“Apple’s iOS 12 update didn’t bring many changes to the in-car CarPlay system that’s been around for a few years. But there is one notable improvement: it now supports third-party navigation apps,” Dan Seifert writes for The Verge. “You can now use Google Maps, Waze, or some other navigation app in CarPlay instead of Apple’s default Maps app.”
“Both Google Maps and Waze have released updates to their iOS apps that added support for CarPlay already, and I’ve been testing them for the past week or so,” Seifert writes. “Unfortunately, due to CarPlay’s inherent limitations and a number of bugs and performance issues, neither Google Maps or Waze are particularly compelling compared to their Android Auto counterparts or even Apple’s own Maps app.”
“Apple limits Siri interactions to its own apps. So just like how you can’t ask Siri to play something in Spotify, you also can’t ask it to give you directions to your house in Google Maps. That’s the first big frustration with using Google Maps or Waze because once you’re driving down the road, voice control is the primary way you’re able to interact with CarPlay apps,” Seifert writes. “If I’m traveling somewhere unfamiliar, Apple Maps is just more reliable to use than Google Maps or Waze in CarPlay, which is frankly surprising to say.”
Much more in the full article – recommended – here.
MacDailyNews Take: Why it is “frankly surprising to say?” Because Apple screwed up the Apple Maps rollout, which should’ve been labeled a “beta” which would have mitigated the vast majority of negative first impressions and give the company some breathing room to improve the grotesque launch issues.
A poor first impression can haunt a product forever.
No matter what Apple does, no matter how much better they make Apple Maps, it will now always “suck” in the minds of a large segment of the population… Apple seems to have learned nothing from the Newton: First impressions mean everything. Apple’s Maps have been Newtonized. All that’s missing is the Doonesbury strip… Here’s a little hint for the future: Everything that requires widespread customer use to develop a rich database before the product becomes fully usable should be clearly labeled “beta” upon release. Apple did it with Siri, but they forgot to do it with Maps. Had Apple been smart enough to simply place a “beta” tag on Maps, all of this rigamarole would never have occurred. — MacDailyNews Take, September 28, 2012
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One thing Apple will have a difficult time buying: Respect for their Maps app, no matter how superior it gets over all others (and many parts of it already are – and even were at launch). It’s unfortunate, but first impressions were so badly botched by Apple (a simple “beta” tag would have sufficed) that it will take a sustained herculean effort to reverse the public misperception of Maps as inferior to Google Maps. — MacDailyNews, September 16, 2015
SEE ALSO:
Apple has been rebuilding Maps from the ground up for years and it’s due to launch very soon – June 29, 2018
No, Apple maps still sucks. Of all of the mapping apps I have tried, it is the only one that takes me 2 blocks past the turn for my street, then back 2 blocks to the entrance to my development. It isn’t that these streets are new, the whole neighborhood was built in the 1980s. Apple maps is the only one that screws this one up. I use the mapping apps to figure the fast way home when commuting and I always laugh at how bad Apple’s directions are, so, no, it is still a flaming POS.
More reliable*
* with Siri because Apple won’t allow you to pass Siri instructions to other mapping apps
That is not an indicator of “reliability” (i.e. accuracy) with the apps themselves, it’s an indicator of Apple keeping SiriKit locked to Apple Maps. Which is then an indicator that Apple is still not fully confident in their ability to compete against Google Maps and Waze on a level playing field.
And why should they, when the business I tried getting to moved to a new location in the city three months ago, but Apple Maps still tried routing me to the old location. Google Maps, OTOH, knew where the updated address was.
FYI. I’m having to use Google Maps for work, and I have been surprised how after it will direct me to a a parallel street rather than the one I need to go to, which can be very frustrating.
The other limitation of Google Maps, is it often directs me to slower routes. And also it almost always directs me to more difficult intersections without lights, when the next street over is easy with lights. To be honest I was surprised to discover these limitations with Google, given all the hype about Apple Maps
In my own experience in LA, Apple Maps I have found to be very reliable, but I think both get things wrong occasionally. What is smazing is the 99% of the time they get it right. I don’t like to use Google at all because of their being an ad company. As I say I use Google Maps because I have to, and my experience with Apple Maps has been mostly positive.
I’ve attempted to use both Google Maps and Waze on Apple CarPlay. Both work as expected, but the voice inputs just won’t work for me. I’ve removed and installed multiple times and still nothing. I’ve never had any issues with Apple Maps. In fact, I actually prefer it to either Google or Waze.
Waze is FAR AND AWAY the massively superior app here for the following reasons:
– Larger crowdsourcing database (Android users also feed into the database- more users, better accuracy).
– User added data: in Waze to you tell the system of an accident, a car stopped on the side of the road, speed traps, police, hazards and other disturbances that can affect your drive- neither of the other two have this and these can be important.
– constant display of your speed AND the current speed limit. When you go over the speed limit, the colors of your speed changes to let you know
– Unlike Apple Maps, Waze always keeps the direction you’re traveling pointed towards the top of the screen. Maps keeps North towards the top of the screen. So if you’re traveling east, unless you rotate your phone, you have a narrow view of what’s coming up, whereas Waze uses the full screen b/c east is at the top of the screen (not the left side of the screen).
– Unlike Maps, Waze has a list of recent places you’ve driven to. I use this all the time (yes, technically I could add a place to Favorites, but that’s an extra step)
Honestly, I don’t understand why anyone would use anything else.
Apple Maps is a non-starter in Australia. It may be the best in the USA, but in the rest of the universe, Google Maps and Waze leave Apple Maps for dead. Not even an option for consideration!
This guy is speaking to the American domestic audience. Outside the USA Apple Maps is occasionally usable but mostly not. In Spain it is pathetic and has only patchy information on street names. Also many businesses rely on Google Maps’ inclusion of their details which makes it easy to find them without having to spell an address which might be tricky in a foreign language. Apple has almost no business details in Europe.
I tend o agree with MDN that Apple Maps, at its roll-out, should have been labeled “beta”.
However, it’s not a could’ve been, should’ve been, or would’ve been issue. As the faults were “just so visible and spectacular”, anyone with a sane mind could have easily picked up these embarrassing errors. It was far more than the “beta” or “bug” issue. It was so clear to anybody’s eyes that Apple was irresponsibly skipped the normal review and debugging, and rolled out the “unfinished” product. Beyond our comprehension, really.
But this tendency of poor quality software (and hardware) and constant revision/updates, sometimes within 24 hours, is still continuing to date. I am afraid it became the “culture” of Apple, that Jobs would have never allowed.
Lack of discipline by the management, particularly Cook, who does not seem to have clue on how the software side must be shored up. Bringing Ives into the software work added more bad influences to already bad software development work. This was about when Apple software (on anything) started crumbling. It was an obvious fault by the CEO, but what did Cook do to remedy the situation? He swiftly fired the guy(s) responsible for the map development, sparing his own neck as if he was not at fault.
google Maps is infinitely superior to Apple Maps