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Apple Maps Gradually Winning over Google Maps Users, Report Suggests

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Re: Apple Maps Gradually Winning over Google Maps Users, Report Suggests

#81
post #52

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 lin…

Google Maps is much better at encouraging and rewarding user interaction. Google Maps has gamification and rewards for updating store and road information, while Apple Maps treats it a bit more like a bug report.

Re: Apple Maps Gradually Winning over Google Maps Users, Report Suggests

#82
post #8

In my experience, the following things are notably better in Apple Maps vs. Google Maps: * No dangerous shortcuts where I risk to damage my car * Routes make much more sense in general and are nearer to what someone who knows their way around locally would suggest * Voice instructions are clearer, easier to understand and timed better * Walking directions are easier to understand * The UI is less annoying. In Google…

* Cycling directions, where available, are vastly superior to Google Maps's.

My cycle computer uses Google Maps. I frequently see myself planning a route on Apple Maps, then replicating it on Ride With GPS, then importing it into the device. It's a pain but has allowed me to avoid some pretty bad routes.

Re: Apple Maps Gradually Winning over Google Maps Users, Report Suggests

#83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't easily contribute to Apple Maps or add places. That's why Google Maps has much more content. Many people would love to contribute to Apple Maps, but aren't allowed. On the other hand, these are the two wealthiest companies in all of human history. Why can't they hire people all over the world to improve their maps?

>You can't easily contribute to Apple Maps or add places yes you can, you simply select an item on the map and report a problem. also they already hire third party agencies to add data to the map

Apple Maps pulls in OpenStreetMaps data in my area of the country, so submitting information on OSM means an eventual Apple Maps upgrade for me. I edited the 3D shape of some of the houses in my neighborhood and added missing streets on OSM and saw them imported into Apple Maps a few months later.

Re: Apple Maps Gradually Winning over Google Maps Users, Report Suggests

#84

I'm a fan of the Apple Maps UI over Google and they have some really nice features like the 3D view. However, the one problem I have with Apple Maps is that their satellite imagery is often times out of date compared to Google. This doesn't matter as much for getting directions, but I enjoy looking around on satellite view to find hidden beaches or get to know my surroundings better than a street map can offer.

use a nice topographic map :)

Re: Apple Maps Gradually Winning over Google Maps Users, Report Suggests

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can also contribute to Apple Maps. Be the change you want to see

You can't easily contribute to Apple Maps or add places. That's why Google Maps has much more content. Many people would love to contribute to Apple Maps, but aren't allowed. On the other hand, these are the two wealthiest companies in all of human history. Why can't they hire people all over the world to improve their maps?

uhhh street view

Re: Apple Maps Gradually Winning over Google Maps Users, Report Suggests

#86
post #8

In my experience, the following things are notably better in Apple Maps vs. Google Maps: * No dangerous shortcuts where I risk to damage my car * Routes make much more sense in general and are nearer to what someone who knows their way around locally would suggest * Voice instructions are clearer, easier to understand and timed better * Walking directions are easier to understand * The UI is less annoying. In Google…

- For Apple, street view has a higher view point, which makes it easier to look at the scene.

Re: Apple Maps Gradually Winning over Google Maps Users, Report Suggests

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>You can't easily contribute to Apple Maps or add places yes you can, you simply select an item on the map and report a problem. also they already hire third party agencies to add data to the map

Compare that with Google Maps, where anybody can easily add businesses or other places of interest that are missing from the map. How do you go about doing that in Apple Maps? Without an Apple device?

Apple has a web portal for adding businesses to a map. https://support.apple.com/guide/apple-business-connect/intro... Existing businesses can have inaccurate information reported on and corrected by users.

Re: Apple Maps Gradually Winning over Google Maps Users, Report Suggests

#88
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't easily contribute to Apple Maps or add places. That's why Google Maps has much more content. Many people would love to contribute to Apple Maps, but aren't allowed. On the other hand, these are the two wealthiest companies in all of human history. Why can't they hire people all over the world to improve their maps?

uhhh street view

Apple does have a "street view" of sorts in areas where they have driven vehicles around the area, but it's limited now to only some cities. https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/look-around-places-ip... It is possible to use Google's data through Apple Maps via a third-party app. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/streets-street-view-browser/id...

Re: Apple Maps Gradually Winning over Google Maps Users, Report Suggests

#89
“Forced” to use Google Maps in the car because it’s on the big screen, and recently I’ve been disappointed by how bad it is at navigation in the Bay area, taking me down pothole and slow streets with lots of turns. Even taking me to crossings without traffic lights making it difficult and slower to cross when traffic is heavy. And then as others have already explained, there are virtually no street names on the map (no matter how much you zoom), so it is very difficult to find the street I want to drive on. Or maybe that’s Tesla’s fault. Not sure.

One minor gripe I have with Apple Maps is that it doesn’t show my favorite locations in a quick and easy pickable ux… so I end up having to search for “home”.

Re: Apple Maps Gradually Winning over Google Maps Users, Report Suggests

#90
post #15
post #8

In my experience, the following things are notably better in Apple Maps vs. Google Maps: * No dangerous shortcuts where I risk to damage my car * Routes make much more sense in general and are nearer to what someone who knows their way around locally would suggest * Voice instructions are clearer, easier to understand and timed better * Walking directions are easier to understand * The UI is less annoying. In Google…

> * No dangerous shortcuts where I risk to damage my car Can you elaborate on this? This seems like a personal anecdote and not a software feature. How does one even define that? You're saying that there are special roads that Apple knows not to travel bug Google does? That seems odd, since the real world doesn't really mark its roads like that.

Apple will take you on the straightforward route that you’d have plotted on a map 30 years ago. The traffic optimization isn’t as aggressive as Google Maps or Waze.

Google will also over-optimize for routes with imperfect information. Here’s an example: Yesterday I was leaving Manhattan for points upstate around 6:30 PM (bad idea) and was routed by Google to the Lincoln tunnel. Google’s route was trash — it magically shaved 20 minutes off the trip by optimizing me onto a side street that would let me cut the line of mayhem to get to the tunnel. The problem is, making a left turn on 10th avenue to get to that road would easily take 20 minutes. Google’s metrics aren’t able to account for that.

Apple’s directions were optimal - West Side Drive to George Washington Bridge. I figured out that I was “getting googled” quickly l, and was able to get out of the gridlock and ultimately arrive at my destination ahead of schedule.

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