“I’m not sure if you’re aware, but the launch of Apple Maps went poorly,” Matthew Panzarino reports for TechCrunch. “After a rough first impression, an apology from the CEO, several years of patching holes with data partnerships and some glimmers of light with long-awaited transit directions and improvements in business, parking and place data, Apple Maps is still not where it needs to be to be considered a world class service.”
“Maps needs fixing,” Panzarino reports. “Apple, it turns out, is aware of this, so It’s re-building the maps part of Maps.”
“It’s doing this by using first-party data gathered by iPhones with a privacy-first methodology and its own fleet of cars packed with sensors and cameras. The new product will launch in San Francisco and the Bay Area with the next iOS 12 Beta and will cover Northern California by fall,” Panzarino reports. “This is nothing less than a full re-set of Maps and it’s been 4 years in the making, which is when Apple began to develop its new data gathering systems. Eventually, Apple will no longer rely on third-party data to provide the basis for its maps, which has been one of its major pitfalls from the beginning.”
“There is only really one big company on earth who owns an entire map stack from the ground up: Google. Apple knew it needed to be the other one,” Panzarino reports. “In short: traffic, real-time road conditions, road systems, new construction and changes in pedestrian walkways are about to get a lot better in Apple Maps.”
Tons more in the full article – highly recommended – here.
MacDailyNews Take: Beyond the accuracy and detail of the data Apple’s obtained/onbtaining, the most impressive aspect is the level of privacy. Do please read the full article. You simply do not, not will you ever, get that from Google.
So, bottom line, as everyone knew from the get-go, or from Apple’s Maps launch, at least: It’s the data, stupid.
