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It’s barely been a day since iOS 6′s native Maps app was released to the world, and already there’s a steady stream of mapsasters that have everyone not-so-secretly wishing a standalone Google Maps app gets released ASAP.
And since it doesn’t take long for an internet fad to turn into a curated Tumblr blog, it looks like The Amazing iOS 6 Maps is going to be your one-stop-shop for everything that’s terrible and lacking in Apple’s new Maps app.
And if you think the pancaked Eiffel Tower’s bad, it only gets worse from there.
The Earth by Apple is my favourite one.
Is it just me or do those roads on the left look like they would be AWESOME to drive over?!
I concur
Tbh, if Apple’s flattened Paris, they may have just gone up in my estimation!
snigger
Having been a student there for 4 years, this is about as much detail as I remember…
http://theamazingios6maps.tumblr.com/post/31923741059/
To be fair to Apple, I’m sure people could find a few horrors in Google Maps if they looked hard enough. I’m not saying that Google Maps’ error rate isn’t 100 times better though. Google have had years to iron out the kinks. I wonder if Apple have anticipated the scale of the task involved in cleaning this up…
But holy hell… some of those satellite/aerial images are awful. Where did Apple get them from? WW2 reconnaissance photos?
I’m guessing the 3D map data is generated by radar mapping from an aeroplane. If so, the wires that support suspension bridges seem to confuse the radar, so they end up looking like this:
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_manirsH2xh1rhptwbo1_1280.jpg
I’m surprised that Apple didn’t even clean up the Brooklyn Bridge before releasing this.
You can’t be fair to Apple in this case. Yes, there are errors on Google Maps – and some of those posted are just silly (clouds? there are clouds everywhere on GMaps). But you don’t release a competing product to the best one on the market, removing access to competition, and have it so half-arsed.
Unless you’re Apple, of course, because then nobody really cares.
I do agree, but this isn’t a calculator app. Any mapping software depends on the quality of a huge amount of data. There are always going to be errors, and frankly they’re easier to fix if you have millions of users finding them for you. That might sound like Apple are using their paying customers as beta testers, but what choice do they have? Employ a million Chinese people to pore over their mapping data for a year?
This is the first time in its short history that this data has come under the scrutiny of millions of users and, guess what, they’re finding holes.
Also, people always care when Apple are perceived to have screwed up. They care a lot. I see this story has now made the headlines on the BBC News, with higher billing than Clegg’s musical apology.
Remember the antenna debacle? No one aside from Apple has to deal with that level of public outcry when things go a bit wrong, and this is no different. That’s the downside of having such a high profile.
The media care, but the customers don’t. They will still buy iPhones in their millions, no matter how crappy they eventually become compared to competition.
It’s not about ‘small errors’, though, I can live with that – it’s mostly about lack of useful data, in obvious places. Somebody elsewhere mentioned the map is missing East Croydon station. That’s one of the largest railway stations in London. This is not the kind of a mistake you should make in an app that’s released without a ‘beta’ tag – especially when you provide no alternative.
Apple’s high profile is it’s own creation. They constantly brag about how ‘perfect’ their products are. Obviously there will be backlash when something goes wrong.
Eadingas is spot on I can forgive them for making a mistake with Duncaster sort of however they were told about this mistake a while ago. Its pretty small town but things like airports in the wrong place citys not mapped etc that is inexcusable
Don’t confuse high sales with not caring. People will still buy iPhones in their droves because many don’t think that a mapping issue is enough to make them jump ship and buy something else, dropping all the iPhone apps they’ve already purchased and diving into a new ecosystem. That doesn’t mean that they don’t care (or complain) about the mapping issue.
Also, one problem with mapping data is that it doesn’t distinguish between what’s considered a major feature (like East Croydon station) and what’s considered to be minor. It’s just data – errors effect everything on an equal basis, but the good news is that the more people are affected (as they will be by a major discrepancy), the more likely the issue is to be resolved relatively quickly. Right now, Apple haven’t even had enough time to iron out the major errors that are only now being identified.
Yes, I’m sure you could give me a few examples of errors that were identified months ago that still haven’t been resolved. I’m sure Apple have a laundry list of errors 1000 pages long that they’re yet to fix. They’ll get round to it, but bringing the accuracy up to a standard as high as Google Maps will take years.
Ah apple, not releasing something till it’s perfect… Unless it will save them a few bob.
Well I didn’t expect their maps to be any great so soon. I did expect a lot of shortcomings but the thing that keeps coming to my mind is the “not releasing something till it’s perfect” speech, and also the fact that Taf apparently has nothing to say about it…
Simply an example of how a corporate will abuse it’s customers because it thinks it’s more important than them
History is full of company’s that have gone from Hereo to Zero, simply because they ignored the basic business rules on how to treat your PAYING customers
Nottingham is obscured by cloud cover. only place with proper 3d is london and the models are pretty poor, they look automated whereas google is very cleverly getting people to model the buildings themselves.
Agreed. I think Apple are just using raw topography data, complete with errors, whereas Google are actually attempting to clean it up first.