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Like so many things in life, Apple’s horrific new Maps app would be funny if it weren’t so sad. But after Apple decided to ditch Google Maps for its own troubled offering in iOS 6, users have been left with bad directions, incorrect business listings, and a misspelt Doncaster.
How bad is it? We’re not even 24 hours in yet, and the iOS6pocalypse is already making a hash of getting from A to B for countless iPhone devotees. Here are just a handful:
Will Apple Maps get better? Sure, eventually, in the long run, after Apple collects enough user data to make a viable product. But for now, get ready for a future filled with mosque hotels and taxidermy drivers. Or just wait it out until Google Maps gets an app of its own.
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This won’t hold a candle to a proper GPS in the UK until it can guide you offline. I’d happily give up a gig of my iPhone storage for the UK map to be stored on there. Why do so many companies believe that 3g is perfect across the country. God help 4g/LTE.
Really, are you sure it doesn’t work offline?
Even my cheapo windows phone has a map of the UK on it and the search/ tunr by turn works off line.
It does sometimes but it required planning ahead. If you know you will be doing the journey then you can look it up and plan it while on Wifi and it will get you there turn by turn.
If it is an ad hoc get me home jobbie then you will need cell data to download the cache the mop for the journey.
CACHE THE MOP
Apple Maps is terrible. I’ll happily say that. But there is one life-safer they’ve included in it, which, in my opinion, is brilliant. And it’s one I haven’t seen in Google Maps.
Roadwork alerts!
They even have times built in, so you know when the roadworks will end. Brilliant.
But yeah, the rest is crap.
Have you ever selected the traffic option in Google maps, I guess not?
This morning there was a rare traffic queue in my road, it effected the surrounding roads, and was accurately displayed even down to a close resemblance of the length of the queue, I know because I checked as I did not believe it could be that long. No idea exactly how Google do it but glad they do, saved me getting in the car to sit in traffic
Of course I have – however the information wasn’t quite as, well, informative as Apple’s is. I say “Apple’s”, but it’s almost certainly provided by TomTom (my dad’s satnav has the option to show traffic and roadworks, but only if you plug in an adapter). You get the name of the road (without having to zoom in to see where the red/yellow line is blinking on), when the roadworks started, how big the delays will be, how many lanes are closed, and how long to expect disruption for. Oh, and they also provide information on closed roads, with different symbols for each.
Either way, the fact the roadwork sign appears automatically, without you having to switch on the traffic option in the settings, is a great advantage. Also, it can be rather confusing having a lot of red and yellow lines blinking at you – although in my area, I didn’t really have that, as coverage for traffic around here was scarce.
Hey, fun fact here. Android handsets feed data back to the Google Navigation servers, and update traffic in real time.
To give that as a really long story short, Google’s can be rerouting people around traffic near enough instantly after an incident occurs, regardless of whether it is a well monitored motorway or a tiny country lane with nay a traffic master camera in sight.
How arrogant as a company do you have to be to remove a very functional map product and provide your paying customers something that is clearly not “fit for purpose” because you wish to hurt the competition, talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
Apple claim to innovate, yet this is a clear example where they do not, it’s bizarre that their customers seem to accept this as “oh it will get better!” or “I don’t use maps so don’t care”, remember you are customers, you have paid (or will pay on contract)serious money for these phones, don’t accept inferior products or services from a company you know can do better, and frankly has no excuse to treat loyal customers like this
People grow some stones!!!
And Siri is still in beta.
http://www.apple.com/ios/siri/
We need to alert Guinness about Apple being the worlds largest beta testers.
I’m guessing that people are actually using the built in reporting tools to alert Apple to this stuff rather than just moaning on twitter? It won’t improve unless they know what to fix!
I hope so. I have been doing. In my city, none of the local colleges exist according to the maps, so I reported them accordingly. I’m not sure how long it will take Apple to look at my particular reports though given how bad the situation is for the whole world.
I hope Taf isn’t mislead into a ditch.
Taf’s ok. He said he wasn’t upgrading until a proper jailbreak was released.
This is true, but I wouldn’t be using me phone as sat nav, the car has sat nav so no need to bother…
Useful… when you’re trying to find a restaurant in a city that you’ve travelled to by train.
Just like “antenna gate”, the official response from Apple will be that all you with local area map problems will simply be asked to move to a nearby town which has mapping correct.
This is not true . According to a comment on g+ Apple has a team of engineers working on this already. They are going to move all the roads and businesses and change all the town names till they match Apples obviously perfect map.
Pre gold master, Watford was labelled as St Albans. I was not happy driving along trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
This is a massive PR disaster for Apple. On the day it’s new iPhone goes on sale people will be reading in their morning paper just how bad their maps are. It isn’t going to effect first day sales a jot obviously as those people would have bought it even if it were coated with rusty razor blades with “do not remove from HIV ward” written on them. But the people who are considering this as an option, they might just start weighing their options.
Do people actualy use maps on their phones that much? Not trolling, serious question.
I don’t, that’s why I’m getting one. My iPad is stuck with iOS 5 and wifi, so I don’t care about my new phone having maps; I plan my journeys when I travel, so I’m not that fussed.
A hell of a lot – Among other things I’m the fixtures secretary for our rugby club, and I’m genuinely concerned about us not being able to field a team for away fixtures because of the number of people that use iPhones as satnavs and the fact that most local rugby club pitches are in somewhat obscure locations!
YES! I do a fair bit of travelling and would be so freakin lost without decent maps on my phone
Haven’t owned an actual satnav since Google could do navigation on Android.
Since I carry my phone all the time it saves keeping a satnav unit in the glovebox and worrying about the car getting broken into to nick it.
You still tempted by the iPhone 5 dark side, TC?
Simple answer no, will stick with the Galaxy Nexus (stolen from work) till someone makes something revolutionary, and doesn’t reinvent the wheel so badly. Nokia maps maybe?
Haha come join the slightly grey side over here on Windows Phone then!