
New Apple maps app under fire from users - option_greek
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-19659736
======
cletus
Since the passing of Steve Jobs there has understandably been a lot of
speculation about what will happen to Apple given Steve's laser-like focus on
user experience above almost all else. Some self-proclaimed "power users" did
of course rail against the Apple ecosystem but like most things Apple does
(did?) it was right most of the time for most users.

I've been an avid iPhone user since the iPhone 4 and have bought every iPad so
far. iOS 6 may mark a turning point to me such that the 4S that I have now may
well be my last iPhone. My phone for me is probably beyond anything else a way
of getting places (ie maps). Even more than phone calls, SMS or the Internet.

I sympathize with the position that Apple wants to control the entire
experience but I really am dumbfounded that they've sacrificed user experience
to do it. So much so that I don't think I want to update to iOS 6.

When compared to Android, the one remaining pillar for the iPhone for me is
battery life. The 4S simply trumps any Android I've used or witnessed to date.
I typically have to charge my phone only every 2-3 days. The Droid I have
(which admittedly was a terrible phone) is lucky to last a day. The Galaxy S3
is better but still...

I look forward to the next Android phone running out-of-the-box 4.1 (or
whatever the latest release is at that point).

~~~
arrrg
Apple can’t unilaterally decide to use Google Maps or not. You do not know the
conditions Google set. My guess is that Apple was backed into a corner and
Google wouldn’t give them vector maps or turn-by-turn navigation.

Building a good maps service is miles outside of Apple’s core competency, so
this is all very sad – but at the same time no surprise at all.

(Mind you, all this at best explains the bad maps experience, it does not
excuse it.)

~~~
brudgers
It's a product of Apple's inability to form stable B2B relationships - "adult
relationships" if one enjoys snarky analogies. Contrast this to the way in
which Microsoft has recently addressed Google's strength in Maps. They found
someone with mutual interests. [http://searchengineland.com/microsoft-and-
nokia-present-unif...](http://searchengineland.com/microsoft-and-nokia-
present-unified-maps-on-pc-mobile-113133)

Google and Apple have been unfriending each other since Schmidt resigned from
Apple's board three years ago. A jilted Apple is again "looking and feeling"
for reasons to drag the _ex_ who cheated on them into court. Heck, in Samsung,
they are even treating one of their current "friends with benefits" like an
_ex_.

TomTom's response, "We are a paid escort service, you can find us in the
phonebook."

~~~
ryanhuff
Regardless of the drama involved, the fact is that Google is competing against
Apple, and maps are a significant enabler of that competition. Apple has to
cut off Google in this case.

~~~
brudgers
Imagine TomTom when they got a call from Apple. It's not as if TomTom aren't
facing competition from Google, only more so because the dedicated GPS
hardware they sell is becoming increasingly marginalized by smartphones.
They've got to have been thinking, "This could big," while imagining the
benefits from being a partner in the data development for Apple's map app.

But Apple didn't want a relationship, just a one time cash transaction so that
Apple can encroach on TomTom's business. Part of me suspects that Apple got
the worst possible data set TomTom could deliver and still plausibly argue
they met the requirements of their agreement with Apple. There was no
strategic advantage in doing otherwise.

Apple needs to move on. It was Google that did the cutting off.

~~~
jetti
"But Apple didn't want a relationship, just a one time cash transaction so
that Apple can encroach on TomTom's business. Part of me suspects that Apple
got the worst possible data set TomTom could deliver and still plausibly argue
they met the requirements of their agreement with Apple. There was no
strategic advantage in doing otherwise."

I disagree. Even if they gave them a high quality data set, that set is going
to be obsolete within a year (let's say). Now Apple can either choose to keep
obsolete data (which will definitely impact customers) or buy updated data
from TomTom.

~~~
brudgers
The scenario you propose doesn't provide a strategic benefit to TomTom because
it does not address TomTom's long term disadvantage relative to Google and
other companies in the mobile navigation space. Google's and Apple's mobile
mapping services run on devices which can communicate data back to their
services.

TomTom's problem is that their devices only communicate one direction. A
partnership with Apple could have allowed TomTom to collect realtime data
directly in the same way as their major competitors.

In the next twelve months, Apple will probably have collected more useful data
than TomTom in many respects. That doesn't mean they will be successful in
using it to their advantage, but it does mean that there is little reason for
Apple to purchase a new dataset.

~~~
jetti
But it would mean that Apple would have to rely on users to report any new
road construction or road name changes. Just because the phone could
communicate back, doesn't mean the user will or that the data will be correct.

Maybe my creativity is limited but I just don't see how Apple being able to
collect data would help with getting updated maps. I think it could help with
their directions since they know the most commonly taken routes and could
actually even time people's routes to find which are truly the quickest, but I
don't know how it would help with updating maps from road changes and the
like.

~~~
brudgers
I suspect that Google can detect road construction using data mining
techniques...it's the sort of phenomenon that is relevant to mapping only
because of its effect on movement.

~~~
jetti
I apologize for not being more clear, but when I said road construction I
didn't mean just fixing of roads but adding new roads. In order to have those
new roads in your system you need to update your data set.

I have fallen victim to this. I bought a new used car (it's new to me but a
2007 model) that has built in navigation. Between the date of manufacture of
the nav disk and current date, an interstate was added/modified near me. Now
everytime I go by that area my GPS says I'm in the middle of a field. In
reality, I can't see a customer filing a ticket with Apple to get that road in
the GPS system. Even if they do, Apple would most likely need coordinates.
This construction of new roads is what TomTom has a temporary strategic
advantage over Apple (only temporary since Apple could get a department
together to monitor all new roads).

~~~
vsl
Have you seen the iOS6 Maps problems-reporting UI? It's simple, it's fast,
it's _right in the place_ where you encountered the bug.

The other thing you ignore is that people want their local data to be correct
in the maps they use, for practical reasons. I too reported new construction
around my home everywhere I could, because it's, among other things, in my
best interest to have my address easy to find (by guests or postal drivers,
for example) on any GPS out there.

------
Apreche
Just add maps.google.com to your home screen. I was doing that even before the
new iOS. It's better than the new Maps app or the old one. Bicycle directions!

Also, FYI, the previous Maps app did use Google Maps, but the app itself was
written by Apple. I once was at a Google event and asked a Googler who works
on Maps about it. They have been frustrated for years that they could not
update that app when they added new features to Google Maps. I expect within a
short time we will see an iOS Google Maps that is on par with the Android app.

~~~
rmc
_I expect within a short time we will see an iOS Google Maps that is on par
with the Android app._

I wonder if Google will do that. Surely they want people to use Android, and
"better maps on Android", would be a nice selling point.

~~~
anextio
No. Google want people using their services. They don't care if people are
using Android or not - Android is simply a platform upon which they can get
users to use their services. That is their only vested interest.

~~~
kls
Right Android exist because Google feared that people could be locked out of
Google services. Google services and access to them, is their first priority.

------
homosaur
I've been on IOS 6 since a few days after the beta came out and I can tell you
that the new Maps is nearly worthless, especially if you've entered a decent
amount of data into Google Maps. Yes the navigation sucks, yes there's other
huge basic issues, but the killer for me is that I have over 270 starred
places in Google Maps and without being able to get to that data, Apple's new
option is nearly useless.

I don't want to gloss over how much the basics suck on this app, they suck
profoundly. The bookmarks is the worst loss though. I have an iPhone for work
but I'm very glad I no longer am under a personal iPhone contract because with
the lack of features in IOS 6, I don't see how I'd ever go back to using an
Apple phone full time.

~~~
homosaur
It's a KILLER atlas though, way better than Google Earth on iPad.

------
brudgers
It's just Apple's turn. It has been said many times, "It's an early version of
an application _Company X_ copied from another company. I'm sure _Company X_
will improve it to a workable but inferior product in future versions."

The first debacle with their Maps app (not crediting OpenStreetMap.org) gave
me the feeling that Apple doesn't really have experience with software and
data at the scale upon which they are currently operating. Sometimes it looks
as if they are using too many interns to write important code.

What is a concern is that there seems to be no grasp of the difference in
responsibility a developer must recognize between GarageBand and a mapping
application. Sure it is irritating if one's remix of _Call me Maybe_ doesn't
come out quite the intended way. But an appendicitis sufferer may die if they
wind up five miles from the hospital.

~~~
vsl
Correction: OSM data was used in iPhoto (and on OS X, I think?), not maps.

------
tptacek
I like the new Maps app. I know it's objectively horrible and am not disputing
any of the ironclad cases everyone else has made against it. All I'm saying is
this: I punched in directions to Lao Sze Chuan in Chinatown last night,
driving from Oak Park. I threw my phone on the passenger seat and drove. The
sensible route it plotted for me was unworkable due to traffic, so I detoured
through UIC campus. The moment I diverged from its route, without me doing
anything, it replotted a new route, and then a series of new routes as I
ignored those directions, until I got to Roosevelt and followed its directions
the rest of the way there --- which were much better than the route I would
have taken.

Obviously, I fall into a specific class of Maps user:

* Using directions primarily when I'm driving

* In a major city

But that's a big class of users and, so far, Maps is better for that use case.
The Maps app from 10.5 was unusable for driving.

~~~
mootothemax
_But that's a big class of users and, so far, Maps is better for that use
case. The Maps app from 10.5 was unusable for driving._

Thank you, you've written a more useful summary review of the new maps app
than anything else I've read lately.

I've tried driving with the previous Maps app - with a borrowed iPhone, I
don't yet own one - and was really surprised at how unusable it was. I was
left thinking that not a single person on that project could have attempted to
drive on their own with it, otherwise how else could it be so bad?

 _rant over_

~~~
ryanpers
I also gave the driving directions a shot, the voice cues are great, the
visuals look fantastic and really awesome. Also when you deviate it doesnt
give you some "ROBOT RECALCULATING" voice, instead she smoothly cuts over to
the next set of directions.

The new 3d looks good, the map tiles need work but they just look DIFFERENT
and not necessarily "worse" to me. This is in SOMA San Francisco.

------
adriand
I understand the experience may not be ideal (I haven't tried it out yet,
either), but take a moment to reflect on what they actually did: in a little
over a year Apple completely replaced one of iOS's core technologies, one that
relies on a mind-bogglingly complex and astoundingly huge data set, and is now
pushing this out to millions of devices.

Most of us know what it is like to have to launch something. Launching
something is never easy. We frequently talk about the MVP here on HN as well.
Apple has done the difficult work of launching their MVP. Now they can make it
better. It may never be as good as Google Maps, but that doesn't mean it will
always be terrible.

~~~
smackfu
>in a little over a year

That's just a made up timeline. They may have been working on a maps
replacement for years.

~~~
bennyg
His point is still pretty valid. How long would it take you to develop and
roll out the maps application at the quality it is now, for a MVP?

~~~
eli
The logic behind creating an MVP doesn't really make sense when the market for
the product isn't competitive.

Apple didn't offer their mapping solution as an option in the App Store to
judge interest; they forced anyone who buys new or upgrades for any reason to
use it.

------
oozcitak
There are localization issues as well. Some place names in Turkey appear to be
transferred over from legacy windows-1254 code page (e.g. Avcılar displayed as
Avcýlar) Some have replacement letters for certain characters (dotless i, ş,
ç, ğ). For example, "Sık orman" (dense forest) became "Sik orman" (penis
forest).

Overall (at least in Turkey) the legends appear to come from an old, low
quality source.

~~~
kalleboo
Here in Japan, I managed to spot a place with a Hangul (Korean) label! God
knows how that happened...

------
marknutter
You know what else sucks on the iPhone? The notes app - That's why I use
Evernote. And the tasks app - that's why I use Clear. And the mail app -
that's why I use Gmail. And iBooks - which is why I use the Kindle app.

Point is, you can download an app that works better for you if you're not
happy with Maps anymore, just like you could with all of the other built in
Apple software. I think Apple really needed to control their own destiny with
the Maps software, and most non-geeks are probably not going to notice that
their Maps app is getting it's data from somewhere else now. They probably
didn't realize it was coming from Google Maps in the first place.

~~~
pmjordan
Mobile Safari is slow and crashy, good thing I can replace it with…
waitaminute. As far as I know there's no decent replacement for Maps either;
it remains to be seen if Apple will permit a direct replacement. If Google
doesn't release one themselves, it could be problematic for a third party to
create an app using Google's map API - that's centered around use in web apps,
although their "Maps for Business" might be suited. Still, it's a hell of a
risk to take. (but possibly with a handsome reward)

~~~
k-mcgrady
You can replace Safari with Opera, Chrome, Dolphin, or several others. You
can't set them as default but you can replace them. There are plenty of map
alternatives too - Open Street Map, TomTom, Google Earth, etc.

~~~
bryanlarsen
Those alternative browsers either use the Safari rendering engine or render
offline, so are significantly crippled compared to something like Firefox for
Android.

------
saturdaysaint
Around me (SE Michigan) it's a huge improvement over both the old Maps app and
any of the turn-by-turn iOS alternatives I've tried. Using Siri and saying
"directions to..." any local business I can think of brings up turn-by-turn
directions in a snap, and it looks great. Smooth animations, great fit and
finish on the UI. I suspect that their European maps are of lower quality
and/or the writer cherry-picked some entertaining but not terribly
representative examples.

~~~
stephen_g
The maps around me in Brisbane, Australia seem pretty good, but I only spent
five minutes playing around. All the searches I tried (some for street
addresses, some for POIs) got the right address.

So far it seems no worse around the city than Google Maps but only time will
tell if that's the case.

------
jusben1369
Poor old Tom Tom is completely on the back foot and trying to distance itself
as far as it can without throwing a super major partner under the bus.

~~~
jreposa
None of us will know the complete depth of their relationship, but TomTom
shouldn't be so removed from this PR. What they should have said is "Although
Apple provides additional layers of functionality on top of our map data,
we've reached out to Apple to help support in fixing these issues."

That sounds a lot nicer than "it's not our problem"...

------
ChuckMcM
I am reminded once again at how much it takes to put together a "maps"
experience like Google Maps does. That Apple's initial version sucks rocks
isn't particularly surprising, there is a lot of integration and a lot of
data, the world is a really really big place. Its very hard for humans to
curate it too.

Next up, Apple will get their own direct source of satellite imagery, then
they will drive/fly around major towns getting direct information about local
restrictions, then they will build a system which does nothing more than
cross-connect and correlate GIS data from various sources and test for sanity.
Perhaps they will create a crowd sourced tool for directly feeding map errors
into the system to triage the worst areas.

Its a big undertaking.

------
MattRogish
As a long-term Apple user/fan, I'm both incredibly disappointed and intensely
optimistic with this change.

I've been using iOS6 since the first beta and saw the backlash coming. I think
"Street View" is Google Maps' killer feature and no amount of "3D View" is
going to replace the ability to virtually drive your route (or see the
storefront, the turn you need to make, etc.).

On the other hand, Google has a habit of releasing amazingly disruptive
products (maps, gmail, etc.) and then the pace of innovation of each app slows
dramatically. What was the last "innovation" gmail did? Priority inbox? Buying
Sparrow?

I'm optimistic this is the start of an arms race in the mapping area (Apple:
please tackle email next); this needed to occur sooner rather than later. We
don't know the circumstances of the switch (it seems equally likely that
Google precipitated the change as Apple did) but given Apple's knack for
taking a MVP and continually, doggedly improving it, I think the future is
bright for iOS Mapping.

~~~
mburshteyn
Do you think Apple would have any chance in an arms race over Search with
Google? If the answer is no, why do you think Apple has any chance in Maps?

~~~
MattRogish
On the desktop? No.

On iOS devices? Absolutely.

------
Karunamon
Not sure what the hell they were expecting to happen. You don't take an
existing, working, mature, and proven solution and then replace it en masse
with something unproven and untested.

This particular bit of sour grapes over Google is going to bite them in the
arse.

------
bgarbiak
The greatest disappointment (for me) comes from the fact that free turn-by-
turn navigation is not available for iPhone 4. That particular feature made me
happy about Apple's switch from Google's to their own solution. I couldn't
care less for Siri, flyover maps or panorama (seriously, that one is iPhone
4S+ too), but navigation? That's a deal breaker. If Google won't provide this
with their app I won't stick to iOS when my contract ends.

------
epo
You can't make an omelette ... It'll be interesting to see the pace of
development of this vs Google's inevitable maps app.

The mapping must be updated OTA so won't require IOS refreshes to improve the
quality. But for now this app is like the stereotypical bimbo, quite pretty to
look at but also pretty useless.

------
uslic001
The new maps is way off. I took 4 pictures last night while fishing. When I
looked at the gps data of where I caught the fish one was on land and three
others were 4 miles off as they had me on the other end of the lake I was
fishing on. Apple really messed up with this change.

------
cstross
Another annoying loss; no pedestrian or cycle routes, as far as I can see.

As I'm mostly a pedestrian -- I have a car, but live in the centre of a dense
city where parking is a nightmare, so I walk rather than driving if at all
possible -- from my point of view, this is a major regression.

~~~
objclxt
There are pedestrian routes _in some cities_ , but not all. I only know this
because I was in San Francisco last week and I actually got offered them,
whereas in London I'm SOL.

------
_delirium
The article ends on a strange note, essentially a guy complaining that his
Google SEO doesn't carry over to the new Apple app?

~~~
DeepDuh
"Hey Joe, thanks for that article you submitted this morning. Listen, it's a
bit too technical, could you add something, you know, more emotional?"

------
blinkingled
According to Gruber and Rafer Apple seems to have a plan : for this plan to
work however, iOS users must keep using the inferior Apple maps and Google
must stay away from giving them a chance to continue to use their own ones -
that will make quality of Apple maps go up and Google maps go down - they will
meet in 18 months.

Gotta admire people's willingness to stretch here :) But seriously I think
Google will just release a Maps app for iOS sooner or later. They've done that
with most of their apps - it may not be as good and functional as Android one
but it doesn't have to - the bar has been lowered.

------
toddmorey
The big problem I see is that Apple effectively removed street view from the
iPhone as it's not even available in the mobile safari version of Google Maps.

I don't mind that they are working on their own maps, but I can't believe they
couldn't have licensed Google maps for at least another year until their
solution matured or offered some sort of advantage. The first iPhone brought
the best mobile maps experience. The latest iPhone brings the worst.

To me, the real test is whether Apple will allow a map application from Google
to coexist on the iPhone. I'm hoping they do. It's the right thing to do.

~~~
nicholassmith
The issue is we don't know _why_ they stopped licensing, although if you
follow the scuttlebutt Google hiked prices of mapping, followed by Apple
announcing their intent to ship their own maps, followed by Google dropping
prices of mapping. Might have been an unsuccessful negotiation, Google might
have made high demands, Apple might have been cads. No one knows, what we do
know is the licensing agreement expired and they couldn't arrange a new one.

------
joelhooks
I've been using the maps and find them MUCH improved in the car. I wish I
could turn off the voice prompts, but it is very usable and has got me where
I'm going reliably.

------
siri
I am using IOS 6 beta since last few months in India, it just gives the
message directions could not be found even for a locations 100 meters away.

------
eckyptang
Another plus for Microsoft/Nokia.

Windows Phone with Nokia Maps / Nokia Drive is actually _really_ good and it's
not about to disappear overnight.

------
jsz0
Apple's Maps have been good for me so far in the north east United States. I
greatly prefer the UI of Apple's Maps to Navigation on Android which is way
too cluttered IMO. I find it easier to get things done with Apple Maps
especially with the way turn-by-turn is integrated with the pop-over
notifications and lock-screen integration.

------
lectrick
1) Go to maps.google.com in Safari on your iPhone or iPad

2) Hit Yes when it wants to know your location

3) Hit Yes when it pesters you to add it as an icon (for once, it's not
bothering me). The icon is snazzy.

4) Enjoy your almost-as-good-as-the-app-was mobile Google Maps experience.
Complete with transit directions. But, alas, no Street View.

~~~
panacea
Permit me a small moment of pride at my choice of life-partner.

I asked my wife if I could upgrade her phone to the new OS, but that the map
app has changed for the worse and 'You may not like it... How often do you use
it?' 'A few times a week'.

She's not a geek whatsoever. Has never installed an app and barely touched a
preferences setting. Loves listening to the podcasts I subscribe to for her
and tell her which app to use.

So I hand her the 'upgraded' phone and ask her to check out the new map app.
She does a search for the office she's working in tomorrow and it pinmarks the
completely wrong end of the street.

I felt bad about 'upgrading' her phone, but a minute later she hands it back
to me.

She's moved the Apple map app onto the second screen and replaced it with a
weblink to the Google maps site.

Clever girl ;]

------
dkroy
As a developer this kind of update makes me happy since it might result in
Apple giving up some of its mobile phone market share to Microsoft and Google.
I would much rather develop in Java or C#, instead either struggle through
Objective C or use a third party developer tool to avoid doing so. Although,
as an iPhone user it makes me sad. The UX with the iPhone has been amazing. I
chose to use this phone even though I dislike all that is apple, just because
to me when it came to my user experience it was leaps and bounds ahead of any
other. Now that one of my most used apps has been pushed out temporarily it
kind of makes me nervous. I have even heard who have applied iOS6, have lost
all of their photos, luckily since I rely on a few jailbroken apps had not
updated.

------
liotier
Disappointed with the iOS 6 maps ? Why don’t you give OpenStreetMap a try ?
<http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/IOS> \- it won't give you pretty satellite
imagery, but maybe you'll like the maps.

~~~
homosaur
In many places OSM is the most accurate mapping system and overall it's very
good, but my problem is, has anyone yet built an app worth a crap on top of
it? One with turn by turn, etc?

~~~
chippy
Yes they have, so the problem may be one of findability, or marketing of these
apps.

------
andrewcooke
is this particularly bad in the uk? there's now a guardian article too -
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/sep/20/apple-
maps-...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/sep/20/apple-maps-
ios6-station-tower)

~~~
epo
No, just people piling on, and probably the Guardian using the BBC as a news
source.

~~~
objclxt
Actually, I'll disagree with you there and say that I have found the Apple map
tiles to be pretty poor in London. Paddington Station, one of the main
commuter rail hubs in the city, is missing entirely (the Underground station
got added in recently, but the mainline station remains invisible), and the
geo-coder is considerably poorer than Google's.

I develop iOS apps for a living, and I really like the platform. I've also
been using the beta for about three months, and _frequently_ I've had to pull
my Galaxy S2 out to use the Android maps app. Most people won't have that
luxury.

~~~
anu_gupta
I'm looking at the map tile for London Paddington Rail Station on my iOS6 iPad
right now. It's clearly there.

------
purephase
It seems like such an innocuous thing, but Maps can truly make or break a
phone decision. There is no question that Android has a considerably better
user experience when it comes to Maps given the lead that Google has. That
being said, Apple certainly has the cash and time to devote to this and a
better competitor (and more effort in OSM) means that we all win in a way. So
it will be interesting to watch it play out.

One minor gripe with turn-by-turn. If I'm playing music/podcasts, I would have
expected the volume to mute on the other media when driving directions are
announced. Not so, it just turns into a garbled mess.

The compression on Siri kind of sucks too.

~~~
k-mcgrady
>> "One minor gripe with turn-by-turn. If I'm playing music/podcasts, I would
have expected the volume to mute on the other media when driving directions
are announced. Not so, it just turns into a garbled mess."

I don't really sue turn-by-turn but from what I understand it's supposed to
lower the volume of other media playing when announcing directions and then
bring the volume back when done. Might be something you can change in the
settings.

~~~
MattRogish
It does this on mine (I haven't done turn-by-turn on iOS6 final, but when I
was on the betas, it performed as expected)

~~~
purephase
Odd, it doesn't for me (either in the betas or final version). Maybe there is
a setting somewhere...

------
bdreadz
Said it in another thread. maps.google.com in iOS. Bookmark to home screen.

To the people talking about this is a sign of Steve Jobs being gone. I'm sure
he had his hand in wanting to get away from Google Maps. These types of things
were still part of his plan. AppleTV (the none hobby version) is part of his
plan. We haven't seen that. There is still a trail that Steve laid down we are
walking on. It's more 5-10 years from now I imagine that will lack the touch.
Maybe it is fading. It's still there though. imho.

------
epaga
In my mind, this will be the first major test of Tim Cook as a CEO. This is
not "I get a bad signal if I hold the phone the wrong way". This is "my iPhone
drove us to the wrong hospital so I wasn't able to say goodbye to my
grandfather".

Problem is, I don't see what they are supposed to do except throwing massive
amounts of money and manpower at the problem - but even that will take a long
time to fix the major issues that are in iOS6 Maps.

It will be very interesting to see how they react to this problem.

------
scottschulthess
I find the new maps app really good, one of the best driving direction apps
I've seen. It is an improvement over waze in UI and the enhance backgrounding
is awesome.

Maybe not as feature rich as some of the alternatives, but what do you expect
in a v1? They will iterate, though the yearly releases means it will take time
but it will get there. In the mean time the app store provides a lot of
options for users to replace _lost_ functionality.

------
NameNickHN
Apple probably underestimated the complexity of creating and providing useful
maps. I read an article recently that explained how much effort Google puts
into their maps. From what I understand, every map tile has been manually
reviewed and reworked based on satellite images and the data from the Google
street view cars. Google is years ahead of Apple with this. It'll take a while
until Apple's maps are par with Google's.

------
labizaboffle
Does anyone remember when Mapquest and then Google Maps first started? Bad
directions, etc. was the norm.

The only thing that is wrong with Apple doing this is that they didn't release
as "beta" and make a big deal about how users can turn on the "beta" switch to
test the cool new things, or the "alpha" switch and get shit that might break
their phone but gives them superpowers no other geek has.

------
epo
I wonder what the behind-the-scenes truth of this is? Apple must have known
that their mapping solution wasn't ready for release.

Perhaps Google forced their hand or Google pulled the plug knowing that Apple
would dump them eventually but weren't ready to do so quite yet. If so, then
don't expect Google to offer a maps app for some time yet because it is to
their advantage to let Apple stew.

------
psychotik
The Bing iOS app has transit and good mapping features. I'm surprised folks
aren't using that as an alternative.

------
marklabedz
Is the experience any better when utilizing Siri as an interface? If you ask
Siri for directions instead of relying on the built-in search functionality,
is it any better or would both Siri and iOS maps query the same database?

Siri --> Address --> iOS nav via street address

------
JofArnold
Assuming Google releases an iOS Maps app, I'd much prefer them to do that and
make regular updates than leave it to Apple just 3 times a year. Having said
that, the fact they didn't include an option just to save $1b a year is beyond
absurd.

------
caycep
from what i've seen, the real issue is probably the text parsing algorithms
need work. I tried a few addresses - about 70% were correct. the ones that
weren't just seemed like the algorithm wasn't recognizing town, state, etc

------
outworlder
>Users also reported missing local places, such as schools, or strange
locations. Another screenshot showed a furniture museum that was apparently
located in a river.

From a twitter account called @fake_iOS6maps ? Seriously, BBC?

~~~
hahainternet
The irony here is that you didn't bother to check what the fake_ bit means.
It's like fakesteve, the images aren't faked, the account is not an official
iOS6 account.

~~~
niggler
Why wouldn't the person use "SteveSays"/"iOS6Maps_Gaffes" or something along
those lines?

~~~
hahainternet
Because of FakeSteve.

------
001sky
_Satellite images of various locations, particularly in Scotland, are obscured
by cloud._

\--Satalite images obcured by _clouds_. TomTom=WTF.

------
spitx
>Here in Manhattan, where I live, basic search by building names is profoundly
degraded in Apple's maps search. "Bloomberg" doesn't find the Bloomberg Tower;
on Google Maps it's the first result. Searching for its address "731 Lexington
Avenue" yields that address on Lexington Avenue in Brooklyn. It's fine to
think that perhaps I wanted the address in Bed-Stuy, but even appending "NY,
NY" or "Manhattan, NY" still yields the Brooklyn address. Google maps has none
of these comprehension issues. I understand this is due to Apple partnering
with Tom Tom, whose maps are considered to be lower in quality than other
players like Nokia, but I'm not informed enough to say with certainty whether
that's the case.

<http://dashes.com/anil/images/lexington-map.jpg>

Source: [http://dashes.com/anil/2012/09/who-benefits-from-
ios6s-crapp...](http://dashes.com/anil/2012/09/who-benefits-from-ios6s-crappy-
maps.html)

~~~
gyardley
Noticed this today. I wanted to get the cross-street of an address on
Broadway.

First, I get an address on Broadway in Bayonne. Okay, almost plausible, since
I was in Hoboken. I append 'New York, NY' to the address. Now I get an address
in Brooklyn. Completely ridiculous. I append 'Manhattan, NY' to the address.
Still Brooklyn.

At that point I added Google Maps to my home screen. If someone posts a clear
guide to jailbreaking iOS 6 and re-adding the native Google Maps app, I'll
probably do it.

------
sigzero
It's a one-dot-oh release. So that is the level of expectation that I am
giving it.

~~~
hahainternet
It's been deployed globally on tens of millions of devices _removing_ the
existing solution.

That's the level of expectation that I'm giving it.

~~~
rimantas
In contrast with Android where Google can remove most of the apps and majority
of users stuck with 2.x versions won't even know.

On the serious note, I guess this sucks most for US users. In other parts of
the world transit data was not available anyway, so nobody cares.

~~~
hahainternet
> In contrast with Android where Google can remove most of the apps and
> majority of users stuck with 2.x versions won't even know.

This isn't the place for childish digs at competitors. Apple removed maps and
replaced it with an inferior version for millions of their customers. As a
result, the poor quality of these maps has made front page news.

Trying to invoke "Android isn't up to date" is childish and uninformed. Maps
is distributed via the _Play Store_. You are wrong in every substantial
respect.

~~~
rimantas
Not sure about childish, but regarding uninformed: there is some information
for you: <http://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html>

To compare this to the iOS6 (released just a couple of days ago) is left as an
exercise for you :)

~~~
hahainternet
I'm aware of the point he is making. Maps is an app distributed through the
Play Store. It is not distributed by installing a specific version of the OS.

At least understand the platform you are criticising before assuming it
operates in the same restrictive way as others.

