Apple maps can EAD (Explain Accurate Directions) [Update Google Maps Available]

[pylon]

Originally Posted by getbak

Yes. I like the Google woman's voice better than Siri.

Does it have a 3D fly-over view?

[You Need a Thneed]

Originally Posted by pylon

Does it have a 3D fly-over view?

One that has my whole yard, the back fences, the kids playground etc. in 3D in suburban Calgary? I honestly cannot tell that the images aren't real.

[MrMastodonFarm]

http://thenextweb.com/google/2012/12...-after-launch/

After months of posturing and reports of feuds between Google and Apple, Google Maps launched on the App Store earlier today. The app is already the number one most downloaded app on Apple’s marketplace, seven hours after it became available.

[Bertuzzied]

hehe seething? really?

So, how are Apple executives taking the news?
John Gruber – who is such an influential Apple blogger that he gets personal product demonstrations from Apple execs – says they are "seething".
Gruber:
I think Apple — where by “Apple”, I mean the company’s collective executive leadership — is seething regarding the way this has played out. Everything from Apple Maps being the butt of jokes to the accolades and joy that have accompanied the release of the new Google Maps iOS app. Seething.
Not a surprise.
Scott Forstall was the Apple exec in charge of Apple Maps. And when he refused to apologize for the product, even after consumers and reviewers loudly rejected it, CEO Tim Cook kicked him to the street.

[3 Justin 3]

I'm glad I checked this thread and found out there is a Google Maps app!

Finally I can view a map that is accurate and readable.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Used Google Maps for iOS this afternoon on a friends phone. It's really well done, the turn by turn was clean and nice. Great job by Google improving Apple's products

[silentsim]

I personally think the turn by turn looks much better on Apple Maps then on Google Maps, but the Google Location data is amazing. If Both maps have the POI, i'd rather use Apple Maps. But alas, that is the problem!

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Used Google Maps for iOS this afternoon on a friends phone. It's really well done, the turn by turn was clean and nice. Great job by Google improving Apple's products

You're too predictable.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

You're too predictable.

Well atleast I'm correct and not rambling on making excuses and stories.

[Mazrim]

One thing I am happy about: Voice navigation wasn't available in Apple Maps for the iPhone 4 (I'm assuming it required integration with Siri), but I can use it on Google Maps. Works pretty well, I have to say.

[Super Nintendo Chalmers]

CNN reporter compares the two iPhone apps:

http://cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/...-maps.cnn.html

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Originally Posted by Super Nintendo Chalmers

CNN reporter compares the two iPhone apps:

http://cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/...-maps.cnn.html

Not that I'm disagreeing that Google's mapping is better, but why the hell did she use Hong Kong?

New York, LA, Chicago?

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

Not that I'm disagreeing that Google's mapping is better, but why the hell did she use Hong Kong?

New York, LA, Chicago?

Why the hell not Hong Kong?

[ken0042]

I thought the same thing with her using Hong Kong. Unless that was the city where the differences were most noticeable. And of course she used just one spot in the one city.

What bugs me the most is that I have now had 3 people ask me if they should get a 4s instead of a 5; just so they can keep iOS 5 and Google Maps. That means there must be other people without a tech person to ask who are buying the lesser iPhone over the maps issue. When really if you are in a position where the difference between Google and Apple maps would make or break you; then you should be using something other than your phone as a GPS.

This "news piece" just reinforces anybody who is looking at the two phones to get the 4s.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by ken0042

When really if you are in a position where the difference between Google and Apple maps would make or break you; then you should be using something other than your phone as a GPS.

Why? Hardware devices have their data updated less frequently than any online service - Apple and Google (and other online) mapping resources not only use the same base data to build out their initial data set, but you have immediate access to their iterative improvements and updates to their live data set.

Every dedicated GPS sources map data from one of the same basic providers as the phones - NavTeq, TomTom, OSM, Nokia, etc.

You can load TomTom (using their dataset) and Garmin's Navigon (which uses NavTeq) apps on your phone and get the exact same dataset as their dedicated hardware, and you'll discover exactly the same thing - that every map provider has their own peculiarities and incorrect data.

Leaving POI information aside for a few minutes, what most people are dealing with, when we get right down to it, isn't terrible accuracy issues in any of these mapping solutions - it's that they are noticing the errors and exceptions are different between them, especially when most people have only been exposed to one set of GIS data, which is typically Google's.

All that being said, in my opinion Google's data is almost certainly the gold standard for accuracy - it definitely helps that they've driven an awful lot of the roadways they are mapping. And no hardware based solution has access to that data set, that I know of, and certainly not access to the most current version of that data in real time.

[Super Nintendo Chalmers]

Originally Posted by Maritime Q-Scout

Not that I'm disagreeing that Google's mapping is better, but why the hell did she use Hong Kong?

New York, LA, Chicago?

She's their Asia correspondent. She's based in Hong Kong.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

Why? Hardware devices have their data updated less frequently than any online service - Apple and Google (and other online) mapping resources not only use the same base data to build out their initial data set, but you have immediate access to their iterative improvements and updates to their live data set.

To simply answer your "why"- I would say that any time I have been in a position where a failed GPS could cost me my life, I have had at least one backup. And the big thing with any of the GPS only devices- they aren't depending on cellular data to give you the map information. Sure the maps are only as accurate as the last update, but I find that is most often relivant in an urban setting.

I will certainly agree with you- that Google Maps is vastly superior to Apple Maps. However for somebody to buy an iPhone that is missing LTE network coverage, the corporate network security policies in iOS 6, and the improved processor for the sake of a mapping application seems silly to me.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by ken0042

To simply answer your "why"- I would say that any time I have been in a position where a failed GPS could cost me my life, I have had at least one backup. And the big thing with any of the GPS only devices- they aren't depending on cellular data to give you the map information. Sure the maps are only as accurate as the last update, but I find that is most often relivant in an urban setting.

I didn't originally understand your post - I thought you were saying a dedicated GPS is better than what you get on a phone, for the kind of people asking you which phone to get based on mapping. What you were actually saying is that if the differences were that critical, or that significant between models, to those people, they should be using hardware, since it barely matters for 99% of the GPS using population.

I do agree with you on the hardware front now that I understand what you're saying - I wouldn't use a phone for backcountry work either - not the least of which would be because the phone isn't rugged enough, waterproof, or capable of running for 24+ hours. I have a pair of Garmins for that, and truthfully should be carrying paper as a backup as well.

The phone also doesn't have a barometer for detecting shifting weather patterns. In fact, I've yet to see a phone based map that even has a freaking scale on it, something I don't understand at ALL. There would obviously be some issues with dot pitch and resolution independence and rounding errors drawing at the pixel level, but even something approximate would be useful.

[Super Nintendo Chalmers]

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

In fact, I've yet to see a phone based map that even has a freaking scale on it, something I don't understand at ALL. There would obviously be some issues with dot pitch and resolution independence and rounding errors drawing at the pixel level, but even something approximate would be useful.

You mean a scale bar to give an idea of distance? Don't all map apps have that?

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by Super Nintendo Chalmers

You mean a scale bar to give an idea of distance? Don't all map apps have that?

Yeah! Go check any of them - no scale bar on Apple or Google maps. I hate it.

Edit: just checked out screenshots of Waze and Nokia maps, no scale bar there either.