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Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

justinobeirne.com

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Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#41

Post by avianlyric »

littlestymaar wrote: post #21

I still don't understand why Apple map is so bad compared to OpenStreetMap given that they contribute a lot to it (they are even the biggest company contributor to OSM). There must be a reason, legal or something, but why don't they just use OSM as a default for places they didn't map by themselves? [1]: https://www.gislounge.com/openstreetmap-one-of-the-worlds-la...

I suspect they want to review and check every inch of OSM in an area before they import it.

Just incase someone has hidden something extremely offensive within the dataset, and deliberately mutilated the maps to create funny images etc

Google had a few very public cases of people using their open contribution process to embed images of Android, penises and hate symbols into their maps. All this created a huge about of negative PR, and eventually resulted in the contributions system being shutdown.

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#42

Post by MrBuddyCasino »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #28

I’m using Apple Maps for the app that I’m developing now. The alternative would not have been Google Maps. It would have been MapBox. Google Maps will give app developers like me severe sticker shock. I watched a friend of mine get it in the shorts (forcing him to switch to MapBox). After watching that, I decided that I will never depend on Google services as a linchpin technology. In fact, it simply hardened my reso…

Did you consider here.com, and if not, why?

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#43

Post by webmobdev »

deergomoo wrote: post #6
throwawaysea wrote: post #2

This article is from last year but the latest iOS 15 updates show how mature Apple maps has become (see https://www.macrumors.com/guide/ios-15-maps/ ). It’s not just at parity but actually better than Google maps. It has beautiful rendering and easy readability, and I haven’t encountered odd routing issues for a couple years now. The added privacy is a welcome bonus. The only thing missing is a way to report police p…

While the maps themselves are excellent, it's a shame you lose out on Google's frankly ridiculous business data. I've had Apple Maps route me to a café that was temporarily closed, while Google Maps knew it was closed, for example. I find I prefer to use Apple Maps for driving because it's just a nicer experience (though that's largely due to having hooks in iOS that Google Maps is not allowed), but I still don't rea…

> it's a shame you lose out on Google's frankly ridiculous business data

In India, Apple Maps has compensated for this - they have purchased this data from JustDial.com ... However, Apple Maps still remains inferior to both Google Maps and HERE Maps due to lack of data. It's a Catch-22 for Apple as even if people want to use Apple Maps its poor user experience forces users back to its better competitor and without the users using it, it cannot improve itself. Google Maps is nearly unbeatable in India due to the sheer amount of data it collects every single day from Android Phones and "crowdsourcing" from its users has made it really good at routing - for e.g. in Bangalore's insane traffic, its algorithm is quite good in considering both shortest popular routes + traffic to suggest routes that will take the shortest time to reach a destination. HERE maps is quite good too and is quite popular in India because it allows its maps to be downloaded for offline use. (Google was forced to add this feature too. Apple Maps in India still doesn't have this feature).

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#44

Post by zimpenfish »

eliaspro wrote: post #33
littlestymaar wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google Maps is better[1] but none of them come even remotely close of Open Street Maps[2] [1]: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.858832,19.3550722,13.71z [2]: https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/728419973#map=13/41.8835/...

Geofabrik provides MapCompare for this... The differences between OSM and the rest are staggering! https://tools.geofabrik.de/mc/#14/41.8650/19.3868&num=4&mt0=...

Currently showing a "this page cannot load Google Maps correctly". I guess they ran out of free views? (But also underscoring quite effectively the other people saying "I won't build on Google Maps")

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#46

Post by avereveard »

littlestymaar wrote: post #32
avereveard wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bah, these map both cannot escape being politicised. One shows Monte Bianco summit in France, the other at the border.

Maps are political objects by definition: they represents borders which are nothing but political concepts.

not really in this case, it's important to know which state's emergency service to call depending on which side of the real border you are.

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#47

Post by littlestymaar »

avianlyric wrote: post #41
littlestymaar wrote: post #21

I still don't understand why Apple map is so bad compared to OpenStreetMap given that they contribute a lot to it (they are even the biggest company contributor to OSM). There must be a reason, legal or something, but why don't they just use OSM as a default for places they didn't map by themselves? [1]: https://www.gislounge.com/openstreetmap-one-of-the-worlds-la...

I suspect they want to review and check every inch of OSM in an area before they import it. Just incase someone has hidden something extremely offensive within the dataset, and deliberately mutilated the maps to create funny images etc Google had a few very public cases of people using their open contribution process to embed images of Android, penises and hate symbols into their maps. All this created a huge about o…

Maybe that's the reason. It sounds a bit extreme but given the control culture of the company that would make sense.

> All this created a huge about of negative PR

Probably not that huge though, given I've never heard of it before :).

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#48

Post by webmobdev »

littlestymaar wrote: post #38
webmobdev wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it might be because Apple will have to give visible attribution to OpenStreetMaps, which may attract users towards it to the detriment of Apple maps.

But why do they contribute then?!

They do use OpenStreetMaps data and give attribution to them as one of their sources. But if they were to only use OSM's data, people would cry foul that Apple maps is not giving them clear and visible attribution (for e.g. by adding a "OpenStreetMap" label on the map you are viewing in Apple Maps). Right now, except for maps source providers that legally require Apple to provide visible attribution somewhere in their UI, all attributions are tucked away somewhere in the internet - https://gspe21-ssl.ls.apple.com/html/attribution-199.html

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#49

Post by littlestymaar »

avereveard wrote: post #46
littlestymaar wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maps are political objects by definition: they represents borders which are nothing but political concepts.

not really in this case, it's important to know which state's emergency service to call depending on which side of the real border you are.

Given that both country consider the area to be their, I guess you could call the one you want.

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#50

Post by GeekyBear »

littlestymaar wrote: post #21

I still don't understand why Apple map is so bad compared to OpenStreetMap given that they contribute a lot to it (they are even the biggest company contributor to OSM). There must be a reason, legal or something, but why don't they just use OSM as a default for places they didn't map by themselves? [1]: https://www.gislounge.com/openstreetmap-one-of-the-worlds-la...

Apple is still in the process of creating and rolling out their own map data.

In areas where they haven't converted to their own data, they still rely on map data from others, like TomTom and OSM.

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