> a majority of iOS users are in fact using Apple Maps.
That does not contradict the fact that many people install Google Maps. Reread my comments.
> Btw, you can trigger Google Maps with Siri by creating a simple shortcut and when you search for a place on google.
That does not make it work in all apps.
The app is crippled in iOS, yet people still go out of their way to use it to avoid the dumpster fire that is Apple Maps, many years after Apple Maps launched. If Apple Maps existed on Android, it would have barely any users at all, even though Apple Maps would have access to exactly the same APIs as Google Maps on Android. I'm sure Apple would like to have the traffic data that Android users could provide, but they understand that they can't get that data if nobody uses their app.
>Speaking as a developer and as someone who spends a lot of time configuring and using iPhones, this is is not surprising and indicative of nothing. The native Apple apps on iPhones have access to resources we as third party developer's can't touch, and integration with each other that no third party developer can even come close to matching unless we reinvent half the OS.
Not really relevant as the exact same situation (plus having to install it manually) didn't stop Google Maps be used more than Apple's in the first years of the Apple Maps service.
There's also this: somehow Google Maps keeps getting worse. Even on the Desktop version with the horrible redesign, but also the iOS app after they split it with Apple was horrible (it couldn't even zoom at the level you wanted reliably).
I thought the same thing till I bought my new car recently and started using Maps due to Carplay. It has MASSIVELY improved since launch. In fact, my wife is an Android user and we will compare them regularly on trips and in many case Apple Maps will cover parts of the route that Google Maps will not. An example is gated communities, Google Maps usually ends at the gate, Apple Maps will route to the house.
I think Google Maps has better traffic data (but that’s thanks to buying Waze), but Apple Maps has better routing. Google Maps has more up to date POI data, but Apple Maps is not far behind. Try it again and see, you still may be prefer Google Maps but it’s not the night and day difference between the two it once was.
> Apple Maps is so bad that people go out of their way to install another map app
That used to be the case, but they’ve rapidly improved while Google Maps on iOS has mostly stagnated. There’s feature in Apple Maps on iOS 13 that I find useful that nobody else has even.
>... whether Apple Maps or Google Maps is better depends on where you are and what data you're trying to find.
I've given Apple Maps several chances to delight me since 2012 and have submitted multiple bug reports and feature requests. While the product has improved significantly, it needs a few years of development to match the current offerings from Google. The inaccuracies in the search results for local businesses/parks/points of interest is unacceptable and should be a priority for the Maps team if Apple has any intention of feeding data into a device that will take humans from point A -? B -? C. Also, not being able to create waypoints/multi-leg routes is simply unacceptable in 2016. For most Apple Maps users, I suspect it takes only one shitty search result page for them to give up and use Google Maps.
There are some deep, systemic issues that Apple needs to address:
1) The accuracy and freshness of their data
2) The ability to return fast, intelligent search results from their data
3) Siri's ability to understand user intention when being asked for location data and directions
I'm rooting for Apple, I really am - It just seems that they are having a rough time catching the tailwinds of Google.
Something is showing Apple that it is broken. I am betting it is user rates. Google has taken over iPhones for so much of it and I am sure they don't like the fact that Google Maps are used more then Apple Maps.
On my imperical evidence side, my daughter uses Apple Maps and I can tell you it gives back mapping when we are less then an hour away but more then 20 minutes. For example the way i drive isn't on Apple Maps and it adds 5 minutes to the trip and Google Maps has the trip 5 minutes faster. I don't know if Google is getting that data from my driving or from better algorithms but it has happened for then a few times.
>I really want to use Apple Maps full time on my iPhone, just because of how much clutter Google Maps has accumulated on the screen.
Apple Maps UI: A big map, with a search bar at the bottom. Simple and nothing but the essentials.
Google Maps UI: A page full of ads, a map full of ads and ads masquerading as recommendations. Plus five tab bar buttons at the bottom to not accomplish very much.
I've switched to Apple Maps simply because of its better UX and how much easier the app is to use. As far as I can tell, their mapping and navigational data in Canada is every bit as good as Google's. The only thing keeping Google Maps on my phone is their superior reviews. Once Apple replaces Yelp reviews, I'll jettison the Google Maps app into the sun.
>Leave it to Gruber to try to spin this pro-Apple: "This iOS 6 mapping saga has been a source of tremendous controversy, but here we are three months after iOS 6 was released and iPhone users now have a better Google Maps experience than they did when Google was providing the back-end data for the built-in Maps app. It all worked out."
But it's true. In iOS 5 I had Google Maps but no vector tiles, no turn-by-turn or voice navigation, and Apple tried to get Google to work with them on that but (regardless of whose fault it was) negotiations failed. Now, here we are, and as an iPhone user I now have a Google Maps that not only has those features but is arguably, currently, better than the Android version(!)
Furthermore, there's now been an explosion of map apps on the app store: Nokia's Here, Waze, etc. Competition is good. In iOS 5, there weren't viable alternatives (or they weren't advertised?), but now I have four good map apps on my phone. And when one of them fails, and it will (even Google, which was useless for me when I visited Japan recently) I now have several alternatives. As a user, for me, it's a win win.
> Google Maps probably has MUCH better worldwide coverage. Which means that Apple Maps is useless in large parts of the world.
But that is not a major disadvantage for everyone. It’s a disadvantage in those areas only. Same app version might work great for me, but not for someone else. I wonder if they specifically target improved coverage in areas with most iPhone customers?
It's pretty good in most places and straight up terrible in others. Google maps tends to have higher lows even though there definitely are cases when Apple's highs are actually higher. But you have to remember: users are using this for going to new places. They don't know they're getting the lowest of the low quality results until it's too late. After a few times getting burned, most people just give up on it which means their most recent impression of it is probably post-failure where-the-fuck-am-I panic.
>What would it take for that impression to go away?
Raise those lows up. I almost think it'd be better for it actually give up and say "I don't know" instead of possibly routing users incorrectly. Users will still think it sucks but they won't be stressed out about the sucky-ness and might be willing to try it again later. From my experience, Siri is a good example of this. It's probably the worst "assistant" out there but it's pretty good about knowing when to give up so users can just Google something.
It goes both ways. There's a possibility that this is a gambit from Google, either to cripple iOS in favor of Android or to simply extort higher fees for Google Maps.
I think the software user experience of iOS Maps is actually better than Google Maps, from the visual design of the maps to the 3D flyover mode to the turn-by-turn directions. The problem is the data. We've seen Apple underestimate how hard some problem are before--MobileMe was Apple underestimating how hard cloud stuff is, Ping was Apple underestimating social. I think Apple just underestimated the problem of map data.
The good news is, the data problem actually can be solved with cash. Design and software problems can't.
> I don't understand why the Apple Maps team has been so slow on features
Have they ? Every major iOS update has major updates to the Maps app.
It is slowly bridging the gap with Google Maps and the issues are still mainly with POIs which Apple arguably can never fix. Unless of course they do their own Street View and invent their own captcha system.
>> Honestly, I think Apple is wasting resources at competing with other companies by providing mediocre solutions.
The fact that Apple Maps exists forces Google to dedicate resources towards keeping Google Maps decent on Apple's platform. Competition is good, even if you don't use the competing product.
> If the iPhone did not have [...] Google Maps then less people would buy iPhones
Google tried that, that’s why Apple built Apple Maps. If the iPhone did not have Google Maps less people would use Google Maps. That’s why Google makes it available.
That does not contradict the fact that many people install Google Maps. Reread my comments.
> Btw, you can trigger Google Maps with Siri by creating a simple shortcut and when you search for a place on google.
That does not make it work in all apps.
The app is crippled in iOS, yet people still go out of their way to use it to avoid the dumpster fire that is Apple Maps, many years after Apple Maps launched. If Apple Maps existed on Android, it would have barely any users at all, even though Apple Maps would have access to exactly the same APIs as Google Maps on Android. I'm sure Apple would like to have the traffic data that Android users could provide, but they understand that they can't get that data if nobody uses their app.
reply