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Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

justinobeirne.com

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Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#91

Post by reaperducer »

bori5 wrote: post #59
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…

“Easy readability” on this point I find myself wishing there was a way to make street names and fonts in general bigger in Apple Maps. Also green font on green backgrounds, why ? In terms of planning there is still no way to add multiple routes along the way which would be a nice addition.

A lot of Apple products have bad font issues, and Apple Maps is among the worst. There's simply no way anyone at Apple has checked contrast or font size for accessibility in Apple Maps.

Once the road labels were so frustratingly small that I took a screenshot and opened it in Photoshop just to see how small it was. One label was 4px. Another was 6px. How is anyone supposed to read a six pixel tall word?

Here's an example of Apple Maps using a FIVE PIXEL TALL font: https://twitter.com/Reaperducer/status/1277319668194148352

Seriously?

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#93

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

magicalist wrote: post #86
ChrisMarshallNY wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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?

I know that he used directions and elevations.

He told me that his use case was definitely NOT free.

I also know that Apple Maps could not give him the specializations he was looking for. He is an experienced, rational engineer, and would not have acted in an alarmist manner. He really liked the Google API. Google has done a wonderful job with their map product, but I also know that it's a "gateway drug."

I won't link to his app, because it can get crazy, with all the anti-Apple stuff. I won't drag him into the fray.

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#94

Post by hvidgaard »

FearlessNebula wrote: post #60
spideymans wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really can’t criticize Apple for making an ecosystem (walled garden) of devices and services that people genuinely enjoy being in. I just lament that there really is no other comparable parallel ecosystem to compete with them, particularly from open source vendors.

Samsung is probably the closest: laptop, tablet, phone, watch, headphones all work together. They have their own software suite as well.

And it's not even close.

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#95

Post by mshockwave »

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.

finally, I'm not the only one feeling some of the street signs are barely visible at night.

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#96

Post by kstrauser »

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.

That, and "go through this traffic light and turn left at the next one" is brilliant.

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#97

Post by tylerrobinson »

Every time I've tried Apple Maps, I run into the same problem--it doesn't seem to predict your realtime location ahead by X feet to account for your speed and delay in GPS signal. Google Maps does this. The result is that on Apple Maps, your position is "behind" where you really are at the moment, and it's harder to make the turn. Google's tradeoff is that if you miss a turn, it will momentarily show your position as if you'd made the turn correctly. Perhaps this is a matter of preference, but I am much more successful at navigating while driving using Google Maps than with Apple Maps.

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#98

Post by uptown »

tylerrobinson wrote: post #97

Every time I've tried Apple Maps, I run into the same problem--it doesn't seem to predict your realtime location ahead by X feet to account for your speed and delay in GPS signal. Google Maps does this. The result is that on Apple Maps, your position is "behind" where you really are at the moment, and it's harder to make the turn. Google's tradeoff is that if you miss a turn, it will momentarily show your position as…

I've noticed the same thing. I do use Apple Maps in Carplay, but have learned to anticipate what's shown on-screen in-relation to where I'm actually located. Seems like it's certainly fixable, but I'm surprised it hasn't been addressed already given that two random strangers on the internet highlight that as one of the service's primary weaknesses.

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#99

Post by Someone »

bori5 wrote: post #59
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…

“Easy readability” on this point I find myself wishing there was a way to make street names and fonts in general bigger in Apple Maps. Also green font on green backgrounds, why ? In terms of planning there is still no way to add multiple routes along the way which would be a nice addition.

_If_ you can live with having larger text in other apps, too, you can do that in the accessibility settings.

Re: Apple Maps' Acceleration (2020)

#100

Post by jiveturkey »

LindyTalker wrote: post #89
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

The lane by lane is more harm than help IMHO.

You often get an instruction like "use the left 2 lanes". But where you are when the instruction is given, the leftmost lane might be a forced early left turn. If you're unfamiliar with the location, this requires a lot of extra cognitive load, vs simply not giving that specificity at all.

As well, traffic conditions change rapidly and the lane by lane doesn't account for that.

In some easier situations, it's great, but it's a negative in more complex situations.

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