“Twitter one year. Facebook the next. Whoever Apple chooses to befriend and integrate into its popular iOS platform becomes the immediate beneficiary of massive attention — and maybe fortune as well,” Jennifer Van Grove writes for VentureBeat. “Such may very well be the case for Yelp, which is a featured partner in Apple’s Maps application.”
“In Apple Maps, a typical search for coffee, spas, food, libations, entertainment, and so on, will return a collection of places all tied to their Yelp business pages with each showing their Yelp-star rating on the map,” Van Grove writes. “A click on any business will surface a dynamic and glossy business page with a rotating cover photo, business info, Yelp reviews, and photos sourced from Yelp. A person can also click to check in at the location, add a photo, or leave a venue tip all through the Yelp integration.”
Van Grove writes, “Apple Maps, with the help of Yelp, gets the places experience just right. Yelp data in Apple Maps is both fetching and functional; the marriage of maps and Yelp-enriched business listings makes for a stunning experience that pumps up the volume on the usefulness of Yelp’s service. Google+ Local mobile business pages, by comparison, appear drab.”
Check out the screenshots in the full article here.
I would love for Apple to somehow add a way to easily get back to your Siri search. If you go to a restaurant’s website (or anything that takes you away from your Siri search results), there is no way to get back to your search results.
I agree Apple needs a “Bookmark Siri Results” button.
The quality and workings of Yelp reviews are not well-loved by many business owners. Apparently, Yelp is even worse at allowing abusive posters without adequate controls than Trip Advisor. Because Yelp brings up business close by, those a little further out, but far better, are located further down the list and aren’t even considered by many travelers. Because Yelp has far less people posting, there is fare less information on businesses. Hopefully, they will improve. But Yelp’s reputation among many businesses is not very good at the moment.
I find it pretty easy to sniff out a bogus bad review on yelp. It’s not like they send agents out to every mom and pop business to case the place and prepare to write scathing comments. Bad reviews that contain detailed specifics of an establishment are likely to be valid. Those that generalize, or give one star and an angry rant, when other reviewers are giving glowing reports, are instantly suspect. I’ve been using the yelp app on my phone for about a year to find new places to eat as I make my business rounds, and I’ve discovered hundreds of places I’d otherwise have driven right past. Yelp isn’t perfect, but in my case, it’s the best friend of little unknown eateries.
I’ll trust crowd sourced information in this regard over corporate spin. Yelp has served me WONDERFULLY while traveling for business for several years now. Your nonsense naysaying cannot change that.
Yelp has around 78 million users, I’d trust a review someone took their own time and initiative to write over a paid review any day. Of course businesses are wary of Yelp, they cannot control it directly. The only control they have is to improve their offerings and service. Yelp is good for consumers, it is only bad for bad businesses.
YES, it is supposed to show you local results, that is the point. Perhaps you should remain in the last century where you belong HG, you don’t seem to get this new fangled crowd sourced social web.
Maybe in the US this is good, but the world is not just the US.
Apple needs to get a clue elsewhere.
I going to have to install Google’s Maps app. Apple’s map effort is next to useless where I am. Same goes for Siri. Hate having to put Google stuff back on.
Here is an interesting one:
http://beta.fool.com/jaans/2012/09/19/understanding-apple-iphone-5-screamer/12403/
Yelp is evil. Yelp is devious. Ask anyone who runs a business. If you turn down yelp they will make sure that you have negative reviews. It’s a bit like dealing with the mafia. They are more dangerous than Google. Never trust a yelp review. I cannot believe that Apple is doing this. It really pisses me off!
Prove it, I call BS..
Tried maps today on my way home – worthless!
Turn-by-turn froze at my starting spot. Restarted route from present position and the same thing. Not ready for prime time!
I tested the iOS 6 Maps App a bit today too. It worked just fine for me on an iPhone 4 and the turn-by-turn instructions seemed accuate and even quite zippy. Frankly, the OS and App fluidness and performance surprised (and pleased) me.
A few anecdotes one way or another are meaningless. We all should expect to have to start over with Apple’s Maps. Like Siri, it is being built new from the ground up, and it relies (to some extent) on crowd-sourced data.
Apple is in the early stages of a war with Google Android and even Windows Phone. If you’ve chosen the iOS platform, you owe it to yourself to give Apple time to build a solid new Maps foundation for the future, and even to help with crowd-sourcing. In general, Apple does a great job of constantly upgrading its platforms and supporting end-users. New features and App upgrades will come on fast. Enjoy the ride.
I’d rather say Yelp integration in Apple’s Maps app is something to laugh about. In the US it may be ok, outside the US it’s a big joke.
So that’s the rub, isn’t it? Apple under Jobs would keep their product in development for as long as it took, until it was “insanely great.” If it never reached that point, or if someone else beat them to it, they would scrap it — it’s only money and they’ve got lots of it.
But this move to Maps with all the warts (abandoning the StreetView-style interface, no transit directions, Yelp and TomTom’s inaccurate data, etc.) then relying on an “Oh, it’s a 1.0 — it’ll work later” attitude feels like business-as-usual among the beige box makers.
Apple — watch your step. It doesn’t take much to return to your former inglory.
Help shouldn’t start congratulating themselves about being associated with the new Apple app Maps and making a fortune out of it too soon because it ain’t good in the UK and from what I’m reading, its bad in other parts of the world. It is so bad I am reloading Google Maps on my iPhone and iPad because after all the shouting by Apple and others it doesn’t come close to Google for performance! I have a Tom Tom sat nav app and they know exactly where I live and my address. They I’m told, are involved in the production of Apple’s offering. Well what has happened has someone move everyone’s property by around 3 miles whilst we’ve all been asleep. A ‘Rest of the World’ update is needed ASAP.
Sorry should have said ‘Yelp’ not ‘Help’ even though I need it!
Apple’s new Maps in iOS 6 draw ire from users around the world
http://iphone.appleinsider.com/articles/12/09/20/apples_new_maps_in_ios_6_draw_ire_from_users_around_the_world.html