“No doubt the images popping up on the Internet of misnamed cities and misplaced landmarks [in Apple’s new Maps app] don’t comport with the usual narrative surrounding Apple, a company that’s enjoyed approving media coverage for metronomelike execution as it’s redefined standards of excellence in its smartphone and tablet computing platforms,” Charles Cooper reports for CNET.
“Apple could have kept Google’s more reliable and mature mobile mapping app, but it made a strategic decision about something it needed to own and monetize. Put another way, getting rid of Google Maps was more important than delivering a less-flawed Apple Maps app and dealing with the grumbling.” Cooper opines. “But how long is that [grumbling] going to last? Many may remember the heart attacks over ‘Antennagate,’ when some owners of the then-new iPhone 4 complained about weak or lost signal strength when they touched an area near the device’s antennas. That also was supposed to be the end of the world as we know it. Nowadays it’s just a footnote and Apple’s shares are hovering near an all-time high.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: With every major Apple product release we get the same old overblown, overreactive, wastes of time. (BTW: We used Apple’s Maps this weekend to travel back roads 240 miles through three US states and it was absolutely FLAWLESS. In fact, it suggested the same exact routes that Google Maps did – we checked.)
These brouhahas that happen when Apple releases a major product are a result of the media echo chamber, some amount of planned FUD by companies that sell other mapping apps or competing phones, and are all the result of a desire of every media outlet on earth to somehow use the name “Apple” in a story and also to cater to those who aren’t getting an iPhone 5 this weekend, who therefore won’t have the most gorgeous useful pocket computer ever designed and built, and who therefore need something to assuage their envy of those of us who do. (“Look, Mable, there’s one of those new iPhone 5s. The news says that the Maps don’t work, so we don’t need to feel bad that all we have are these plastic iPhone wannabes that AT&T guy told us to buy.”)
Wow
Yes, “wow”; I especially liked “That also was supposed to be the end of the world as we know it” about “Antennagate” that turned out to be much ado about nothing.
Much ado about nothing, and every other smart phone had the same issue to some extent.
Much ado about nothing … which is why I wonder about the nonsense from MDN:
“Look, Mable, there’s one of those new iPhone 5s. The news says that the Maps don’t work, so we don’t need to feel bad that all we have are these plastic iPhone wannabes that AT&T guy told us to buy.”
Since when does Mabel tell the NY Times what to print? And why should the NY Times fail to cover a story? It’s news. It’ll pass. MDN and its readers should chill.
If you want to understand WHY they had to go to their own maps – here is a good analysis:
http://beta.fool.com/jaans/2012/08/20/understanding-apple-vs-google-maps-deep-analysis-e/9606/
http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/index.html
All this noise and talk about the maps.
Does anyone remember what Steve said????
“I’m going thermonuclear on android (google)”
Just what part of thermonuclear do you not understand???
Siri, apple maps, music, mail, cloud??
All part anti-google.
Just a glow-in-the-dark thought!!!!
That’s not the issue. The issue is that I own the other apps – because they came with my original purchase. If Apple wants to promote their own version, thats fine. They csn even make theirs the default when upgrading. But If I already have the Google maps app on my iPad and the you tube app, then Apple are not right to remove them.
What happens if Apple get pissed off with some other company’s app I like and they just decide to delete their app from my iPad the next time the OS is sync’ed or upgraded?
Your present version of Apple’s OS doesn’t quit working when they announce a new OS version. I still have an old G5 server running on Leopard. It’s your choice to upgrade the OS or not. You are the one deleting your apps if you do.
Not exactly, Zeke. I looked into the iPhone 5 today and because it comes with iOS 6, I will not purchase it. I can’t have iOs 5 now on a new phone. Not only is the new Map app an inaccurate disappointment, the fact that Google maps was forcibly extinguished is so arrogant a corporate decision, and so clumsy and ineffectual a replacement, that I am likely going to upgrade to a Galaxy. Many people at the Apple shop this afternoon were discussing the hardware disappointment of the tiny dock size and sim card adjustments coupled with the downgraded software as reasons to bypass the new iPhone.
Dude. You want iOs 5 on a new iPhone 5? Then buy one and JAILBREAK it. Apple can’t stop you.
Aaaaaargh! Please, no more threats to buy a Samsung.
Just do it, and stop the whining and the hopelessly useless anecdotes..
“Many people at the apple srore this afternoon, blah blah.
Tiny dock size? WTF!? Get outa here.
Zeke is absolutely right, exactly right. You just intentionally fail to comprehend. It *is* your choice whether to upgrade the version of iOS on existing devices. You turned the argument towards a new device (the iPhone 5) which comes with iOS 6 installed. You are asking to downgrade to iOS 5. With rare exceptions (e.g., from Vista to Windows XP), vendors don’t do that.
Google Maps was not “forcibly extinguished.” It lost favored status as an embedded function because Google screwed Apple. Google is still free to submit a Google Maps app to the App Store. It just won’t be baked into the iOS release anymore. Apple’s objectives are to punish Google for its criminal activities and to protect Apple customers from Google’s underhanded tactics that undermined established privacy settings and stole data for profit. Those are the facts. They are indisputable.
Billy is right. Go buy a Galaxy and good riddance.
So what if Google screwed Apple? Does this legitimize Apple screwing its customers?
MacFreak, are you really an Android fanboi? Your comment reeks of fandroidism.
No, I am not nitwit. Happy now? Sent from my iPhone, a$$hole.
MacFrak, I thought droid users like you enjoy being bent over and screwed. Hence the reason you bought a Samdung.
It’s obvious you are incapable of reading and understanding simple English, drone.
Don’t buy an iPhone 5. Don’t upgrade your existing devices to iOS 6. Problem solved. You aren’t screwed unless you do it yourself. Good luck with that.
Apple hasn’t screwed anyone. You have a choice. If you don’t like Apple products buy something else. And BTW, Google didn’t simply screw Apple. Google intentionally and illegally bypassed Safari’s privacy settings. They hacked Apple’s software to surreptitiously invade the privacy of every Apple customer. They did this after stealing Apple’s investment in the R&D necessary to develop iOS and the iPhone, by giving that technology to anyone who wanted to use it for free. They did this in the hope that they would be able to bypass Apple safeguards to collect personal data on customers who use mobile devices. Google is EVIL. Google is in the same class with heroin dealers. Google needs to die and I’m willing to suffer a little inconvenience to see that happen. You should be too.
The only thing maps isn’t doing right ( at least for me) is when I type in a place like Washington Monument. The pin drops a little bit away from it. But when I put in a too and from that gives me direction turn by turn, it gets it right every time I’ve tried it in the past few days (maybe a dozen). It reroutes very quickly. I mean as soon as I took the wrong turn. It didn’t go through a “rerouting” like most GPS says. It just did it and got me back on track.
You do and buy what you want. Though maps is gonna have to go through growing pains, it’s not as bad as people are saying. Turn by turn is perfect (at least for me). Oh and it looks great.
This was in response to mcphone
Somebody didn’t stop and read the license before he installed iOS 6.
The most-told lie of the modern era: “I have read the End-User License Agreemet”
I apologize for engaging in that lie. And to compensate you for your trouble, I’ve sent an emolument — the checque’s in the mail.
Max you miss the point it’s Apple that has to pay for a new contract to use google maps on a new iteration of the operating system they do not necesarily automatically have the right to use it. You have the right to choose to change OS or not. Fact is we do not know what choices Apple had but I suspect sticking with Google had serious repercussions that affected the whole ecosystem. Sometimes you have to move back a little to move forward a lot.
Yes with shortchanged versions of Google iOS Maps over the Android OS ones. Obviously they would save the best for their own system. Apple just can’t be in bed with a company with such crossed purposes & conflicting interest which is why Samsung also must go as a supplier.
spyintheskyuk – If the OS was simply an upgrade of the OS then the app could remain on all upgrading machines and only those ‘new’ iPhones/iPads sold with OS6 from the start would not get the pre-owned apps.
But Apple chose to delete the apps I already own – for which there would not normally be additional licence fee payable anyway ( Apple wouldn’t pay twice).
All I’m saying is the OS upgrade is not linked to the apps – There are loads of apps on the machine that have not required upgrading between OS5 and OS6 and still work.
Unfortunately Apple is hooked on using free OS upgrades to drive hardware sales by eliminating functions or excluding older versions from access – even though they are capable of running them (Siri – iPhoto etc. etc.)
Apple would keep the original faithful Mac-heads’ positive if they didn’t stiff you at every turn. The increased speed and features used to be good enough to drive sales – and electronics only last for a few years in most cases, so upgrading is going to occur anyway.
And so all of the OS9 Mac apps should still work on OS X?
Or maybe you missed the part about having to license the use of Google maps on the new OS?
Cheque’s in the mail being doublespeak for sod off lollypop
lol. Flawed thinking.
MDN and others who are avid Apple Inc. fans have enjoyed taking shots at Microsoft for years during a time when Apple Inc. was simply irrelevant but now Apple Inc. has become quite relevant in the mobile device world and guess what they are starting to act like… Microsoft. We are seeing more and more issues with Apple OS releases that mirror Microsoft’s approach of release it and we will patch it as we move along. iOS 6 wifi issues along with AirPlay and several others is indicative of Apple’s lack of continued commitment to perfection.
Look at the issues with the MPB 15 RD with LG displays being very problematic (Samsung displays are fine) and it takes you back to how Dell did business no so long ago.
Tim Cook should never forget that Apple’s book value can go south in a hurry if the street (consumers) start to become more noisy about their Apple products and OS not being up to snuff.
Come on Apple get it right!
“guess what they are starting to act like… Microsoft.”
Guess what… That’s what FUD-spreading trolls like you have been claiming pretty much every day since Steve Jobs came back and lifted Apple out of its 1990’s slump. The “Apple is the new Microsoft!” meme doesn’t have any impact anymore – try something new.
“We are seeing more and more issues with Apple OS releases that mirror Microsoft’s approach of release it and we will patch it as we move along.”
Wow, I’ve only seen that accusation getting thrown around come every single OS X and iOS update. I’m reeling with shock here.
“Look at the issues with the MPB 15 RD with LG displays being very problematic”
You mean like how some iMacs came with yellowed displays? Yeah, that never would’ve happened under the old Apple. Hey, wait a minute…
“Tim Cook should never forget that Apple’s book value can go south in a hurry”
Apple’s book value will go down in a hurry no matter what happens, because that’s how their stock works. It crashes, reaches new heights, crashes, reaches new heights again, etc. etc. which probably has something to do with all the stock manipulation FUD directed at AAPL.
Seriously, trolls, get some fresh material already. “Apple’s like Microsoft now!” and “their quality is slipping!” got played out several years ago. Maybe you can start a rumour that Tim Cook stabs hobos just to watch them die.
You are clearly a delusional soul! I stand by every word and suggest you inform yourself before commenting on comments that are posted by people in the know.
Oh while I am at it….
http://www.redmondpie.com/iphone-5-users-reporting-yellow-tint-on-their-displays-photos/
And easy on your drunken raves as you need to learn your history about Apple Inc. late ’90’s.
Because I care. Please get help. 1 800 Dr Phil.
Typical childish trollspeak – when cornered insult in a 360 degree direction. My iPhone 5 display is fine btw. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this which is supposed to fade over time. If not Apple replaces it so what’s the issue? Apple is :notoriously” great at this kind of customer service. You keep on using the crappy device & service you have, no doubt Android. The disingenuous delusions are all yours.
Ummm, an insult in a 360 degree direction would be insulting yourself.
360 degrees is a complete circle.
I take that as insulting everyone.
Wow. It did not take long for Gary drop his polite and civil act and revert to angry trolling, did it?
Call me a drunken raver all you want(do you mean I’m drunk and raving or that I’m drunk and go to raves?), but it doesn’t change the fact that I’ve heard all of your tired troll schtick many times before back when Steve Jobs was still running Apple.
So excuse me if I yawn when I’m told that Apple is the new Microsoft for the billionth time, or that they’re standing on the precipice of doom, or that the quality of their products is crumbling.
I know it, you know it, everyone knows it – you’re a troll going through the same old anti-Apple FUD-spreading troll routine of the past 10 years or so.
The only difference is that you wrapped it in more polite language than the usual troll… Err… Until your second comment, anyway.
And your efforts will amount the same thing as all the trolls before you: zilch. Hold on, now I think I understand why you’re mad =D
Trolls. Hard to spot sometimes, but a logical reply will often do it.
Shhhhhh! you talk to much! I hear your PC fan grinding to a halt. Go lick the bearings.
Uhhh, yeah troll like reasoning not based in any reality I know. What company releases software that is perfect in Version 1? Apple never has. Thats why they call them regular “updates.” That’s why Siri was in Beta. They need to see the practical applications around the world before nailing or patching the fine details. So when has it been diferent with any software company? Thanks for the convenient, disingenuous and total BS reasoning.
Come on man…. You make no sense at all. Apple’s value proposition is that they Think Different . Nuff said. Now take up mess and get some sleep.
More trollspeak: “You make no sense at all” “You don’t know your Apple history” “You’re delusional”. “You’re an iSheep”, etc. logorrhea, etc. Trying to break the Android Moron Cliche ‘s record of the year? People here are experts in Apple history, you only relate to whatever FUD you want to, not the real lowdown. You get no respect here. Such adolescent behavior immediately loses all credibility. Do us all a favor and speak to the choir at Android Authority to your fellow clueless.
Next it will be that Microsoft saved Apple by giving them $150 million bucks, and all that jazz.
Stop it.
The Maps App is good but with some errors. Whoop de doo.
Use it or use Google online or use another App.
Buy with all the advantages of the iPhone 5 and iOS 6, its just NOT enough of an issue to get upset about.
Do you understand what “book value” means in terms of investing in a company?
Book Value: A company’s common stock equity as it appears on a balance sheet, equal to total assets minus liabilities, preferred stock, and intangible assets such as goodwill. This is how much the company would have left over in assets if it went out of business immediately. Since companies are usually expected to grow and generate more profits in the future, market capitalization is higher than book value for most companies. Since book value is a more accurate measure of valuation for companies which aren’t growing quickly, book value is of more interest to value investors than growth investors.
Book value has nothing to do with common stock or market capitalization. Book value refers to the intrinsic value of a company. Apple’s book value will not go down in a hurry because it has well in excess of $100B in cash and marketable securities and few liabilities. Apple would have to run a huge operating loss to begin losing significant book value.
Just because you say something does not make it true. Belief and emotion are not valid substitutes for facts.
Apple eventually gets most things right. If you consider it a bit, you might realize that Apple strives for excellence and ends up succeeding better, in the overall sense, than any other consumer electronics company in the world and is in the top echelon worldwide for any type of company. Apple is that good in a very difficult and competitive business.
Please make sure you never run a public company! I am well aware of the definition of Book Value but more importantly on how Apple Inc. build their cash reserves and that was by NOT paying dividend for 17 years! You speak like a typical cut and paste defenceless individual.
Apple Inc. has paid out a dividend recently and that is great news but at a rate of 10 billion in distribution the Board (Oh you do realize that the Board runs Apple don’t you?) will want to ensure that Tim and his all male executive team keep on keeping on. It is all about “What Have You Done For Me Lately”. So stop telling the world about Apple’s billions as that would be like me talking about Samsung Group’s trillions. This irrelevant as both are widely held entities governed by Boards of Directors with the value of both companies benefiting shareholders in whole or in part.
I need to stress that you come off as a Kool Aid drinking Cult member and that my friend is very very scary indeed. Think back to War time Germany and you realize why people are concerned about this type of behaviour. Apple is enjoying a moment in time and good for them but by no means are they beyond reproach or beyond scrutiny and accountability.
Please make sure you never speak on the web again because you speak with no logic and make sense of unintelligible B.S. Idiots like you have no life but to spend trolling on the internet on Apple news sites because of jealousy of Apple’s success pisses you off. You are so bent on pissing vinegar on any mac news site because you Samdung Phone has been getting a beating for lack of quality and worthwhile ownership because it doesn’t stack up against the iPhone. If I were you I would take what little dignity you have left and tuck that tail low between your arse and sod off before you make any more fool of yourself rattling off more B.S. than a Ballmer can sweat at a developer conference.
Wow! And you are intelligent? Get off the crack for at least a day will you! Get help and I do mean now as I am concerned for you. Verbal diarrheic!
You sir are the Idiot and your village is looking for you!
Dear Gary J,
You speak a good game.
Well in a verbiage sort of way.
Though next time, can you use some punctuation (ya know {sic}, commas, capitals, periods, etc…).
Otherwise you may come across as having a case of “Verbal diarrheic” yourself.
Google did not make the Google maps app. Apple made it using the Google maps api. If Google wants to make a maps app for iOS they are free to do so. Apple deleted nothing on your phone. They upgraded their maps app to a better experience.
I have used it flawlessly. Just moved to a new city and turn by turn has been a lifesaver. You are free to use any maps app from the app store you like. Google has chosen not to provide an app for you to buy. Go whine about it on Googledailynews.com
You are correct, Apple designed the App and just used Googles API, Google had other issues also and it had allot to do with not allowing some use API’s and monetary allotment, with a push for shared user information.
Apple refused to allow its user information out and has been very guarded in protecting it user base, Love em or hate em, Apple is adamant in making sure it protects information of its users.
As for the Maps App, I also had no issues with it and turn by turn works without issues in my location. Apple also stated that the more the Map Application is used the better the service will become, the database is being grown daily and in time we will see a very mature and well established offering.
Wow, indeed! CNET giving Apple a break and expressing a little common sense? Unbelievable!
indeed, it might have been a misprint. Otherwise I’d check the skies for an incoming meteor.
This article is total speculation. The author surmises that Tim Cook may have deliberately taken this risk and the MDN headline goes further and says explicitly that he did, but at no point does the author actually say it was a fact that Tim Cook made a decision to knowingly launch a flawed mapping service.
1 indeed this is the non-story of the week.
I getter annoyed every time I see people who shout FUD when anyone complains about apples maps. I have an iPhone 4S and live outside the US and the maps app is Now much worse than it was with google maps. I don’t care what the reason is or what people in a different country experience. There is no uncertainty or doubt people in the UK now have a much worse experience. Apple should step up and improve things fast unless they are happy to fob customers off with a product that is simply not as good as the one it replaces.
Agreed. I am in the US. I am what the windoz, samsung and google folks would say is a “fanboy”, but that does not prevent me from criticizing apple. On my and my wife’s $S, our physical address shows up on “Maps” a full block away. When the location is noted by apple’s location marker, (which is where we live) it shows a completely different address.
MDN, you lost a LOT of credibility by discounting the complaints as FUD. Good for you that your locations work! But if enough do not, then it is not to be discounted as FUD.
IF Apple allows a “feedback” to report a problem, which they do, that is OK but it would be much better, IMO, to be able to be able to “move the pin” to the correct location and allow that to be fed back to Apple. I don’t like that it lists my location as the side street and actual physical address as a block away.
IS this an individual iPhone problem or a Maps problem? Would MDN arrive at “my actual house” with my location or would they be sent a block away?
Surely you know where you live. You won’t try another door down the street to see if your home somehow moved.
Call me when the directions voice says turn right and you turn right and drive into the river.
Until then don’t be an ass. Glitches will be fixed.
Wow, is your brain under water or what! OF course I know where I live but if someone else what to use this, and being back in the US of A after 25 years overseas, people wanting to visit will have to rely upon something besides Apple Maps for sure. And at this point, GeoCaching is out.
“Don’t be an ass. Glitches will be fixed” . . . MISSING the point – Apple used to not release such problems. You sound like a PC head. Apple users have come to accept better under Steve. He certainly let antenna gate be known about internally but under the current administration, MDN and your account, we are not supposed to criticize but accept lesser standards. This is NOT about “glitches” that will be fixed in a PC mindset but about should be cleared up before release!
Google Maps has listed my home 6 houses over for five years. I live in Seattle. Maybe they don’t like us up here.
Is a mapping application getting a street address wrong by a block such an uncommon thing? When finding a street address with my Garmin, I often find my final destination off by 5 houses in either direction. It’s just something you have to live with.
Named landmarks in the wrong place are a much more worrisome problem than a street address being off by a block.
——RM
Yes the new maps app is terrible in smaller parts of the UK. The town i live in is not even listed, my address is listed under a different town. I’ve submitted a report to apple to help them fix it.
However, my old address in a large city is perfect.
Do i really care that it’s not that accurate at the mo? No, not really. I have a stand alone sat nav, 1 built into my car and at least 2 other maps / sat nav apps on my phone.
I fully expect Apple to sort this out in due time. For now i’ll just keep submiting error reports to apple with the correct info as i find mistakes.
The voice of reason! Most people feel the same way, Andi. Thanks for posting.
Apple is expected to team with the Druids who know quite a bit about navigational problems in parts of the Isles.
You can still get Google Maps. Just browse to maps.google.com, then add that to your home screen.
It’s not even close to the same as the app.
It’s the same data. Isn’t that what everybody’s complaining about? Yes, Apple’s actual Map app, as an app, is far better than even Google’s IOS map app, but it’s the data that’s most important, right?
maps.google.com would certainly be a usable temporary solution while you wait for Google to release their map app for IOS.
Oh dear. You are slow. Data on its own, or the app on its own, is not sufficient. You need the two together, both working correctly, for the app to be useful. Get it now?
Oh sweetie, what part of “usable temporary solution” do you not understand? Assuming, of course, that you actually want an answer. But it’s pretty lear that what you really want is to complain. Get it now?
P.S. Just for your benefit I typed this message slowly, as I can see you struggle just a bit with reading.
How long will we have to put up with a useable temporary solution? We already had a useable system in place and it was removed. Apple have not said when the current implementation will improve and Google have not said when or if an app will be submitted. Using google maps in the browser does not compare favourably to the app we had in ios5. There is no viable alternative to street view.
I’m sure Google is hard at work on their own IOS app. It’s too valuable to delay, and I’m sure they’d love to crow about how many IOS 6 users use it.
If you want street view you definitely need Google’s maps. And you can use it today. There are of course some penalties for using Google’s maps. You’ll need to be constantly connected to a data stream, even without using Street View.
As Apple’s maps are vector-based, it’s quite likely that your entire route can be downloaded before you leave, meaning less need for data along the way. That’s a big win, as is freely rotatable and zoomable maps, and turn by turn directions. None of which the Google app did. Zooming meant loading (and waiting for) a fresh set of bitmaps. With vector maps it’s a straightforward calculation done on the phone itself.
I’m not saying there’s no problem. Map data accuracy is much worse than Google right now (a few days after launch).
Google has been improving their product for 8 years. Give Apple a little time to get there. The app itself is awesome. Fast & easy to use. It will only get better.
That’s not too much to ask for the world to finally have a second great map system.
You guys can criticize Apple for legitimate flaws. I am not going to throw the FUD term at you for that. The problem arises in the portrayal of Apple Maps as a complete and utter fiasco that trashes the value of the iPhone 5 when, in fact, most people seem to have had a good experience with it so far. In addition, no one seems to be willing to cut Apple any slack whatsoever when a product is less than perfect. They seem to forget that Apple fixes problems over time, and also enhances value over time by providing functional updates on existing hardware for little or no money. That is now taken for granted by Apple consumers, but you just don’t see it elsewhere.
I don’t know who wrote this mac daily news take but they don’t know what there on about, try doing that in the uk,the maps is awful , and that is coming from an apple fan that has bought all the iPhones from the iPhone 3G onwards.apple should have kept google maps until they had perfected apple maps then released it.
“I don’t know who wrote this mac daily news take but they don’t know what there on about”
Plus one!!!
Same in country Australia. Look at Warrnambool satellite images and in many places all you can see is cloud.
Stawell, were I live, is partly grey of OK resolution with blocks of colour that is so poor in resolution that it is useless to try to see anything. Some other country towns do have good satelite images and resolution. I cannot see this being fixed any time soon.
I heard that Apple went into lockdown to deal with these Maps issues. I would presume, and hope, that one person on such a panel would be appointed to inventory the complaints and create a prioritized geohypercritical map. That person would be well advised to include this website.
Maps is certainly very badly flawed, and Apple should certainly have allowed Google Maps to exist in parallel until their own Maps app had matured. Where I live in north Wiltshire, England, the satellite view is just a blurred, pixelated mess, similar to satellite views from fifteen years ago, and I was sat having a coffee in town today and checked the map for my town centre. It’s a joke, there are shops marked where they’ve never been, an inn that has never, to my knowledge, ever existed, and I’ve lived in the same town for 57 years! Whoever sourced the street info along with details of businesses should be ashamed of themselves for getting such fundamentally basic details so wrong.
I don’t automatically blame Apple, they have taken assurances from their map source people the info is correct, Apple can’t check personally every road and business in every town in every country in the world, but I would expect the info to be much more accurate than it is.
Why does everyone assume that Apple had the option to run continue running Google maps? There’s obviously licensing issues that were in play. Google had already shown that it wasn’t willing to share all of its mapping technology with Apple. Apple was being painted into a corner and it’s not all apple’s fault that Google is not here.
The biggest problem was that Google was never going to allow their maps to be used for turn-by-turn navigation on iOS. If Google was willing at all to license their maps data to Apple for iOS 6, it would’ve been under the old terms, which left Apple at a competitive disadvantage.
——RM
Totally correct.
Maps works for me so far, yes there’s some mistakes but I’m bloody impressed for what is version 1.0.
What apple needs to do is focus resources on polishing up the app so it’s great instead of good.
The Srir interaction workv exceptionally well. I think the problem with a lot of people and Siri is that a lot of people don’t know how to talk to Siri the right way.
If you say to Siri “show me directions to (insert town name and country) Siri will show the route and automatically start the turn by turn.
The secret in using maps successfully is talking to Siri the right way.
What I suggest people do is talk to Siri and ask it the same thing in different ways and see what phrase works for you.
Whatever phrase works, remember it and use that one!
Do this and maps works a treat.
I’m not sure why the accelerating furor over Apple’s Map app either. OK, outside the US it doesn’t perform as well as the old Apple Map app. Did all the other map apps suddenly disappear last Thursday night? I’ve used MapQuest app (free when I got it), and its performed well for me also. Surely it hasn’t changed with iOS 6, has it?
The thing is you have been in the town for 57 years. You can wait for the map to be fixed.
You already know what street you’re on and where you’re going in the mean time.
I figure with over 7 billion people on the planet, there are over 2.5 billion map locations from addresses to business locations, streets and landmarks. It might be a higher number than that.
Even if you pare down the number to only cover areas where Apple sells its products at retail or through cellular carriers, so maybe there’s around 2.5 billion people and around 1.2 to 1.5 billion address locations. This is probably a conservative figure.
The enormous number of items is not something that can easily be created, let alone maintained or updated, since businesses close, streets are built or bridges fall down.
In short, your anger is badly misplaced. Apple will improve this product, but it takes time, and it will get much better over the next few years, but there is no chance they could have started this out perfect. Zero chance.
I promise you there are many flaws in Google’s maps too, and they have had over 8 years to work on it.
I second that opinion.
Apple’s newborn baby is getting a spanking from everybody except the doctor, while gangly adolescent Google Maps stands by grinning. But said adolescent is a known peeping Tom.
Double plus ungood.
For me, maps works fine.
I even seen some of the pictures of the “errors” one apple was correct, but people claimed the old gooe version was right… It wasn’t updated and apples was. Minor point, but whatever.
Some looked like people snapped a screenshot before the map fully loaded, granted it could be that the maps app didn’t finish downloading it.
Some landmarks or restaurants were off, across the street etc. IMO no big deal.
It will get fixed, and getting rid of google from my iPhone… Is ALWAYS a good thing.
“Some looked like people snapped a screenshot before the map fully loaded, granted it could be that the maps app didn’t finish downloading it.”
Not likely. It simply depends on where you live. Clearly a lot of people (if not most) who live in England (and other countries) are having issues.
However, I live in AZ and there is an issue with the 3D view smack in the middle of downtown Phoenix. The 3D effect isn’t rendered outside of an area bounded by 7th Ave on the west and 7th St to the east. I have a good idea as to why, but it isn’t due to it taking time to render the effect.
As for the non-3D, aerial photos… the place where I live is at least a year (probably 2 or 3) out of date, while Google Maps update with 3 months.
As for other details, my experience with Maps has been rather casual at this point. I couldn’t say if place names or locations are as messed up as some have described.
I did say “some”
Glad Google’s maps are gone, Apple’s Maps app will work for me. I’m sure the bugs will be worked out..
That brings up a good point. I have frequently used the Google Maps to direct me to businesses that are no longer there, or likely never were. Google Maps is FAR from flawless.
This outrage is so completely out of balance. Sure Apple needs to make their product better, but no way was Google’s product some angelic flawless design which was handed down from the heavens. Both are imperfect.
I agree with MDN about this .I have played around with 6 Maps on a 4S and new 5 and am a 15 year GPS user familair with Garmin , Navigon and Toyota
I have driven about 200 Km and thus far and the performance has been flawless .Waypoint locations have been better than Google which often is out by a significant margin.No Street view but I seldom used it .Voice input by Siri is a big plus .Routing has been less problematic than with Garmin which often perseverates with illogical routes and asks for illegal turns etc .
I have not spotted any mistakes yet and think that this is actually better than Google
Much ado about nothing
That is a stupid approach to take! If yours works fine, great! But to make an assumption that because YOURS works fine, any that does not work is “the person’s fault”.
Here is where the “assumptions” become a problem: PC World. Microsoft and like company said that everything is fine if 80% works fine. Mac users “used” to criticize this vehemently. Now, it appears that Apple is using the same process – 80% works fine and accurately and apparently BlueMax’s also. But for the other 20% or maybe more, well, that is a “feature”.
Have you and MDN and others like you fallen into the PC world’s take on ‘getting’ the software right and accepting lower standards? Shame on you!
I dare you to give me your search criteria, and I will prove to you the maps app works perfectly (if not the shames as google maps).
Try searching for my hometown of York, UK. See if you can make sense of the satellite images, good luck.
@ Jordan
Looking at Apple Maps’ version of York, UK I have the feeling that we live in the same city. Almost the same view. Although I call it Münster, Germany.
Well Federico now had two examples of apples maps falling short of those provided by google. I don’t think he’d have to look far to find more. There is another in this article. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-19672981
So, you got the iPhone 5? “Yeeeah, I did”. I don’t know about Mabel, but I told Ethel when she was looking at the iPhone 5 iOS 6 Maps app, “Don’t look, Ethellll” But it was too late. She was already using the turn by turn navigation in Apple maps to find this ‘Point of Interest’!…
Maps in my area are a definate improvement over google maps. Clear and accurate and easy to use. Maybe a few areas are not decent yet but I love the improvement.
I was actually 100% with MDNs take on this until I actually used Maps yesterday for a route I’ve asked the old version to remind me of all the time. It had me take a freeway exit, just to re-enter the freeway… Weird but no big deal except it was metered so I had to lose 5-10 minutes in line waiting to re-enter the freeway. Then it had me circle the neighborhood instead of take the most direct route, and then at the end it had some issue determining how to end it, so they said to circle the block.
I never had an issue with Google Maps. I argued about it with my gf who only once showed me how it was telling us to go the wrong way down a 1 way street… Until I figured out she had it set to walking directions.
But no it’s not the end of the world…. It’s just unsettlingly un-Apple-like. I feel like I just switched from working on my Mac to doing something at work requiring me to use the PC.
And Google maps always sends me 20 miles West to Portland and then back 20 miles East to arrive at a point 6 miles north of me, reachable by traveling 6 miles due North on city streets. This is not uncommon on any mapping system.
Apple’s new maps is better and worse in some ways.
I can’t get to my place of work if I relied on Apples Maps. It has me making a turn in the wrong direction. However, google also suffers.
On a delivery I was making google maps had me in the wrong city about 15 miles away. Both cities had the same street names but different range of addresses. Apple Maps automatically chose the correct destination based on the address range. Google maps chose the more popular road/city despite that road not having my address.
Both map programs have their faults. Apple maps have the potential to leave Google maps in the dust as user input improves and fixes the inconsistency. People are just more hyper sensitive when something that showed properly before doesn’t now. I’m sure that there are just as many people who have the opposite experience and are seeing better map results.
I am an avid reader of MDN, a long-time buyer of Apple products (all the way back to the Apple IIC) and I appreciate your column’s tech savvy. But I do get tired of your snide condescension toward non-Apple folks, especially when combined with your rah-rah posture toward the affluence differential of Apple buyers. In responses like your comments in this item, you sound like Mitt Romney, dismissively writing off the 47% of Americans that he clearly feels are a thorn in the side for he and his rich buddies. Do you really want to sound like you’re part of that crowd? Tone down the condescension!
(Sounds like someone be wanting a 5..)
I’m sorry, I couldn’t quite understand what you were saying while I was busy sipping champagne and eating my caviar. Do you think you could repeat yourself?
Plus $1
It is what it is, Tim, deal with it. It’s Chinatown.
Give it a break already. I can remember when I bought a brand new Garmin maps CD, the latest version and the first thing I did was go to the village where I live. Guess what? Garmin placed stores on the map that didn’t exist in my village, the names were correct but the locations belonged 8 miles to the south of me and they placed them on the wrong streets too.. Garmin isn’t Apple but there’s no mapping database that’s 100% perfect for every place on the planet. Maybe people need to take a step back and take a deep breath. People that update any software application within the first moments of a release will always be taking a chance. Next time wait for a week or two and see what the feedback is before taking the plunge.
I live in Calgary AB. The map is almost flawless until you use 3D. I can live with it until it’s fixed.
You want to talk about a nightmare, let me tell you about Mac OS 8.0.
I just used Google maps to locate a restaurant. They were not even close. They did not even show it on the street I entered.
Map quest and Yahoo maps got it right.
I actually think that the release of Maps in very Steve Jobs like. It was definitely not the popular thing to do. It was done because in the long term it will work out. They didn’t take the safe expedient route but the long-term better solution which in the beginning will not necessarily be popular. Most people hate change and this is a big change. Just like omitting floppy disc drives, changing to thunderbolt from firewire, not including an optical drive in the macbook air, and many other examples. Sometime changes are a little bit early and take a while to perfect. Now not having an optical drive in a lap top is not a problem because of iCloud but a few years ago it was controversial. Maps and the new lightning connecter are the types of innovation that Apple is famous for and is how their products alway remain in front with other companies struggling to keep up.
…but what was so wrong about the Google maps app that required replacing? The Apple app doesn’t add anything new -indeed, it breaks much of which worked perfectly before. I struggle to see what these great changes will be? Apple are not replacing Google maps because it is obsolete – indeed, they appear to be struggling to replicate what it was a few years ago.
Google started making a phone OS. And not a brand new one, but a rip-off of iOS.
Apple can’t be dependent on Google technology going forward. Especially ones that form core parts of the phone experience.
Google has turned Apple from their biggest friend, to their biggest threat. First maps, then search.
Easy with the references to SJ. Are suggesting that Google will simply sit on its hands and watch the parade go by? Times are changing at fast at that and Google is not going away anytime soon.
Screen cap this… the next 6 months will be the most revealing in 20 years in terms on consumer choices for both gadgets and eco systems.
Rubbish. What planet are you living on?
The choices were made over two years ago:
iTunes for music, iPhone if you want the very best phone, and iPad for a tablet/Pad thingy.
No-one has any traction, not M$oft, not RIM, not Samsung, not Google.
The war is over, Apple won.
Many don’t want to admit that the Cold War is Over.
Twenty-first Century, Twenty-first Amendment, We’re all over Twenty-one, officer, joint the party.
A reminder to those saying this isn’t like Apple and that this wouldn’t have been released under Jobs. There are have been numerous growing pains and/or flubs over the years. Whether its MobileMe, Ping, Game Center, Final Cut X, or antenna-gate Apple had rarely shied away from taking the risk and allowing users to be testers. As often as they perfect through engineering they also perfect through consumer use. And every time they use consumers as the “ginnea pig” there is an uproar and Apples failure. But eventually it become praised and/or forgotten.
Personally the map feels incomplete, and that’s because it is. Just like the way FCP X felt on release. But I trust that more is coming and if I don’t like it I can just download something else.
Right on. Bitching about behavioral problems and presumptuousness, over protectiveness, rolling-our-eyes-over-supposed-adult-decisions are all hallmarks of the hormone-poisoned teenager, intoxicated with life and eager for new and dangerous experiences.
Analogy to growing up. I wanted a car but my father said, maybe next year. I wanted to date the quarterback and he said, uh, not a good idea. The taste of my disappointment in those moments rises, Proust-like, when I read some of these reactions and wonder why every being is expected to spring fully formed, like Athena from Zeus’ brow, and every product from the workshops of the gods to be no less than a philosopher’s stone.
New era, everybody! Software is no longer off-the-shelf stuff like Palmolive soap. It’s organic, evolves, is starting to get to know you, even; try not to piss it off while it’s forming its first impressions of Homo Sapiens.
Maps found a small spot in rural GA without a problem.
I don’t see the problem
Apple’s Maps may work well in major US cities, but they’re a poor substitute for Google Maps in many cities elsewhere on the globe.
As a single example, in my city in NZ, Google Maps provides property boundaries, so you know whether the address you are looking for is on a road frontage or is down a long driveway to a back section. Apple’s Maps shows street outlines only. There’s no “Flyover” of course although, frankly, I doubt I would have much use for it anyway, as I don’t do a lot of aerial commuting. I do make a lot of use of Google’s “Street View”.
I’ve relegated Maps to my third iPhone screen, and replaced it with the direct link icon offered by Google. I’ve no doubt Apple’s version will improve (and I’m not entering into the debate over whether it should have been released yet), but I’ll have to live with “evil” until Apple Maps is more useful.
Bought one yesterday here in Detroit….have used it extensively since then….not ONE hiccup whatsoever….just a bunch of BS
Right, because your one anonymous anecdote invalidates everyone else’s anecdotes (good or bad).
The real question is, would you rather stay with a compromised google maps app (relative to their android version), or are you willing to temporarily have a somewhat compromised (but much smoother, easier to use, slicker, and turn by turn giving) experience from Apple, that in time will enable them to provide a MUCH better (and privacy protecting) experience down the road? That is the only real question IMO.
You are lost in the wilderness near Fargo, North Dakota. You are freezing. A car approaches on the dirt road. It is your Uncle Eric. He opens the door of his Lincoln Town Car, and the welcoming heat leaks out, but you hesitate because you have long suspected him of spying on you – following you at a distance, and taking pictures of your house while you’re in it.
Then a Dodge pickup arrives, and cousin Tim pokes his neck out the window, offering to give you a lift. Tim is sweet on you, a little, but respects you, and is also too busy with work and such to devote much time to building a relationship. But he tends to get lost now and then, with his head in the clouds and all, and his car heater is broken.
What to do?
Haha, looks like there are other pressing questions to be answered. I stand corrected!
Remember that with this release of iPhone 5, Apple will not have an upgrade for one year.
Maybe the decision was strategically affected by either “release it now in Beta” and improve it as we go…or wait another year to release it and begin its evolution into a valid Google competitor, but a year later.
I know from looking at other handset makers it’s hard to believe, but Apple actually updates the OS on its devices from time to time.
I’m in Southern California and the new Maps is flawless from what I can tell, but CA should be easy to map out the way the area is spread out in a neat grid-like manner, generally speaking.
I can envision it being a mess in other areas, especially abroad. People in Korea are saying huge swaths of Seoul aren’t even showing up in the new Maps. That’s a shame. I had no problem getting around in Seoul with the old Google Maps.
In the LA area, the main thing is turn-by-turn directions since driving is really the only way to get around. I had been using the Garmin app (which I still really like) but the new Apple Maps seems even better after comparing the two.