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Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

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Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#81

Post by AlbertCory »

webmobdev wrote: post #55
GeekyBear wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>it cannot even get the shape of land and country borders right Neither can Google. >From Pakistan, Kashmir appears disputed while from India, it appears as a part of India, the Post report said, adding that "Google Maps changes disputed borders based on what country you search from". https://gadgets.ndtv.com/internet/news/google-maps-redraws-d...

It's because the laws of many countries dictate that any map available to their citizens cannot deviate from the official map that highlights the boundaries with other foreign countries. Google Maps (as well as any other private or public company) can be banned if it doesn't comply.

Correct. And having been IN Google Maps for a while, I can tell you that they have staff devoted 100% to keeping track of these political disputes.

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#82

Post by AlbertCory »

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…

Speaking of Waze (which is originally an Israeli company, if you didn't know):

I was in Tel Aviv in 2017 in a rental car at Ben Gurion airport, trying to find the rental car return. The signs all pointed me one way, and Google Maps agreed. I followed them, and got to a place where Google said "your destination is on the left."

I cursed "no, it f&cking isn't!" After much driving around and stopping to ask people, I finally found it. The rental car company had given me a sheet of paper saying where it really was, which I had neglected to look at (never having had a problem before).

I never checked to see if Waze had it right.

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#83

Post by cjensen »

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…

Neither Apple nor Google check to ensure that roads actually exist. Both have imported USGS maps that include non-public roads which are gated shut to the public.

Example: 37.475,-121.753

Both Google Maps and Apple Maps will cheerfully give you directions to this location which is less than 15 miles from their respective headquarters. You can't get there.

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#84

Post by MrBuddyCasino »

lnanek2 wrote: post #71
MrBuddyCasino wrote: post #45

I discovered that Google Maps is consuming a huge amount of data, several GB during my last vacation, nearly depleting my contingent. How does Apple Maps compare?

Google Maps does have an offline download option it offers occasionally if you know how to trigger it. Have never seen Apple Maps offer that.

It was an island and I downloaded it completely as offline map, didn't help at all. Or do you mean something else?

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#85

Post by kemayo »

echelon wrote: post #4

I still don't get it. Apple is a company people cheer for, yet it continues to accrue substantial and dangerous power. They don't let you repair devices, install your own software, or run your business unfettered. They spy on your files. They coddle and report to authoritarian governments. This monopoly is lauded and praised as it continues to get bigger and encompass everything one does. I don't understand it. It hu…

> continues to accrue substantial and dangerous power.

> They coddle and report to authoritarian governments.

There's an interesting tension here. One strand of complaint is "Apple is too powerful", and the other is "Apple isn't ignoring laws".

If you're worried about the accrual of power to megacorporations, maybe you'd not like for them to be picking and choosing what laws they'll obey based on their own whims?

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#86

Post by magicalist »

ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #79
magicalist wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. It's easy to make a theoretical stance like this, but Apple Maps and Google Maps are free in an iOS app, but MapBox is not. If you were forced to switch off Apple Maps for some reason, it seems likely the free option would win out. > it simply hardened my resolve to avoid third-party…

> Apple Maps and Google Maps are free in an iOS app Google API is not free. It would be at least a 4-digit cost per month. I think that my friend was hit with a $1,500/mo nut. Google changed terms (back when they started demanding that all users of the API give credit card numbers). His app is fairly popular, and he'd need to pay them for the SDK. > all of these libraries are third-party dependencies... I've been rel…

> Google API is not free. It would be at least a 4-digit cost per month

On iOS and Android, google maps are free: https://developers.google.com/maps/billing/gmp-billing#mobil...

Maybe your friend was doing something that the native SDKs couldn't do but the web API could?

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#87

Post by Doctor_Fegg »

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…

As ever, worth noting that self-hosting maps can be a very viable option.

You can generate OSM-derived vector tiles for the whole world for €15, using tilemaker running on Scaleway bare metal. It'd cost more like ~€100 to run it on AWS but still very doable.

That gives you a big sqlite database file (.mbtiles) to host wherever you want. Use Maplibre, the open-source fork of Mapbox GL, in your app or site.

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#88

Post by reaperducer »

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…

I've had Apple Maps route me to a café that was temporarily closed, while Google Maps knew it was closed, for example

Both Apple and Google rely heavily on the business owners to self-report their hours.

In my company, we have one of our social media people assigned to this task. Each week he has to check all of our locations on both platforms to make sure the hours being displayed are correct.

Usually they are. Sometimes people will report a location closed because they're just mad about customer service, and he has to change it back. Sometimes our hours will change, and after he's changed them on Apple or Google, the hours will mysteriously revert to the old hours a week later.

The problem you encountered is a mindshare problem. Small businesses like cafes, and even some very large businesses, think Google=Internet. So they only update their information on Google.

COVID made this a lot worse because business owners closing their stores either temporarily or permanently don't really care that much about notifying Google or Apple. They have much more important things to worry about.

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#89

Post by LindyTalker »

websap wrote: post #78

I've been recently trying out the new Apple maps' turn by turn navigation. Some of the directions are almost human like - "Take a left at next traffic light" Must say makes driving directions easier to follow compared to take a left on X street, when I can't even see what X street is at night.

I have noticed this as well. Much easier too when it's saying which lane to be in when you're exiting a highway

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#90

Post by larrik »

websap wrote: post #78

I've been recently trying out the new Apple maps' turn by turn navigation. Some of the directions are almost human like - "Take a left at next traffic light" Must say makes driving directions easier to follow compared to take a left on X street, when I can't even see what X street is at night.

It seems great, and then on a rainy night while I'm running late it brought me to the wrong place...

It was only about 200 yards up the road, but it brought me to someone's house, and had me turn in the wrong direction.

So, I was even later...

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