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Google has an iOS 6 Maps app awaiting approval

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Re: Google has an iOS 6 Maps app awaiting approval

#41

Post by juiceandjuice »

cooldeal wrote: post #16

Wonder how this jives with Gruber's comments on the maps situation: >Using Maps to Improve Maps >> Scott Rafer: >>What’s missing from this conversation is that map usage is critical. […] Google’s maps are going to start degrading. Apple’s will get better. They’ll meet in the middle within 18 months. >The idea is that you need to collect usage data to improve your data. The only way for Apple to get from here to there…

This is such a stupid assumption. Apple's maps will never reach Google's.

Why? Because Google's business model is so heavily dependent on highly accurate maps at so many levels. There's been posts on HN regarding Google's usage of Streetview/OCR to improve their map directions, and it's absolutely critical that their maps be the absolute highest quality in terms of content and accuracy of that content for their driverless cars.

Google has and will continue to invest massively in maps, and no user feedback will ever approach that investment.

Re: Google has an iOS 6 Maps app awaiting approval

#43

Post by capo »

cooldeal wrote: post #16

Wonder how this jives with Gruber's comments on the maps situation: >Using Maps to Improve Maps >> Scott Rafer: >>What’s missing from this conversation is that map usage is critical. […] Google’s maps are going to start degrading. Apple’s will get better. They’ll meet in the middle within 18 months. >The idea is that you need to collect usage data to improve your data. The only way for Apple to get from here to there…

Why would GMaps degrade in quality? Apple's might improve but Google's are on Android devices, and they have another key data source in StreetView.

Re: Google has an iOS 6 Maps app awaiting approval

#44

Post by baddox »

capo wrote: post #43
cooldeal wrote: post #16

Wonder how this jives with Gruber's comments on the maps situation: >Using Maps to Improve Maps >> Scott Rafer: >>What’s missing from this conversation is that map usage is critical. […] Google’s maps are going to start degrading. Apple’s will get better. They’ll meet in the middle within 18 months. >The idea is that you need to collect usage data to improve your data. The only way for Apple to get from here to there…

Why would GMaps degrade in quality? Apple's might improve but Google's are on Android devices, and they have another key data source in StreetView.

As map data changes over time (road construction, POI movement, etc.), Google Maps could fall out of date. Of course, I doubt that's a major threat, since Google will presumably still be the primary maps platform on Android and the desktop web.

Re: Google has an iOS 6 Maps app awaiting approval

#45

Post by adhipg »

nostromo wrote: post #21

This map uproar seems a tad hyperbolic. I used it this morning and I was actually pleasantly surprised. My map experience wasn't worse as I expected, but actually much better with turn by turn. The people most upset seem to generally be edge cases. I'm sure Apple will work those out as complaints roll in. Google has had 7 years to perfect maps. Apple feels maybe a year behind in some respects and a year ahead in othe…

> Apple feels maybe a year behind in some respects and a year ahead in others, but definitely not 7 years behind.

I believe this comes from the fact that you had Apple's turn-by-turn. Is that actually better (or a year better) than Google's turn-by-turn navigation that's been on Android for so long?

Re: Google has an iOS 6 Maps app awaiting approval

#46

Post by snitko »

nostromo wrote: post #21

This map uproar seems a tad hyperbolic. I used it this morning and I was actually pleasantly surprised. My map experience wasn't worse as I expected, but actually much better with turn by turn. The people most upset seem to generally be edge cases. I'm sure Apple will work those out as complaints roll in. Google has had 7 years to perfect maps. Apple feels maybe a year behind in some respects and a year ahead in othe…

Even if you're right, it's edge cases that companies should care about. People who are not edge cases will comply anyway and use whatever is default, whereas it's people who are edge cases most likely to switch to a competitor (possibly leading more people with them).

Re: Google has an iOS 6 Maps app awaiting approval

#47

Post by baddox »

nostromo wrote: post #21

This map uproar seems a tad hyperbolic. I used it this morning and I was actually pleasantly surprised. My map experience wasn't worse as I expected, but actually much better with turn by turn. The people most upset seem to generally be edge cases. I'm sure Apple will work those out as complaints roll in. Google has had 7 years to perfect maps. Apple feels maybe a year behind in some respects and a year ahead in othe…

Turn by turn is completely separate from the complaints about Apple Maps. I'm sure they work great, provided that your destination is plotted correctly in their database.

As for edge cases, that's the point. You have to be able to trust a mapping application with areas which are unfamiliar to you. A maps app can only be useful if there's a high level of trust, and when you immediately see errors in Apple Maps (some of which are clearly the result of overzealous automation, like labeling "Airfield Park" as an actual airfield) that trust vanishes fairly quickly.

Re: Google has an iOS 6 Maps app awaiting approval

#48

Post by mirkules »

recoiledsnake wrote: post #29
nostromo wrote: post #21

This map uproar seems a tad hyperbolic. I used it this morning and I was actually pleasantly surprised. My map experience wasn't worse as I expected, but actually much better with turn by turn. The people most upset seem to generally be edge cases. I'm sure Apple will work those out as complaints roll in. Google has had 7 years to perfect maps. Apple feels maybe a year behind in some respects and a year ahead in othe…

>The people most upset seem to generally be edge cases I love it how you dismiss 99% of people and the globe as an edge case by your anecdote of it working well for you. Let me take a guess, you live on the West Coast where Apple engineers live?

The OP's point is that this feels a lot like Antennagate 2010, where a large number of non-Apple users latched onto the fact that there was something wrong with Apple products, and complained louder than the actual Apple users. At this point, we can call all the evidence anecdotal until we see some hard numbers on how much map data is actually incorrect, and what actual percentage of the population is affected (I'm not holding my breath for that data, though).

I agree, though, that Apple rushed in prematurely with a new version of Maps -- either they screwed up big time engineering/management wise, or their hand was forced business-wise (I'm leaning towards the latter).

So putting the "outrage" aside for a moment, how well do maps work on your phone, and did you notice any problems so far?

Re: Google has an iOS 6 Maps app awaiting approval

#49

Post by Tichy »

qq66 wrote: post #42

If this is true, then Google is making a catastrophically bad tactical error, or Apple Maps are not as horrendously awful as the blogosphere is making them out to be (haven't had a chance to try them myself).

This was Apple's decision, not Google's.

Re: Google has an iOS 6 Maps app awaiting approval

#50

Post by tsunamifury »

recoiledsnake wrote: post #27
masklinn wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> antitrust regulators? > antitrust |ˌantēˈtrəst; ˌantī-| > adjective [ attrib. ] > of or relating to legislation preventing or controlling trusts or other monopolies , with the intention of promoting competition in business. In pretty much every thread about Apple on this site, you will be reminded that Android enjoys amazing sales. > Wasn't the entire IE shipping with Windows situation based on a competitive functi…

>In pretty much every thread about Apple on this site, you will be reminded that Android enjoys amazing sales. And in the same threads and on Apple blogs like Gruber's and Siegler, you're constantly reminded how it doesn't matter because Apple takes ~75% of the profits, and statistics on how apps are more profitable on iOS because Apple users are the premium users willing to pay and how many Android users are too che…

Its only a monopoly if you are very narrow minded about the market. Brew and J2ME have multi-billion dollar app markets that compete with Apple and Android in terms of volume.
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