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DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

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Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#51

Post by inferiorhuman »

rootusrootus wrote: post #30
cletus wrote: post #3

I think of Apple Maps the same way I think of North Korea's missile program: I know it exists and it has continent-level accuracy.

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 deli was on Howard or Folsom (and I forgot the exact name). The search results for 'deli' were basically everywhere on North America except for where I was (including across town). Searching for businesses with Apple Maps is nearly impossible, and the insistence upon installing the Yelp app to get more info is just infuriating.

Edit: Oh yeah and it can't find Grainger in Millbrae to save its life. Shit happens and business info is one of the hardest parts about mapping. Unfortunately Apple makes it damn near impossible to report problems to a real human.

Edit edit: My all time favorite though was asking Siri for directions to some club that I usually take BART to. I kept getting directions to a not that nearby and not that similarly named bail bondsman.

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#52

Post by arendtio »

Nightshaxx wrote: post #39
oldgun wrote: post #21

Not sure if it's a lot to ask, but I'll consider it a killer app if DDG can let user opt which map source to choose from? e.g. Some may prefer Google, and some may prefer openstreetmap? Just a thought.

It already has this. It's in search settings.

Nope, that is just the 'Directions Source'. So basically the button below an embedded map to let you calculate the route to the destination.

I don't know which language you use, but at least the German translation is kinda wrong since it is called 'Kartensystem' which you could translate as 'Karten = Maps' and 'System = System' and it certainly is not the general map system you select, but just the one being used for calculating routes/directions. Sadly :-/

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#53

Post by inferiorhuman »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #43
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 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.

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#54

Post by r00fus »

soneca wrote: post #11

Tangentially, I noticed that when I start typing a word in my Chrome URL input field, it started to privilege Google searches instead of websites I normally visit. It is very annoying to type "n " and it goes on to search any query starting with "n" that I happened to have searched in the past instead of going to HN as it was the case for the last several years. It is happening now with all my usual "shortcuts". Chro…

I avoid Chrome on all but specific work use-cases. Have noticed a big improvement in battery usage while it's not running.

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#55

Post by microtonal »

Freak_NL wrote: post #48
solarkraft wrote: post #24

Why support proprietary Apple Maps instead of Open Street Map? Is the data a lot more precise? Is the viewer smoother? Is it just another step towards aligning with Apple for an eventual buyout/search engine standard? That said: If privacy is the only concern Apple seems to be a pretty good ally, as the only major player with a significant interest in it.

> Is the data a lot more precise? Perhaps in Apple's own backyard. In the Netherlands it's laughably bad. Cycle tracks? Mostly missing (in a country that has a huge cycling infrastructure). The map doesn't even have building outlines. Google Maps is slightly better, but mostly because of the more extensive mapping of points-of-interest; because business owners add their own information with an almost religious zeal.…

Perhaps in Apple's own backyard. In the Netherlands it's laughably bad. Cycle tracks? Mostly missing (in a country that has a huge cycling infrastructure). The map doesn't even have building outlines.

Apple uses Tom Tom data. We never had serious problems with car navigation in Germany where we lived before and in The Netherlands.

Bike navigation is indeed bad, but it is also bad with Google Maps once you cycle in nature (outside cities). Then nothing beats a good Garmin GPS with paid maps (e.g. Topo Germany Pro and Topo Benelux), which do not only contain smaller cycling roads, unpaved roads, etc. but typically also contain paths recommended by national cycling associations (ActiveRouting). Unfortunately, it seems they are not updating maps frequently anymore, I guess it's a small market. I hope that OpenStreetMap continues to pick up the slack.

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#56

Post by robin_reala »

Nightshaxx wrote: post #44
gpm wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does preferences->search->provide search suggestions=(unchecked) not do what you want?

Also in Firefox you can opt to have an entirely separate search box and address box.....it's somewhere in appearance settings.

Hamburger menu -> customise -> drag the search box onto the toolbar. Cmd + k (on mac at least) will focus it ready for your search.

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#57

Post by darkpuma »

rimliu wrote: post #4
cletus wrote: post #3

I think of Apple Maps the same way I think of North Korea's missile program: I know it exists and it has continent-level accuracy.

I don't use NK missiles, but I do use Apple Maps and they are fine.

Check out a map and figure out which direction North Korea would need to launch a missile to test it's capabilities without the missile flying over another country. Then armed with that information, the next time they launch something look up the launch site and landing site.

What you'll find is that they have two general options. From the west coast of North Korea almost straight south, threading the needle between the west coast of South Korea and the east coast of China. And from the west coast of North Korea to the north-east at the general direction of the Tsugaru Strait. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwangmy%C5%8Fngs%C5%8Fng-4#/me...

(Something else to consider is the apogee of the launch. Typically those Tsugaru Straight launches are almost straight up with apogees several thousand kilometers above earth (for reference, the ISS hangs out at around ~400km))

It sure seems to me these are indeed tests, not earnest attempts to nuke Tokyo or anything like that. If it were the later, they'd probably start off by actually aiming for Tokyo.

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#58

Post by wyre »

Nightshaxx wrote: post #44
gpm wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does preferences->search->provide search suggestions=(unchecked) not do what you want?

Also in Firefox you can opt to have an entirely separate search box and address box.....it's somewhere in appearance settings.

I remember when that used to be the default and then Chrome came along with the omnibox and changed the game.

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#59

Post by inferiorhuman »

willio58 wrote: post #8
cletus wrote: post #3

I think of Apple Maps the same way I think of North Korea's missile program: I know it exists and it has continent-level accuracy.

I choose to use Apple maps for navigating most places within a city. On iPhone, I think it has far superior ux design. In between cities I use google maps because I feel it is more up to date.

I choose to use Apple maps for navigating most places within a city. On iPhone, I think it has far superior ux design. In between cities I use google maps because I feel it is more up to date.

I suffer with Apple Maps because I find Google that unethical, but... the UX is atrocious. Navigation with Apple leaves the phone unresponsive (unlocking takes a few tries), but not with Google. This behavior has persisted for me across a few different phones.

The biggest thing that leads to teeth gnashing for me is that after a while my location search will time out. Great if you've got network connectivity, not so great if you're trying to go somewhere more remote (or have your phone in airplane mode, etc, etc) and the location you just searched for disappears.

Re: DuckDuckGo Expands Use of Apple Maps

#60

Post by danskeren »

Erik816 wrote: post #41
scrooched_moose wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They do have the !g option in their search though. If you aren't happy with the results, append your string with !g and it will send you to google results. You do lose the privacy layer though. From a purely privacy standpoint this isn't much different. There are a ton of other bang options here: https://duckduckgo.com/bang ?

I was under the impression that a !g search was somehow anonymized. Was that just wishful thinking?

Definitely wishful thinking, use !s instead.

The bang shortcuts just take you to the other websites.. sure, you gain a few things, like Google not knowing what you typed to arrive at the final search, typing speed, etc. but DDG can’t really do anything to protect your privacy once you’ve ended up at google.com.

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