radar sites on there is just too crucial to give up. I've never found a replacement that does that.
Google Maps has speed limits, police and other warnings. Been there for at least a few months now. Not sure how accurate they are as I doubt they have as much engagement/reporting as Waze.