“Apple is seemingly taking more ownership over criticism that its new mapping software in iOS 6 is less accurate than its predecessor,” Josh Lowensohn reports for CNET.
“‘We own this; we manage the vendors. This is no one’s issue but ours,’ an unnamed Apple executive tells The New York Times today, which adds that the company has promises to ‘pour as much time and manpower into repairing Maps as it takes,'” Lowensohn reports. “In a column about the feature’s accuracy, The Times adds that ‘well over 99 percent’ of the feature’s data set is accurate.”
Read more in the full article here.
No surprise, Apple does take there responsibilies seriously.
It’s an issue for anyone relying on Apple Maps.
Um, actually, no. It’s an issue for anyone relying on anyone’s mapping system. Google routinely sends me 40 miles out of my way to go 6 miles north of my home location. If 99% of Apple’s maps are accurate that’s good enough for now. Anyone who relies on a computer map for navigation knows they have to do a sanity check every time.
But then, we know you’re an Apple hater. You spew crap about Apple here all day long, every day.
Aww, Zeke, did I make you wimper? Here’s a hanky.
If Google Maps was my only option I would bitch about their accuracy and reliability, but since I do have options I would like choices other than “shitty” and “crappy”. You Apple fanbois can find every excuse in the world to condemn any other company for the most minuscule faults and foibles, but never hold Apple to the same excruciating standards.
I pay good money for Apple products and I expect more than lame excuses and unfulfilled promises.
Then buy something else and quit whining like a 2 year old.
So, in other words, Apple’s Maps doesn’t past muster. Thanks for agreeing with me.
There are a host of other mapping solutions on the iPhone. Get one of those if you don’t like Apple’s maps app.
I often need help to explore the hoary hinterlands of the mysterious Six Miles Away.
Chrissy, my nearest city is Gresham, OR. Perhaps you’re familiar with the fact that instead of adhering to the grid system based on Main and 1st streets in Portland, like most other local entities, they have their own system. That system makes China Town in SF seem a bastion of organization. Streets end and begin again for no apparent reason, and any streets that are numbered seem to have a base somewhere in the Columbia River. The road I live on has no less than 6 name changes as it passes through Gresham. When I want to find an address for something like a Craig’s List purchase in Gresham Google routinely sends me 20 miles West to I-205 and then back East 15 miles on I-84 to get to Gresham.
I lived in Oregon for a while. I’m convinced that on many days they were high as a kite when they laid out those roads.
Hahaha… I was just through there a few weeks ago on a motorcycle. And yes, it’s a nightmare. I stand corrected!
What happened to reading a REAL map?
Right on man! People are becoming completely useless without technology. For most daily driving…why the hell do you need a GPS.
Pay attention to where you are going!
I wholeheartedly agree with you. If you know Apple, they aren’t the kind of company to settle for O.K. or good, they actually strive to have excellence in everything they do. Perhaps they replaced the map app too soon for some people, but for 99% of us, its perfectly fine and this is coming from a free update to the O/S, not like we paid for it. I love your map app Apple! I know you will make it great, like everything you do. I don’t care what anyone else says.
Given the number of iPhones in the NYC region, I’m gonna say your 99% figure is grossly overstated.
Almost nobody who leaves their house in this city would use the words “perfectly fine” to describe iOS 6.
Which reminds me — with Maps being a core OS feature, can we stop referring to Maps as the damaged goods, and refer to it more accurately as iOS 6 being inferior to iOS 5 in at least a couple of key ways at release time?
I’m still trying to figure out the brick of an iPhone 5 I received yesterday. I run my iTunes off of my G5 server because it has the big 2TB hard drives that can hold my media. I received my iPhone 5 yesterday, I backed up my iPhone 4S, plugged in the new phone, received a message that I need to update to iTunes 10.7 only to find that I cannot update iTunes on that computer and that none of my other Macs have the hard drive space necessary to hold my media collection.
I drove for living a long while back, and we had to actually READ road signs and watch the road when we drove. Reading a map was wasn’t a skill, but a necessity.
We need a worldwide EMP to get us back to basics and relearn how to live.
I couldn’t agree more. People need to re-learn how to depend on themselves. If the grid ever goes down…we’re f****d as a society.
“Thompson’s Guide” was the map bible before the digital age it. And they were only at best as accurate as their last printing date. People understood that.
Exactly. Before the Era of Whiners, people’s Esso road maps in the glove compartment were dated like jars of mayo are dated today. People knew that roads and buildings change, for crying out loud.
Have you ever tried to read a ‘Thomas Guide’ while looking for an exit on the 405? Some places NEED GPS, and LA is one of them.
Nope, I never have. When I was relying on paper maps I plotted my route before driving. I’m not saying GPS navigation doesn’t make life better/easier/safer. I’m only saying that safely navigating your route has been possible long before GPS. And my original point was only that there have always been inaccuracies and there always will be.
I grew up in L.A. county, learned to drive in socal. Long before GPS became available to civilians.
If you didn’t check maps and figure out where/how you were going, you deserved what you got. Paper maps are for planning.
And if you need to recheck the map, there are off ramps closely spaced wherever you go.
Seriously.
I’m disappointed MDN you haven’t updated your iphone app yet.
No doubt. I’m sure apple got hit with a bunch of update Application (Or whatever they call it) i have like maybe five apps out of 120 that got the iPhone 5 update. I want more! 😉
And props to Apple for saying nothing but owning up to it. Most of us need no explanation. We know it’s version 1.0
If they update the app I’d like to see a button that will let me bump up the font size to my heart’s content. There is a font size button now, but it only makes the font one size SMALLER!
They have updated it, a bit. It is now VERY easy to open links in Safari via the ‘Add to Reading List’ feature.
We are talking about the MDN app for the iPhone. It’s not updated for the new iPhone yet. I’ve been using the it on safari though as well. But I like the notifications. So I’d rather use the app.
I use a browser, but the app still gives notifications.
Good to see Apple taking ownership for this, though I wish it was from an official source. But it’s much better than throwing Tom Tom or some other provider under the bus.
Woooooooooooooooow
Well, if it’s not official then it doesn’t count. But I would like to see Apple step up to the plate and take ownership of this problem. Had they done this the first day it would not be nearly did issue that it has become. But I do believe that they had to separate themselves from Google. They just executed it very poorly. Apple is not perfect, they make mistakes just like everyone else. It’s just that this mistake is really a dumb mistake. And could have been handled much better.
This. I agree. I hate seeing people get blasted on this forum for calling out faults in the new maps. Too many people can’t see that you can be a fan of apple and still be able to tell they are not perfect.
But, Jordan, people here are blasting the entire app based upon just their experience. That’s not fair either. As with any human experience, the people for whom there are mistakes are the ones making the noise; the huge majority of people who aren’t having a problem with it don’t speak up — why should they? So the response here has been to try and put it all in perspective.
I agree that the people affected are the most likely to complain. That does not remove the validity of thier issue. I for instance have been accused of being an android user with no experience of the issue who is making things up! This kind of behaviour strikes me as childish when people are trying to discuss an actual problem. If you personally have not been affected then good for you but I have little time for people who try to diminish or dismiss other people’s valid viewpoint because it does not happen to match thier own.
Agreed, and I’ll amplify your point that it’s childish of people to proclaim based on a post of dissatisfaction that you are an Android user. My problem is the easy slide people take from “It doesn’t work for me” to “Apple’s map app is crap.” Most of the loudest complainers have experienced the former but decry the app publicly with the latter. That’s neither fair to the app nor to all the people for whom it works. Let’s just stick to our personal experience and leave the extrapolation to the whole of humanity to others.
I must be an unusual case, because I’m encountering fewer mistakes with Apple Maps than I was with Google.
You are not the only one. I use Maps far more often than I ever did with Google Maps. The directions have been spot on. The only real problem I see are the icons that mark locations. Like at LAX the Theme Building is nearly on the roadway. But, that is mainly what I noticed and should be quickly tightened up. I love this Maps much better and use it far more often. Much better than Google’s 1.0 ever was.
Same here. I much prefer the new Apple Maps over the Google version – especially with the turn-by-turn navigation. But I’m in Southern Cal and I’d figure this would be fairly easy area for Apple to get right from the get-go.
I hardly ever used the old Google version because I need voice-guided turn-by-turn driving around all over California. So I got the Garmin app for the iPhone and it’s been great but I think the new Apple one may turn out to be even better. I’m doing side-by-side tests whenever I go out on the road.
I’m in SoCal as well. So far, a step up from Google Maps.
@m159
You nailed it.
In my experience Google maps placed a restaurant on a bridge over a large river and various incorrect locations miles away for years. Google has been at it for how long?
I will settle for 99% accuracy any day of the week if the figure is correct. Google accuracy rate? Do we even know to make a fair comparison … probably not.
Wow! A corporation that actually takes ownership of a mistake/problem/screwup, etc. Looks good on ya Apple!
I got my iphone 5 today and much of my criticism of Apple maps has vanished. It works and looks much better on the 5. Maybe they should have not let it install on pre 4S phones.
I hate all analysts and commentators. If you like you buy it, if not, don’t buy it. We don’t care about your comments. Apples knows what you even imagine. iPhone? iPad? Yeah right. Today you can’t leave wihtout it and think that knows it all. Jerks.
Oh Apple removed the superdrive, what’s bluray, the new connector, iPad is a big iPhone, Samdroid is better, more features. Mac, iOS, has no virus = small market…. Go to hell. Apple is always right… even in the little mistakes.
…passion 101
Trolling 1A is more like it.
We know the map need more data mining to make it great and useful , as a user , how can we help Apple to improve their Map?
Exactly right. Apple’s users would *love* to help out. Here’s how I think they can jump-start street view:
http://sharonsharalike.com/how-apple-can-solve-its-street-view-problem/2012/9/23/apple-has-no-street-view
That would be awesome. I’d even be willing with my DSLR to help Apple out by taking pics of my neighborhood or even city. They could even start a partnership program with freelance photographers, assign each a city/ suburb.
Use the “Report a problem” link built in to the app?
I am tired of the whining. It is verso 1 folks. Form what I have seen it has been flawless for me but then maybe Tim Cook likes Montreal best?
Anyway Apple is man enough to own up to flaws in version 1 and will fix it. That speaks volumes and underscores why I am indeed a loyal Apple buyer.
Apple’s new maps worked for me this weekend on a long road trip. Turn-by-turn directions worked well, though I haven’t figured out the voice over entirely. The local business/landmark search is a little outdated in spots, but that’s not a big deal. Overall, a net plus, and will only get better.
All the misplaced addresses i knew in GM are on th right buildings in Apple maps, its clean and fast and turn by trurn is better than anything I’ve ever seen…’ nother antennagate with a scrachgate backup??? That’s so weak really…
Y’all know that it’s the big money that’s behind this knockdown and ‘gates right…?
Exactly correct.
All the FUD is being dished out by the following :
1. Google, Samedung
2. PR and amrketing people from Google, Samedung
3. Biased tech ‘new’ websites that are anti Apple
4. Fandroid Apple wannabees that are jealous of Apple
5. Internet ‘Journalists’ (and I use the work VERY loosely as they are NOT journals at all just people being paid by Google and Samedung to damage Apple’s reputation) of trashy websites looking for hits
6. People who cant cope with the fact that Apple is the best company in the world
7. Owners of companies that pretend that they are Apple – even though they never will be
8. Eric ‘the fucking mole’ Schmidt
“… an unnamed Apple executive tells The New York Times today..”
When the New York Times said God is dead and the war’s begun, Alvin Tostig has a son today..
the NYT is puke.
This is the reality of the situation: the established powers (the money that was) is terrified of the juggernaut. The money that was constitutes the government-imposed national bank (The Fed) and its lackeys and toadies: the media, our congress and Wall Street. These elements cannot ever understand excellence, it baffles them. They are as pygmies throwing pebbles at a giant. They have and will make it their goal to destroy the mindset of excellence that Jobs has re-ignited in this country.
is bigger than Exxon-Mobil, think that through.
“It is absurd to say that our country can issue $30 million in bonds and not $30 million in currency. Both are promises to pay, but one fattens the usurers and the other helps the people.” – Thomas Edison
$30 million in currency does not promise to pay back, it just devalues the currency.
At the time that currency was redeemable in gold, and so more fitting of the idea of being a promise.
And he shall be drive on, and he shall use Apple Maps
And he shall be drive on, he’s the navigator, man
And he shall be drive on, he won’t get lost
He shall be drive on…
lol, vg Tbone John.
This isn’t just about errors in the data set. It is about missing levels of necessary details – details that may not be necessary in the US, but vital other places.
Here in Japan, the maps are an giant step Backwards. Google liscences Zenrin data, which is extremely detailed and accurate. They also have all the train lines as well. They have been making the data better year by year, but the lines always existed. They follow the scheme that all Japanese maps follow for the different private and national lines.
I don’t use transit directions, but because Japan does not name a majority of its streets, people navigate by using landmarks – intersections, street lights and train stations. Major Intersections are named and signs are posted on the street light posts – stations and train crossings are referenced in almost every map or directions available in Japan – and Apple is using a data set which has none of it. The stations exist as map points, with outlines and exits (some have 15 different ones) missing.
They are completely unusable in any form for Japanese people, as people rely heavily on maps for visiting unfamiliar areas. A Tourist will find it marginally useful, but without the train lines it is very limited. To a Native, it’s garbage.
OpenStreetMaps data is much better, but still has inaccuracies – but it is a far sight better than the paltry data set they are using.
The choice to leave off the existence of the train lines baffles the mind. It’s like like leaving out the freeways in Southern California – every direction is relative to their exits and interchanges.
Japan is roughly the size of Montana.
What are you implying? That Japan doesn’t matter because it’s geographically small?
Montana: population <1 million
Japan: population 127.8 million
Japan has 130 times the potential customers. And as of March, the iPhone was the best-selling cell phone (not just smartphone) in Japan. In 2011 alone enough iPhones were sold in Japan to give everyone in Montana 7 iPhones each.
Conclusion: Why should Apple care about Montana again, compared to Japan?
I am implying nothing, I am saying Japan is roughly the size of Montana.
If you’re not implying anything then what is the point of saying it?
Getting mapping right for Japan is about 100 times as important as getting it right for Montana, and I don’t doubt that Apple is already taking steps to greatly improve it there.
the point is obvious, it is a comparison of size, dumbass.
Well considering that you said its “the size of Montana,” saying now that it’s a comparison of size is not exactly enlightening. The question is obviously “what is the point of comparing the size of Japan with the size of a sparsely populated US state?” Was there a point? The original Botvinnik always had a purpose behind every move, so I’m assuming you did too. What was it?
are you a fucking lawyer? there is no implication or hidden agenda in plain speaking, it was a simple comparison of size.
Sometimes, Botvinnik made a seemingly provocative move, and his hapless opponent would overanalyze & get knotted up while Botvinnik silently chuckled to himself
@hannahjs, you’re basically saying botvinnik trolled us by not adding a single thing to a well-written comment, and wrote what he did to provoke a reaction.
So? That diminishes the argument how?
Montana also has only 1 million people, does that mean the maps here should be more or less important?
What it means is Japan is on par with the United States, not a single (barely inhabited, but beautiful) state. Its the 3rd largest economy in the world.
More Importantly, this was a comment talking about the different requirements that different countries have because of different expectations and cultural differences that have to be met by maps. Googles solution is mature and, for Japan, fulfills these. They are quite different than the maps of America. Apple’s data set has inaccuracies, but the limited information that is passable for a 1.0 product in te US is not passable in Japan because these differences were ignored.
Japan is the same size and rough Lattitudes as California. The San Diego metro area has 3 times as many people as Montana.
See? I can quote meaningless factoids comparing things too! They are unrelated to the point.
Map details may be more of a priority in busy metro markets that serve millions of people – but they need to be accurate and, more importantly, expected and pertinent details present for Helena, Montana , La Mesa, California, and Maebashi, Japan.
Honest question from someone new to the issues you raise: Many people say “Use maps.google.com” — does that suffice in Japan, in the usage case you are referring to, or did the Google Maps app prior to iOS 6 do something better than their web site could?
because of various supoort issues (emoji, carrier, etc) the first truly big iphone in Japan was the iPhone 4 – so most of their installed base (probably over 90%) is a 4 or 4S. Their only experience with the phone has been with google maps, which, at that point, has been polished up pretty well for Japan. The level of detail in tokyo in particular is mind blowing, jsut for the standard 2d Map. the detail, again becuase of Liscensing and then integrating the Zenrin data for the last 2-3 levels of zoom for their maps, they not only have super detailed street maps for most of Japan (with outlines of almost all major buildings) they have been polishing their maps to conform with the Japanese cutoms – labeled intersections, Train Station Exit numbers, and a vast majority of all stop lights shown.
Japan’s homegrown mapping systems all provide this level of detail, along with GPS systems (“Navis”, as they are called).
I use an att iPad (so ti has GPS) with a pocket wifi for Navigation with google maps (for the GPS location only) and the solution is flawless, and doesn’t need to be updated year by year, as a car navi does.
So – with Apple’s iPhone becoming popular, and Google’s maps providing the only real alternative to the domestic map data, The solution was awesome.
Apple’s maps is missing all of this data.
The web app is slow as shit on a iPhone 4. Functionally, it is better, becuase of different layers and whatnot, but it’s speed, zooming, and lookup are all hampred by being a web app. it simply is not on par to a native application.
Apple’s data set simply is not what Japanese people expect form ma mapping solution. it is inferior – not becuase Apple chose to leave Google – but they simply refused to use the available data in OpenStreetMaps. most of the major problems would go away.
it is utterly preplexing that they would choose to launch maps with such an inferior dataset when they could have gone with at least the current OpenStreetMap data for launch.
The decision to launch with maps in this state (talking purely about the 2D standard maps) is shocking to me – that is what bothers me – nto the incompleteness of the dataset, but the decision to use incomplete or outdated data as a substiture for a very mature, useful, and well known product.. I used the map app for 5 seconds and I literally yelled “no fucking way” when I zoomed out and there were no train lines visible in the map. Unacceptable.
10 Year Mac Tech. Japan Resident. At Macworld for the iPhone launch. Disapointed as hell with Apple’s execution on this.
The Japanese are very resourceful and will get through this. They also love great technology, so they’ll continue buying iPhones in droves.
“The Times adds that ‘well over 99 percent’ of the feature’s data set is accurate.”
and this gets ignored.
but put a Burger King on the wrong side of the street…. OMG!
I did find one mistake on Apple’s map, so I tried Google . . . they made the SAME mistake.
for the same reason 99% (or even 99.9%) uptime for an Internet service is very, very bad–out of one year, it can be expected to be down about 3.65 days.
So if say 1 million requests for unique map data are done in a day (eg none for the same thing), 99% accuracy means 10,000 of the results would be wrong in some way, some of them worse than others. I’m sure the number of actual daily unique requests is much higher.
Actually, it doesn’t mean that at all. You’d have to look at the concentration of the inaccurate data — if people aren’t searching for the things that are inaccurate, the 10,000 number would drop like a rock. Similarly, if what people are searching for the most are inaccurate entries, the number would rise significantly. Let’s put a grant request together to get funding from the federal government to look into this and live the next few years in luxury!
AS I said in another post, I run my own business and am always out at meetings and have used Apple maps since updating to IOS6.
Havent found any problems so far.
One trip I went on was to place in a village and it took me there, yess the map was inaccurate on this occasion so I tested it with Tom Tom and Google maps (in safari) and ALL 3 map apps make the SAME mistake,
So to conclude not all the errors are Apple’s alot of them are errors on the same database that all 3 are using.
So, a friend with a 4S screamed about how the Maps app could not find two locations he needed. Later he said he will pay less attention news reporting FUD, seems he completely misspelled the locations and assumed it was the App.
I have had no problem and much prefer Apple maps.
The old Google map app was broken, it didn’t give me voice turn-by-turn. I’m NEVER going back!
Good on apple taking responsibity and speaking the truth and trying hard to fix this map problem, unlike the others who would make excuses and blame others
Yes, Apple need to own this problem, and take direct responsibility for getting it right. Pogue’s NYT article sadly simply reports that they are passing error messages to their subcontractors (TomTom etc).
More seriously if Apple believe the application is better than 99% accurate they are living on the wrong planet. Certainly in my part of the UK (central London) although the underlying maps are good as far as roads are concerned almost 99% of the rest is missing (railways, underground etc) or wrong (location of points of interest) or out of date( many long closed locations, including museums).
The maps are almost pointless without the data: I prefer a paper atlas. We can wait for 2.0, and I am sure that as Apple users we are ready to help. But Apple need to own the whole problem, not merely pass error messages on. If necessary buy TomTom and Yelp, they have the spare change.
In response to your thought that Apple could just buy TomTom and Yelp… on the manufacturing side, Apple has created problems for competitors buy investing in the companies in return for preferential capacity agreements — wouldn’t it be fun if Apple was quietly doing the same thing on the mapping side, such that over time Google’s data got more and more stale? 🙂
I needed directions to a (large) conference center.
It’s completely absent, as are other landmarks nearby. I realized a few things:
1. 99% of the data may be ‘accurate’ but the data itself is woefully incomplete.
2. If you misspell a place name the app is dumb and cannot make corrections/suggestions.
Case in point: A search for Stevi B’s Pizza yields 7 results in this area. But the one I’m sure exists is not listed. So, search for Stevie B’s and you get another set of locations, mostly different!!
Other map apps say “do you mean…”
3. Zooming is hopeless as names of streets and landmarks disappear, leaving a page full of lines and empty spaces.
You “all this is FUD” people: Apple has $100b in the bank. The map app should have kicked Google’s *ss right out of the gate but has instead made Apple a laughingstock.
I travel all over and I rely on maps daily. They need to fix this fast.
So on my iPad 2, still running iOS 5.1, I opened the Maps app (Google) just now. It was still looking at the #iLost address from the other day. I used the “Search” feature to search for “KFC” — guess what it shows me? A KFC at 242 East 14th Street, 10003, with a notation: “Permanently closed” On street view it doesn’t look closed. And if you go to http://www.kfc.com/storelocator and give it the 10003 zip code, the first store listed (on a map by Bing, btw) is the one Google says is permanently closed.