Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Six years perfecting maps on watchOS

david-smith.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 130 posts

Re: Six years perfecting maps on watchOS

#91

Post by mannyv »

SllX wrote: post #54
dylan604 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe some people are too young to remember Apple's Maps v1. Even Tim Apple recently mentioned that debacle in what was essentially an exit interview.

I recently switched back to Google Maps after Apple announced ads were coming to Apple Maps, since if the default Maps app is going to be saddled with ads on my thousands of dollars worth of Apple hardware anyway , I may as well use the best. And yeah, let’s be honest, Apple Maps is good enough for most use cases, but Google Maps blows it out of the fucking water. In that light, I may be hard pressed to call it a deb…

My kids pointed out that Apple Maps shows street lights, which makes navigation much easier than waze or google maps. They use apple maps exclusively.

Re: Six years perfecting maps on watchOS

#92

Post by ascertain_john »

yreg wrote: post #80
interstice wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because they don't allow deeper integrations maybe? I still don't have a watch face layout I like.

When Apple uses private APIs that are forbidden to developers on the App Store to compete with them it's not exactly fair. So I wouldn't say it's a failure that they don't do that even more often .

APIs are hard to get right the first time. I could see why they wouldn't want to release one until they've dogfooded and refined it.

That said, I'd love to see them take an approach unstable API release that requires the app to show a warning like "This app relies on unfinished features that may change or stop working entirely in the future, requiring the seller to release an apo update." and require them to launch it as a free preview, make it refundable during this period, etc.

Re: Six years perfecting maps on watchOS

#93

Post by [deleted] »

mannyv wrote: post #91
SllX wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently switched back to Google Maps after Apple announced ads were coming to Apple Maps, since if the default Maps app is going to be saddled with ads on my thousands of dollars worth of Apple hardware anyway , I may as well use the best. And yeah, let’s be honest, Apple Maps is good enough for most use cases, but Google Maps blows it out of the fucking water. In that light, I may be hard pressed to call it a deb…

My kids pointed out that Apple Maps shows street lights, which makes navigation much easier than waze or google maps. They use apple maps exclusively.

[deleted]

Re: Six years perfecting maps on watchOS

#95

Post by djfdat »

Sir_Twist wrote: post #22
cromka wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly, the less Apple made apps, the better for the ecosystem and the quality of the apps in general. Apple's recent "sherlocked" apps are not good quality at all, but they make it substantially more difficult for 3rd parties to compete with the now default offerings.

Not a developer, but I feel like Apple improving the defaults has been good for the ecosystem. The Reminders app is an example of this, because as it has gotten better over the years, the baseline for a good iOS to-do app has been raised, without reducing the market.

One issue is: when the Reminders app was simple, making a better reminders app just had to be a little more complex that a single developer could improve upon it and charge for it once and make a living. Now, the bar is so high, that it takes significantly more work/time to make a better app, and thus we have to pay subscription pricing in order to use it.

Instead of: let me buy this app for a few bucks and give it a spin, its now: even if I like this app, do I want to pay for it a few bucks a month for forever?

Re: Six years perfecting maps on watchOS

#96

Post by y0ink »

davidkuennen wrote: post #59
opentokix wrote: post #58

And it's a f:ing subscription delete

How do you expect the developers to pay for the service? Map tiles alone are already very expensive and data heavy.

The monthly and yearly subscriptions are fine, and merited given the time and effort that went into this product, but offer a lifetime subscription.

Re: Six years perfecting maps on watchOS

#97

Post by MattRix »

ndr42 wrote: post #63

I don't know if anybody else is so petty like me regarding installing new apps but while I can't say anything about the app itself, I just wanted to know how much it would cost, if it is an subscription and so on. But it was not possible from the app store page itself. Have a look, how confusing it is: https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@ndr/116483475865871622 It shows a lot of price points from 1€ all up to 45€ without…

When I look at the in app purchase prices on the App Store page, it tells me what they’re for? (1 month vs 1 year). You can usually assume that if you see a different price for the same name item, that it’s a sale price.

Re: Six years perfecting maps on watchOS

#98

Post by miyoji »

mannyv wrote: post #91
SllX wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently switched back to Google Maps after Apple announced ads were coming to Apple Maps, since if the default Maps app is going to be saddled with ads on my thousands of dollars worth of Apple hardware anyway , I may as well use the best. And yeah, let’s be honest, Apple Maps is good enough for most use cases, but Google Maps blows it out of the fucking water. In that light, I may be hard pressed to call it a deb…

My kids pointed out that Apple Maps shows street lights, which makes navigation much easier than waze or google maps. They use apple maps exclusively.

This is a very weird comment considering that Google Maps has had that feature for years.

Re: Six years perfecting maps on watchOS

#99

Post by interstice »

porsager wrote: post #60
interstice wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh and while I'm here the single layer non editable menu / weird grid is also the worst. I grew up texting under the desk on a nine key and only checking after I'd selected the contact to send to. Give me that level of muscle memory again someone, anyone, please.

I made Type Nine for iPhone, and have waited a long time for Apple to open up for doing it on the watch. https://typenineapp.com PS. I typed this under my desk!

Oh neat! Bookmarked

Re: Six years perfecting maps on watchOS

#100

Post by ndr42 »

MattRix wrote: post #97
ndr42 wrote: post #63

I don't know if anybody else is so petty like me regarding installing new apps but while I can't say anything about the app itself, I just wanted to know how much it would cost, if it is an subscription and so on. But it was not possible from the app store page itself. Have a look, how confusing it is: https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@ndr/116483475865871622 It shows a lot of price points from 1€ all up to 45€ without…

When I look at the in app purchase prices on the App Store page, it tells me what they’re for? (1 month vs 1 year). You can usually assume that if you see a different price for the same name item, that it’s a sale price.

Good to know: My screenshot was from the web version of the app store page (see link in my first post), the iOS-version shows month or year as you said.

The premium yearly subscription has 3 price points shown (22.99, 34.99 and 44.99€) - I feel really bad for the developer as their customers are reminded that they have to pay more than others have paid before. I don't get why Apple is showing the old prices.

Post reply on HN