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Google Maps Testing New Apple Maps-Inspired Map Style

justinobeirne.com

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Re: Google Maps Testing New Apple Maps-Inspired Map Style

#91

Post by lopis »

gundmc wrote: post #84
plibither8 wrote: post #4

One of my biggest irks with Google Maps is how aggressively it shows pins for hotels, bars and restaurants, even on their search results map. Do users really feel the need for this constant in-your-face advertisement? But as I type this, I realized Google is primarily an ad business and whatever will drive that revenue will get pushed further. Oh well.

I'm pretty sure only the square pins are ads. So the deluge of hotel pins showing in the map near my house isn't even making them money, it's just an out of control algorithm or terrible product choice.

But Google makes commissions on hotel bookings through maps.

Re: Google Maps Testing New Apple Maps-Inspired Map Style

#92

Post by jhugo »

WA wrote: post #42
Humbly8967 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, there are many possible conflicts of interest in mapping. This is why I'm excited to see the improving usability of Open Street Maps through apps like Organic Maps, and big commercial investments in open mapping data from the Overture Maps Foundation. In many cases OSM has much more detail than google maps, with business listings and addresses being the biggest exceptions I have encountered. Fortunately, busines…

If you really just want a map, go use OSM. I love it as well and even contributed. But Google Maps is much more than OSM. The biggest difference and most important feature is its real-time traffic. OSM is just a totally different product seen through the car navigation lens.

For me the killer Google Maps feature is using it as a search engine. The POI data on OSM has low coverage, is often out-of-date, and lacks reviews, so while it's quite good for (non-car) navigation, it's not very useful at all for finding places meeting certain criteria.

Re: Google Maps Testing New Apple Maps-Inspired Map Style

#93

Post by lode »

blendergeek wrote: post #67
londons_explore wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google telephones most businesses in the world multiple times per year to confirm opening hours and ask what their hours will be at Christmas/other holidays. Let that sink in. They have an actual human put actual minutes into speaking with every single business in their database. Think how much that alone must cost. And they put all that money in simply so users can be a little more certain that the opening hours sho…

> They have an actual human put actual minutes into speaking with every single business in their database. Think how much that alone must cost. They may have done this in years past. I have worked in fast food for the last decades and I get Google's calls. They are all automated and the robot on the other end never understands me because the hours of the places I manage aren't simple enough to explain to Google's AI.…

> Of course OSM can't be updated with up-to-the-minute opening hours at all.

Of course it can. I regularly add opening hours of businesses I frequent on OSM, including special cases like public holidays.

Re: Google Maps Testing New Apple Maps-Inspired Map Style

#94

Post by n42 »

MiddleEndian wrote: post #81

I just want Google Maps to slide the location of the street labels so they always stay visible. Zooming into an area and having a street label simply vanish is an absurd behavior for software in the 21st century.

I don't know how to say this without it coming off as typical internet hyperbole. I mean it quite literally that this makes the thing unusable (as a map) for me. it is a major contributor to why I use Apple Maps for actual maps now.

unfortunately, I still have to use Google Maps to find POI. I suspect this is all they want me to use it for, anyways, since that's all that gives them money.

Re: Google Maps Testing New Apple Maps-Inspired Map Style

#95

Post by n42 »

kccqzy wrote: post #70
ra7 wrote: post #51

I never thought I would see the day when Google Maps would copy Apple Maps. Apple has absolutely nailed the map UI and even the UX (like richer details during navigation, requiring fewer touches to do things, etc.) is so good and well thought out. GMaps just looks so cluttered and bloated. The only reason for me not to use Apple Maps (in the US) is that they are far behind GMaps in POI data.

Several years ago when I was testing the Apple Maps navigation UI, I started a random navigation trip at home, looked around and tested the UI out without actually driving anywhere. Looked fine until I pressed the power button. Then I found that the Apple Maps hijacked my lock screen to display its own UI . That's the point I noped out of Apple Maps. This is malware-level behavior. No app should be able to override m…

you're entitled to your preferences in UX, but it's a bit melodramatic to call that malware.

Re: Google Maps Testing New Apple Maps-Inspired Map Style

#96

Post by pjmlp »

jailbirdBD wrote: post #82
pjmlp wrote: post #48

What about actually improving directions, not sending us through barely usable roads in Mediterranean islands, if we can consider them roads at all. Or shortcuts that might be interesting in a computer game, how the RTS units select their path, but hardly so when driving through a medieval village, instead of the somehow longer circular road that everyone should use.

We have been in Italy in the mountains near Lake Garda, and the hosts where we were staying specifically instructed us not to use Google Maps as it will lead us to sketchy shortcuts which is barely managable to pass trough, while the "official" route to their village is paved, easy to follow, and thus, much faster to pass than Google's route. I left on Google Maps out of curiosity and indeed, it started to show direc…

Yes, that has been exactly my experience, not fun getting out of some trails.

Re: Google Maps Testing New Apple Maps-Inspired Map Style

#97

Post by PufPufPuf »

bobek wrote: post #37

TBH https://mapy.cz/ are still the clear winner in map presentation and usefulness.

They also have an international version called Windy Maps (Mapy.cz has some Czech-centric features): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=cz.seznam.wind...

Re: Google Maps Testing New Apple Maps-Inspired Map Style

#98

Post by true_religion »

plibither8 wrote: post #4

One of my biggest irks with Google Maps is how aggressively it shows pins for hotels, bars and restaurants, even on their search results map. Do users really feel the need for this constant in-your-face advertisement? But as I type this, I realized Google is primarily an ad business and whatever will drive that revenue will get pushed further. Oh well.

Many people use hotels, bars, and restaurants as landmarks.

If you know an area, it’s easier to remember something is near so and so resturaunt than to remember street names (if in fact your streets actually have names).

Re: Google Maps Testing New Apple Maps-Inspired Map Style

#99

Post by tigroferoce »

gman83 wrote: post #45
atourgates wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on what you're talking about. For aesthetics? No question Apple's superior. For navigation? A tossup in my experience? For discovery of places and reviews? Google's so far ahead it's not even close. Apple's interface with Google's database of places and reviews would be the holy grail.

I'd love to use Apple maps.I just can't commit to a service that's only available on some of my devices & computers.

Fun. I get your point, but I, on the other hand, can't happily commit to a service that is "free".

The real problem of Apple Maps is that outside of the US it's quite poor, so one is forced to use google maps quite frequently.

Re: Google Maps Testing New Apple Maps-Inspired Map Style

#100

Post by LuisAPI »

londons_explore wrote: post #80
shellfishgene wrote: post #56

Has anyone else noticed that Google maps has lately become a lot worse on Firefox compared to Chrome? Zooming is less smooth, even with the whole map flashing in between levels, and in satellite view the tiles seem to load a lot slower.

It shouldn't flash. You probably have a bad webgl implementation. New graphics drivers?

I second GP, it does flash exclusively on Firefox. Google Maps doesn't load terribly on any Chromium-based browser (Edge, Vivaldi, Opera, Brave...)
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