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DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

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Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#151

Post by eridius »

radicaldreamer wrote: post #136
eridius wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean by "confusing"? They have different names. If you select "California St" you get California St, and if you select "California Ave" you get California Ave.

You tap on a California St address and Maps directs you to the same address but on California Ave...

I still can't reproduce this.

I just put the two following addresses into Notes:

  23 California St, San Francisco, CA

  23 California Ave, San Francisco, CA
then tapped on both of them and Maps brought me to the correct spot each time.

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#152

Post by pwinnski »

pwinnski wrote: post #147

I was a big defender of Apple Maps, largely because I almost never saw any problems with the data. Then I moved into an apartment complex in which Apple had the driveway in the wrong place. I've moved since, so I'll spell it out: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=5940+Arapaho+Rd%2C+75248&t=osx&ia=... Apple Maps believes that the driveways are to the south and east, but in fact the front driveway--the main entrance--is to the…

I just checked OpenStreetMaps, and it gets the navigation right[0], so that issue is solely Apple's. That said, there's still a visual indication on OSM of a driveway to Preston Rd that does not exist in life.

[0] To test, I navigated from 'Renner Frankford Library Branch, 6400, Frankford Road, Dallas, Collin County, Texas, 75252, USA' to '5940, Arapaho Road, Dallas, Dallas County, Texas, 75248, USA' at https://www.openstreetmap.org/directions

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#153

Post by chipotle_coyote »

metildaa wrote: post #142
dangus wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not 100% true, if you go to an existing business listing and scroll to the bottom there's a "report an issue" option. Apple has fixed my reported issues within a few days in the past. In another sense I'm not sure why it should matter to the end user how many interns Apple hires to do things behind the scenes. I'm imagining that Apple is well aware of these shortcomings. Not only that I wonder if operational…

These user reports take weeks to months to get triaged, making many rather useless.

>> Apple has fixed my reported issues within a few days in the past.

> These user reports take weeks to months to get triaged, making many rather useless.

My experience is closer to the "a few days" as well; they were faster than the one time I remember reporting something to Google Maps. YMMV and all that, but.

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#154

Post by Xylakant »

burlesona wrote: post #40

This is cool to see, and I think should be a virtuous cycle. As I understand it, maps is the kind of thing where more usage really helps make the map better, and while DDG doesn’t bring the scale of being the iphone’s default map, it should be adding a non-trivial amount of traffic. I’ve used Apple Maps as my primary map since it came out, and I’ve only gotten a wrong location one time in literally thousands of searc…

> Not saying it’s clearly better than Google, because it isn’t, but for my usage it’s more than “good enough”

I’ve just started testing Apple Maps as Google Maps replacement, and the quality seems to be highly dependent on the location. Cities, densely populated areas seem fine, but I’m currently traveling somewhat rural polish areas and apple maps seems to have no distinction between solid country roads and unpaved path. If it shows up on a map, you can travel it seems to be its credo.

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#155

Post by Xylakant »

Faark wrote: post #132
dybber wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple Maps doesn’t do bike routes which is reason enough not to use it. Google Maps does a very nice job for bikes. If I should wish something of Google Maps it would be “I bring my bike on the train” routes, which is a very common and nice way to get around here in Denmark at least.

Bike routes with offline maps would be a nice addition as well...

Maps.me offers bike routing on offline maps.

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#156

Post by whycombagator »

inferiorhuman wrote: post #53
JumpCrisscross wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not saying it’s clearly better than Google If privacy is worth something to you, it’s clearly better than Google. I, too, use Apple as my primary map. In many cases, Apple Maps is better Google. The ones in which it’s behind are more than made up for by Apple’s values.

If privacy is worth something to you, it’s clearly better than Google. Is it? Has everyone forgotten the Yelp tracking beacon? Good thing Apple relies on Yelp for business info and has pretty deep Yelp integration with the mobile app.

Yelp in the US. In the UK it's TripAdvisor. And I imagine it could be others elsewhere too

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#157

Post by chipotle_coyote »

inferiorhuman wrote: post #51
rootusrootus wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use it all the time. In Portland it is as good as GMaps is at navigating fastest route during heavy traffic. Which is to say, not perfect, but adequate. It has yet to take me to the wrong location.

Apple Maps is pretty awful in the Bay Area. My favorite recently was it's insistence that I make a left turn off of Van Ness. Left turns have largely been banned from Van Ness starting with the huge construction project, but the left turn Apple Maps was also demanding was also across a double yellow line where a left turn would've been illegal regardless of construction. Yesterday I was trying to remember if this del…

What is "Grainger in Millbrae?" Do you mean Grainger Industrial Supply in Burlingame? Because if you do, that's why it can't find them in Millbrae. :)

This is all anecdotal, which is kind of the issue, isn't it? I'm in the Bay Area, too, and I very rarely have any problems with Apple Maps. It isn't perfect, but it's absolutely not "pretty awful." I have no significant problems finding businesses with Apple Maps; I literally just typed "deli" and the first search suggestion that came up was "Delis - search nearby," and it, well, found delis nearby.

Problems due to long-term construction seem to be a weakness for it, but I've run into those issues with Google and Waze, too.

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#158

Post by radicaldreamer »

eridius wrote: post #151
radicaldreamer wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You tap on a California St address and Maps directs you to the same address but on California Ave...

I still can't reproduce this. I just put the two following addresses into Notes: 23 California St, San Francisco, CA 23 California Ave, San Francisco, CA then tapped on both of them and Maps brought me to the correct spot each time.

eh https://share.icloud.com/photos/0UvrFm0fJbLxIGYPFqGr0ClLg

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#159

Post by Marsymars »

radicaldreamer wrote: post #20
melling wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Last weekend I used Apple Maps to navigate to a movie theater from within the Trailers app. Not sure which one got it wrong. We ended up in some neighborhood two miles from the theater. I knew once we pulled off the main road and into that neighborhood that we were screwed.

Apple Maps keeps confusing California St. and California Ave. in San Francisco. One is in downtown SF and the other is in Treasure Island, a part of the city surrounded on all sides by water only accessible via the Bay Bridge.

This isn't an Apple Maps specific problem. Last weekend I opened a full address in Uber (uses Google maps) and it directed me to 13 st rather than 13 ave, about 5km away from where I wanted to be.

Several other people at my final destination reported the same problem, though they'd all caught it and fixed the destination manually.

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#160

Post by Spooky23 »

burlesona wrote: post #40

This is cool to see, and I think should be a virtuous cycle. As I understand it, maps is the kind of thing where more usage really helps make the map better, and while DDG doesn’t bring the scale of being the iphone’s default map, it should be adding a non-trivial amount of traffic. I’ve used Apple Maps as my primary map since it came out, and I’ve only gotten a wrong location one time in literally thousands of searc…

The Google mapping properties are definitely on the decline. My theory is that they are less critical to the advertising business.

For navigation, Waze can't find a route 1/5 times for a longer trip, and Google Maps gets weirder and more hostile to use every few months. For me, they have tweaked their routing engine to be more "creative" and direct you in weird ways. Big G is too fat and happy and they need a challenge.

Apple Maps is fine now from an accuracy POV. They are more conservative about routing and Apple gives the app privileged treatment on iOS that improves the UX while driving. Now that Apple seems to be embracing letting services move beyond their platform, I think we'll see them give Google a run for their money.

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