Apple Maps Gradually Winning over Google Maps Users, Report Suggests

Anecdotal but recently my partner and I were driving in an unfamiliar place.

We tried google maps on the way there and Apple Maps on the way back.

I expected Apple Maps to be worse but here’s what stood out to me:

1. Apple does a better job at showing vertical height. So when tons of routes go over and under each other, the map is much clearer about it whereas Google maps requires you to look for the thin breakup line.

2. Apple directions are more human friendly. Things like “take a right at the next light” instead of “take a right at XYZ street”. Also telling you to skip an exit and take the next one. It’s minor but that’s how most drivers I know prefer to be given directions.

3. When we’re walking, it does a better job at showing where the crosswalks are.

4. It did a better job at telling you which lane to be in if you needed to make a right and then a left. Google maps seemed to only care about the immediate next step whereas Apple cared about some distance.

5. Vibrating your watch when an action is coming up is great. On the way there, my partner missed a couple turns on Google Maps because they were hyper focused on the road, whereas that little watch nudge helped on the way back with Apple Maps.

6. Last one is purely subjective, but aesthetically Apple Maps is much nicer to my eyes. Things are better delineated and information is presented a little bit clearer.

That said, whereas I think Apple Maps is better for navigating, Google maps is much better for up to date information about an area. I presume that has to be just down to more users correcting things , but things like “this store is shut today unexpectedly” is much better reflected.

What I hate about Google routing is that it would change the pre-agreed one to save time. I'm not always watching the map screen so I would miss out the "dismiss" button and I will end up on a surprise route which is supposed to be quicker but ends up to be too involved because I have to drive through strange places that require active chauffeuring and there's a reason(potholes, kids playing on the streets, steep hills, narrow roads with parked cars that barely let you pass etc.) why it's not everyones default choice of route.

IMHO Apple Maps is much better on this, it even list the "less turns" option, so I can just chill on a straight line or follow the curves instead of trying to enter and exit intersections every few minutes.

Also, the road connection graphics are much clearer on Apple Maps.

Two more things that annoy me about Google Maps

- Related to the routes make more sense, Google seems to prefer side streets to save one minute but then you get dumped back on the main road not at the light and need to cross traffic and might lose your minute back just waiting for a chance to cross. I'd much prefer a main route with a light that guarantees a safe turn.

- Google Maps advertisements on the map. No I don't want to see a Whole Foods with a sale two miles away over other landmarks.

Are you in a big city?

One of my top feature requests for Apple Maps would be a way to import all of my bookmarks from Google Maps.

I can export them from Google with Takeout, I believe, but there’s no way to do get them into Apple Maps except to manually save hundreds of locations.

Since I don’t want to split my bookmarks, that means I’m stuck continuing to use Google Maps, and continuing to add more bookmarks to Google Maps. But, I do enjoy using Apple Maps for bicycle navigation.