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The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

theamazingios6maps.tumblr.com

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Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#91

Post by ceejayoz »

ledlauzis wrote: post #21

Apple made this decision just to dump Google and try to gain more control. Apple dind't want to use OpenStreetMap because its open source solution and Apple never uses open source solution. Yeah, its iOS and OS X is based on Linux (sort of) but they will never tell this to anyone. iOS 6 Maps sucks just like the App Store on the New iPad. Maybe it is just me but I found it very, very slow. It's better on iPhone

> Apple dind't want to use OpenStreetMap because its open source solution and Apple never uses open source solution.

Riiiight. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_(operating_system)

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#92

Post by jpdoctor »

AJ007 wrote: post #22
dr_ wrote: post #10

To be honest, despite its flaws, it's going to be ok for most of the people, most of the time. Navigation is going to be a big boon. Using it I haven't noticed major differences personally. Some restaurants are in the wrong location, but on the flip side I like the yelp reviews. I'm sure they will improve on the areas that are flawed.

Directions being ok most for most people, most of the time, is hardly acceptable. Google Maps had a tendency to drop pins for locations on the wrong spot. That meant I always had to confirm the location with street view, 100% of the time. Going to the wrong spot can be catastrophic in some instances (wrong or non existent hospital.) In others it can be really bad (missing a critical meeting, walking in during a weddi…

> wrong or non existent hospital.

FWIW: I can see that turning into a lawsuit.

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#93

Post by DonnyV »

api wrote: post #79
lhnz wrote: post #56

It seems like the quality level maintained by Steve Jobs is quickly deteriorating in favour of business moves designed to wrest more control off Google. They are operating in a very similar way to other companies now. Google executives must be laughing very hard right now. If I was Google I'd avoid releasing a Google Maps application for at least a year and let the Android handset manufacturers ruthlessly exploit And…

Yeah. Maps is one of the most important smartphone apps. They might have just handed the market to Droid.

Android already has market share, this will just widen the gap.

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#94

Post by mtgx »

Seeing the poor state of the Apple Maps, I think Google can wait 2 years or so before even considering releasing Google Maps for iPhone. More people will want Android phones as they can't leave without it, just like some can't live without the Gmail app for Android.

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#95

Post by grey-area »

For those who think this is just a problem with the 3D images, or are not convinced there are serious problems even after seeing this tumblr, try looking outside of California, at both satellite and standard maps. Some example searches:

"Brighton, UK", Satellite - a major UK city is so blurry you can't see streets.

"Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands" - ends up in the middle of the sea, and no roads on the islands at all.

"Colchester" - satellite shows clouds, in B&W

"Senkaku Islands" - compare satellite with standard to see duplicates of these disputed islands.

"Puno,Peru"- in lake Titicaca

etc.

They probably had to rush this out, but it's really not ready for widespread use in some areas; they'd have done better to cut back the features and massively extend their testing (or use a crowd-sourced alternative). Given how extensively this is used in iOS, both by apps using Mapkit and by customers every day round the world, it's vital that is it correct, and getting it wrong in such obvious ways is a massive strategic error on Apple's part.

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#96

Post by jad »

lhnz wrote: post #56

It seems like the quality level maintained by Steve Jobs is quickly deteriorating in favour of business moves designed to wrest more control off Google. They are operating in a very similar way to other companies now. Google executives must be laughing very hard right now. If I was Google I'd avoid releasing a Google Maps application for at least a year and let the Android handset manufacturers ruthlessly exploit And…

> It seems like the quality level maintained by Steve Jobs is quickly deteriorating in favour of business moves designed to wrest more control off Google.

This stuff gets so tiresome. Apple has been buying maps companies for years. Steve Jobs personally ran acquisitions at Apple. He decided which mapping companies to buy and when he did he probably had a good idea of how they would fit into the platform. Development of the new Maps app was surely underway when Jobs was still alive. What do you think happened? Jobs died and the executive team was like, "Alright everyone, we've got 6 months until the iOS 6 beta is out. Let's cancel our contract with Google and get this shit maps app in there pronto!"

The reality is that Apple has been dependent upon their biggest competitor for a strategically important smartphone feature. The Wall Street Journal reported[1] months ago that Google initially balked at letting Apple have access to Street View, and didn't allow Apple access to turn-by-turn data. If the issue was only quality, Apple could have turned to Bing or Yahoo. They didn't because owning this technology is a strategic necessity in the smartphone market as it stands today. Having features dictated by competitors is not an option.

It's true that the quality of the maps app isn't great. I get looney search results (even when tapping on their search suggestions) and it's extremely frustrating. But there is something to be said for getting it shipped and starting the process of refinement and improvement. It only becomes a strategic problem if the quality doesn't improve noticeably with time.

[1] http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:FwvSLvr...

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#97

Post by potatolicious »

batista wrote: post #55
AJ007 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Directions being ok most for most people, most of the time, is hardly acceptable. Google Maps had a tendency to drop pins for locations on the wrong spot. That meant I always had to confirm the location with street view, 100% of the time. Going to the wrong spot can be catastrophic in some instances (wrong or non existent hospital.) In others it can be really bad (missing a critical meeting, walking in during a weddi…

> I'll be moving to Android. Google's Android? As in Google, the inventor of the "perpetual beta"?

As of right now the perpetual beta is a lot better than the supposed "final" iOS6 maps. So yeah.

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#98

Post by pnathan »

aeturnum wrote: post #74
liotier wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If Apple's management thinks its acceptable to roll out > beta products on all of their users, I'll be moving to > Android. Sure - because Google never rolls out beta products on all of their users...

A good point for sure. I think his reasoning is that, if all the options are going to be beta-level products, he might as well use Android. I think Apple has always implicitly presented a deal where they tightly control their phone, but the experience is excellent. You don't care who makes the maps app because it "just works." If that's changing, users might be happier in an ecosystem where choice is more pervasive.

> Apple has always implicitly presented a deal where they tightly control their phone, but the experience is excellent.

That, IMO, is absolutely the deal you make with Apple. More money, less hackability, and better experience.

If Apple starts crapping out stuff, there's no point in buying Apple.

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#99

Post by pnathan »

aeturnum wrote: post #74
liotier wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If Apple's management thinks its acceptable to roll out > beta products on all of their users, I'll be moving to > Android. Sure - because Google never rolls out beta products on all of their users...

A good point for sure. I think his reasoning is that, if all the options are going to be beta-level products, he might as well use Android. I think Apple has always implicitly presented a deal where they tightly control their phone, but the experience is excellent. You don't care who makes the maps app because it "just works." If that's changing, users might be happier in an ecosystem where choice is more pervasive.

> Apple has always implicitly presented a deal where they tightly control their phone, but the experience is excellent.

That, IMO, is absolutely the deal you make with Apple. More money, less hackability, and better experience.

If Apple starts crapping out stuff, there's no point in buying Apple.

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#100

Post by jws »

jblock wrote: post #71
SoftwareMaven wrote: post #62

I look at this and can't believe Apple wanted to ship with this. And I mean that literally, not incredulously. I believe Apple wants to be in carol of its mapping future, but this product isn't ready yet, and I don't think Apple is so delusional to not be able to see that. So that makes me wonder what happened in contract negotiations with Google to force it out. Did Google flat-out say "No"? Seems unlikely. Was it j…

I couldn't care less about what Apple was thinking before they released this. What matters is that they pushed out a living, breathing UX fuck-up of an application to millions of people that depended on it to get around.

And if each iPhone user reports one problem, the entire POI problem will be solved.

I didn't calculate that, but I'm fairly certain it works. The only reason Google knew where my businesses were was because I told them. They kept that information walled up, so I guess I need to tell apple too now that there are millions of people seeing that database.

I haven't found where to add a POI, it may not be there, but marking wrong ones is easy.

Edit: Found it. Adding a location is under the "report a problem" under the curl up corner. Don't start with a new pin.

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