

Apple Maps Connect - Aqua_Geek
https://mapsconnect.apple.com

======
rubyn00bie
I'm sort of at a loss why this is being upvoted-- am I missing something? I
feel like other people are excited about this but I can't for the life of me
see why...

This is something that every mapping product should have, no? Really not
trying to troll just trying to figure out what I missed...

~~~
jvm
It's being upvoted because it's relevant for people in the tech industry to be
aware of it, not because it's surprising or technically superior to
alternatives.

------
denzil_correa
Basically, it is intended for business to add themselves on Apple Maps aka
crowd sourcing. There is also an indoor positioning for businesses that
qualify certain criteria. SearchEngineLand has some screenshots of the process
to add your business on Apple Maps.

[http://searchengineland.com/apple-launches-maps-connect-
self...](http://searchengineland.com/apple-launches-maps-connect-self-service-
local-listings-portal-206349)

------
SAS24
I would bet that this is directly related to Apple's 2013 acquisition
Locationary -[http://allthingsd.com/20130719/apple-acquires-local-data-
out...](http://allthingsd.com/20130719/apple-acquires-local-data-outfit-
locationary)

This is exactly what Dan and Grant built Locationary for, to crowdsource and
manage (validation, collisions, conflicts) massive location based datasets.

Locationary's Saturn platform was worldwide, with hundreds of thousands of
locations outside the US, so I'm guessing its only a matter of time before
Apple opens it up.

------
jonnynezbo
This is half-baked. I started the process to add a business, and halfway
through I accidentally clicked off of the 'Add Business' popup. It lost all of
my info (I thought), so I started over with the 'Add Business' wizard. Once I
submitted for approval, I could then see the old entry that I started. But,
you can't even delete businesses yet - so now there is a half-filled-out
business just sitting there.

~~~
thrownaway2424
This is a necessary facility but I can't see how it will solve Apple's quality
problems. Just spot-checking my personal pet peeve, they're still showing a
hotel in the middle of Oakland that was torn down several years ago, even
though their aerial image, which is also very outdated, shows the site as a
vacant lot.

Nobody has incentive to remove their defunct business from Apple's maps using
this tool. Apple either needs real crowd sourcing from the public or their own
internal quality people prowling around.

~~~
matthewmacleod
_Apple either needs real crowd sourcing from the public_

Doesn't this already exist? There's a pretty big option after selecting any
venue in Apple's Maps app that allows users to report it closed, update the
data, that sort of thing. I reported loads of these in my local area shortly
after it was release, and they certainly appear to have been updated.

------
koenigdavidmj
Still not going to be interested in Apple Maps until they start to update
their data. Mercer St in Seattle is one of the main east-west routes between
the highway and surface streets, and they still haven't figured out that it is
a two-way street (which happened close to a year ago), and that most of Broad
St no longer exists. This makes it useless for quite a lot of people here:
basically anyone in the Belltown, Queen Anne, and Magnolia neighborhoods.

~~~
bmnick
Report a problem - they take them quite seriously in my experience.

~~~
jen729w
Nope. I reported the fact that what's shown as a coffee shop here in Melbourne
(Australia) is in fact a parking lot, and has been forever, and couldn't
feasibly be a coffee shop under any circumstances due to its location.

Two years ago.

And it's still a coffee shop. Corner of Flinders & Spring, if you're
interested.

~~~
2muchcoffeeman
I did the same for a place in Sydney. It did eventually get updated. But it
took a veeeeery long time.

~~~
javajosh
I wonder if address-to-gps mapping is complicated by reversed street
directions....

------
TranquilMarmot
What is it? I don't have an Apple ID and have no interest in creating one.

~~~
jastanton
There are 2 links after you sign in.

1) A link that will let you add your business to Apple Maps. "Your updates
will be used to improve Apple Maps for our users and partners."

2) A link for a signup called "Indoor". The copy for that page is:

Thank you for your interest in Apple's new indoor positioning technology. We
have received an overwhelming response on this service and we are prioritizing
our efforts to focus on venues with the following attributes:

* Accessible to the general public

* Annual visitors in excess of 1 million per year

* Availability of complete, accurate, and scaled reference maps

* Enabled with Wi-Fi throughout

* Associated app is authorized by venue owner

------
fernly
Bizarre design. Pretty tourist pics and an Apple sign-in. Which Lastpass fills
in anyway, so heck, I sign in. And then I am looking at "frosted glass"
rectangle (Yosemite desktop effect I assume) that covers the pretty pics and
asks if I have a small business.

No, I do not. But there is no way to say that. Nothing to explain what this
page would do for me if I did, and nothing to tell me what use it is (or
isn't) since I don't. No back-story at all. Why did I sign in?

~~~
eridius
You signed in because this was posted on Hacker News. Apple didn't market this
page to you. You're obviously not their target audience.

------
ChuckMcM
I didn't like the part where it asked me to move the pin to the location but
didn't have map tiles for the location!

------
SG-
Seems to be US only for adding addresses.

~~~
nanoman
That's correct - I have just tried to add my german small business. No chance.
Why would they limit it to the US? Google's doing the exact same thing without
restrictions.

For a while I hoped Apple would let go of their US-centric thinking, but it
seems I was wrong.

Edit: I just remembered that with Google Maps, they sent me a postal letter
with a code to confirm the address. Maybe they haven't set that up yet, but my
point still stands.

Can anyone confirm if the confirmation process involves a postal letter?

------
borland
BEWARE. When I try log in it says my apple account has been locked out for
security reasons. I went and reset the password and successfully logged into a
bunch of other apple stuff, but when I tried to log into maps connect it said
I was locked out again.

~~~
vitd
This usually happens if some other user who has a similar name accidentally
enters your address but their own password 3 or more times. If your username
is also borland there, it wouldn't surprise me if someone else has something
similar.

------
Walkman
1.

    
    
        Request limit exceeded.
        You have exceeded your page request limit. Please try again later.
    

2.

    
    
        What is your business address?
        United States (with no input option, static text)

------
wtbob
Whatever this is doesn't work in Firefox on Android.

------
Polarity
next up: Apple Search (spotlight for the browser)

------
chrisabrams
How come this doesn't work on an iPhone?

~~~
mwfunk
If the main purpose of this system is to allow small business owners to
register their businesses, I just can't imagine that it would be worth
anyone's time to either make an app for it or make a mobile web UI. It's
something that some people use once and most people use never.

------
philfreo
Built using Bootstrap and Angular

