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The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

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Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#161

Post by chmars »

roadnottaken wrote: post #40
rauljara wrote: post #19

The "roller coaster" effects in the 3-d view are my favorite. They've got some smoothing algorithm going, or it wouldn't curve the way it does, but the elevation data must not have a high enough resolution. Google has made this sort of thing look so easy for so long, but it's clearly very hard to get this stuff right. So, I guess it's not that surprising that apple messed up something incredibly hard in their first a…

I also wonder how common these problems are. I live in San Diego and everything looks pretty-good to me. It renders my house in 3D and the turn-by-turn navigation worked great. There are obviously problems in some places, but so-far-so-good here.

In Switzerland, the information density is much lower in comparison to Google Maps and much of the still available information is wrong or out-dated. Outside rural areas, Apple Maps mostly shows a vast emptiness instead of mountain peaks, hiking trails etc.

There's definitely room for a lot of improvement …

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#162

Post by akc »

tijs wrote: post #138
roadnottaken wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also wonder how common these problems are. I live in San Diego and everything looks pretty-good to me. It renders my house in 3D and the turn-by-turn navigation worked great. There are obviously problems in some places, but so-far-so-good here.

I live in the Netherlands and it seems to work like a charm so far. the whole upheaval sounds like an internet pile-on to me.

Tijs, come to NY some time to see how bad it can get. :-)

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#163

Post by jianshen »

stephen_g wrote: post #20

I really hope that people are using the 'Report Problem' feature in the app every time they post a screenshot here. Because that is one of the biggest things everyone can do that will help the map data to improve.

This tumblr isn't a bad way for apple to collect "problem" spots since regular users generally wouldn't normally be motivated to click "Report Problem".

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#164

Post by nikcub »

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…

> what happened in contract negotiations with Google to force it out.

This is almost certainly Apple being pissed off about Android and continuing to untie themselves from Google.

It just isn't working out as well as they had planned.

Google give Maps for free to other providers as well, as long as you bundle search/gmail with it.

Apple decided to pick out and replace the only part that Google don't make money on in iOS, the part that had the most technical risk and the part that Android completely kick their ass on.

Google right now are asking why they should bother going to the trouble of producing a no-revenue Maps app for iOS when so many users suddenly discovered a greater appreciation for Android today.

Apple completely screwed up here. In more ways than one - and it was all because of a grudge.

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#165

Post by saturdaysaint »

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.

If this had any truth to it, Android would have already walked away with the market due to the iPhone's longstanding mediocre Maps app.

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#166

Post by edoloughlin »

This [1] made the news in Ireland today, when a city farm in Dublin called "Airfield" was labeled as an airport. It was thought that pilots in trouble might attempt to land there, but I can't see why checking maps on their iPhones would be part of emergency procedure.

[1] http://searchengineland.com/irish-politician-calls-apples-ne...

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#167

Post by psgibbs »

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…

I think this idea that every product Steve Jobs released was 100% quality is largely wrong – people just choose to only remember the hits. Apple has always released early - largely polished, but rough around the edges. Remember the early days of OSX? tons of loose ends. The first iPhone? definitely had stability issues, missing huge core features e.g. MMS. AppleTV? Ping? XCode 4?

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#168

Post by napierzaza »

Maascamp wrote: post #114
rauljara wrote: post #19

The "roller coaster" effects in the 3-d view are my favorite. They've got some smoothing algorithm going, or it wouldn't curve the way it does, but the elevation data must not have a high enough resolution. Google has made this sort of thing look so easy for so long, but it's clearly very hard to get this stuff right. So, I guess it's not that surprising that apple messed up something incredibly hard in their first a…

I don't think Apple gets a pass here. If they are forcing users onto their product it had better be competitive, no matter how hard it is. Microsoft got so such pass with WP7 and that was an entirely new OS/platform!

Yes WP7 was an entire platform that was underdevelopped. Maps is just one (crucial) feature that was dropped out. They never owned Google maps and it's in contention who or why it was discontinued. But since Google hasn't prepped a version (with ads or otherwise) looks as if they want to hobble Apple by not including it.

If it's a dealbreaker for you than it's a dealbreaker. I think more people who would never buy an iPhone will say it's a dealbreaker than actual people who would actually consider buying one.

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#169

Post by taligent »

adildoatemybaby wrote: post #154
shawnc wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does Apple have a Maps program on the Android devices? Are there other Maps programs available on the iOS devices? Saying Apple is 'forcing' users onto their product is a bit much.

You're being obtuse, people have money invested in the Apple ecosystem, it's not easy to switch, and no other mapping app will have the iOS integration Maps does. Until a comparable app is available on the OS, yes Apple is forcing users onto their product.

You're not forced to upgrade to iOS6 nor is Apple blocking Google Maps on the browser.

Re: The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

#170

Post by qq66 »

jad wrote: post #96
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…

It's not that tiresome. Jobs would have clearly done things differently. He would have either 1) paid retail prices for Google Maps API access until Apple could build a shippable product, or 2) Gone on stage and painted Google as a big evil bully who was stealing good Maps from iPhone users -- the media headlines would read "Google Reneges on Loyal Apple customers" or something like that. Notably, the second option is not available to Tim Cook.
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