Apple Maps Gradually Winning Over Google Maps Users, Report Suggests

[ericg301]

recently went to NYC for a week - for the first time in 20 years. i was told to download apps like CityMapper and a couple others that I cant remember to navigate the subway system....but I used Apple maps instead. it worked great! we never got lost. and having it on my wrist made navigating the city by foot a lot easier too.

but by car, it's waze all the way. just the past weekend I ran waze and google maps side by side (on an android phone) and waze has so many more reports of speed traps and stalled vehicles than google maps — even though they are supposed to share data. i'd say for every 5 reports on waze, google maps only had one to show.

 

[5105973]

I switch between Google and Apple but use Apple because generally it will refer to roads by their names rather than highway number which not everyone uses where I live. I wish both maps would use name and number because some signage is according to name and some is according to number. When it comes time to make your turn to get on the road you won’t necessarily see the number. Sometimes you won’t see the local name.

I love the Apple Maps works in tandem with my Apple Watch to alert me ahead of times to lane changes and turns coming up because sometimes my teenaged passengers can be a bit noisy so I appreciate the haptic alerts.

 

[jgreg728]

I think Apple needs to take a break on adding new features to Maps, and focus on getting MORE COVERAGE for its existing features. When in areas where ALL of Apple Maps features are supported, its milesss better than Google Maps to use. The problem is that there are still too many areas where features like 3D Maps, Look Around, detailed road/lane imagery, and “new Maps” in general aren’t supported yet. The entirety of the US should have Look Around and detailed roads set by now that every least, but so far it’s still limited to the few major cities. If Apple REALLY wants to upend Google Maps, it should focus on feature coverage over anything else now.

 

[spunkybart]

Haters?? Critics of apple maps had good reasons... especially in the first few years where it was trash.

On the first release? Yea, it was very bad. But I have used both lately and I prefer the Apple experience.

 

[TL24]

Why Apple doesn’t allow Maps to run at 120hz at all times is beyond me.

 

[sebacote]

I was using Google Maps exclusively since I've had an iPhone. Last year, around this time, I bought a new car who has wired CarPlay (my first car with CarPlay ever). I wanted it wireless, so I bought a wireless CarPlay adapter (Carlinkit 3.0 mini to be exact). The problem with those dongles is any 3rd party map app are lagging a couple of secs, something you can't afford on a map app... so I use Apple Maps since, and after a whole year, I must say the app is growing on me. I still uses Google Maps on my phone from time to time, but switching slowly.

 

[Martyimac]

I've literally never once in 15+ years of owning a smartphone needed to use a downloaded map.

I hadn't either, until I stupidly hurried to catch my ride and forgot my phone. Imagine being in a place you have never been, to meet folks whose address/phone is on your cell phone. You will be stunned by the fact that nobody has paper mags any more so you have to go to a store that sells them and buy one. And don't forget, you don't have your contacts info with you either.

 

[coolfactor]

I’m no hater, but Apple maps still has a ways to go before matching Google maps accuracy & efficiency.

That's an over-generalization. For example, Apple Maps works much better for us (in Vancouver, BC, Canada) than Google Maps. Google does have the edge of knowing about some places better, but the navigation can be frustrating, with the voice prompts just not working, or coming late. Apple Maps has been a superior experience for the past few years, for us. Google Maps can have smarter routing, with Apple Maps choosing U-Turn routes, particularly telling us to take a u-turn at intersections, which is not legal here.

 

[coolfactor]

Why is nobody talking about Waze for navigation?

For me it’s the number one tool by a mile. Google Maps has always been terrible for driving, but excellent for walking.

Apple Maps is just unnecessary and was never developed in the interest of the consumer.

iPhones used to ship with Google as the default maps until Apple got sad that Android was invented and decided to come up with what was the worst alternative in history, which they then integrated as the default maps for things like Calendar

That is so far off from reality for most people. You seem to be living in a bubble. Give Apple Maps another try, with an open mind.

 

[coolfactor]

Apple Maps has guided me into One-Way streets, into private ways and into areas from where i couldnt reach my destination for the simple fact, that the roads it showed dont exist.

On the other hand Apple doesnt know the street i live in, its simply not there yet.


So no, i am not a hater, i am just a normal user who made the experience that Google Maps is far more reliable.

Far more reliable .... "for your area". That's an important piece of context.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Why is nobody talking about Waze for navigation?

For me it’s the number one tool by a mile. Google Maps has always been terrible for driving, but excellent for walking.

Apple Maps is just unnecessary and was never developed in the interest of the consumer.

iPhones used to ship with Google as the default maps until Apple got sad that Android was invented and decided to come up with what was the worst alternative in history, which they then integrated as the default maps for things like Calendar

I use Waze too.

The original Google Maps that shipped with iPhone wasn't a navigation map and couldn't be used for that without a jailbreak. It let you look and pan around, and it shows you as a dot, but it didn't have turn-by-turn.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Apple Maps is a far easier solution (both to use and to view) so it’s my go-to for navigation. The only issue I’ve had with it is when roads change, Apple has “Tended” to be behind-the-times by weeks/months compared to Google, so when we’ve had major road changes locally I’ve switched to Google for a while in order to get that benefit. Last big change I recall was when a bypass was completed around a year ago; I’ve been back on Apple Maps for at least 9-10 months and don’t recall the last time I had to use Google. Hopefully Apple is a little quicker at changes now.

 

[jarman92]

Apple Maps is just unnecessary and was never developed in the interest of the consumer.

iPhones used to ship with Google as the default maps until Apple got sad that Android was invented and decided to come up with what was the worst alternative in history, which they then integrated as the default maps for things like Calendar

This is so far from accurate I wonder how you even came up with it...

 

[JtheLemur]

Apple Maps is still terrible at doing “nearby” searching. That is: find a place, then do another search while centered on that place, to find things near to that place.

Google Maps does this well on mobile, and *super* well on desktop where there is a dedicated “nearby” button.

Apple Maps will constantly zoom all the way out and show me an entirely contextless new search. And now I have no idea how far any of these results are from the place I was just looking at.

 

[npmacuser5]

The tapping Apple Watch a winner Google cannot duplicate. 👍

 

[WarmWinterHat]

The tapping Apple Watch a winner Google cannot duplicate. 👍

You like that? I always keep it disabled because it makes me want to look at my watch every time I get a tap.

 

[Lee_Bo]

I jumped on the iOS 17 beta train since it was introducing offline Apple Maps. So far it’s worked pretty good.

Google is still more detailed, but I think Apple is working on it.

 

[JamesHolden]

Haters?? Critics of apple maps had good reasons... especially in the first few years where it was trash.

It's still pretty poor. Just a few months ago I was driving back to northern California from Boise, Idaho and wanted to visit a remote little town in northern Nevada on the way. Apple Maps gave me a ridiculous route that had me driving two hours south, then backtracking two hours north. Google Maps identified an unpaved rural route that got me there in under an hour.

I frequently have experiences like this with Apple Maps. I think Apple Maps is fine in big cities and the suburbs, but it's quite lousy in less populated areas. I do prefer the Apple Maps UI overall, but the frequent routing errors are a deal-breaker for me. I just don't trust Apple Maps. I've had too many experiences where it has given me poor directions and wasted my time. I never have such issues with Google Maps, which is why I stick with Google.

I also really like Waze for road trips. Better than a radar detector!

 

[danny_w]

I was one of the haters the first few years but for the last 2 years or more I have been using Apple Maps almost exclusively. It has gotten so much better in most places where I need it, and both my wife and I really appreciate the heads up about where to turn (not at this light but at the next light turn left…). It is still more difficult to change some options than with Google Maps but I rarely do that anyway. And of course the integration with CarPlay is a winner.

 

[JitteryJimmy]

For me, the Apple Geocoder API seems to be the major problem with Apple Maps.

If I give Apple a complete and correct street address that it gave to me, the Geocoder API can "fix" the address to a similar-but-wrong address.

This means when I say "give me directions home", the Geocoder can give me directions to a very wrong location.

If I live on Oak Street in Happyville, it might take me to Oak Avenue in Happyville. If I am near Smithtown, it might take me to Oak Street in Smithtown ... all despite my correct, unambiguous, and fully qualified home address.

Maps is great when the Geocoder does the right thing. The Apple geocoder service is the problem.

 

[MysteriousStain]

Apple for navigating as the interface is so clean and the vocal instructions are pleasant and helpful. Google for finding businesses and park trails.

 

[tripsync]

Hmmm….I think Apple Maps was worse than trash I mean type in London and it dropped a pin somewhere in the USA was the level of inaccuracy. I seemed to recall it said that Manchester, England had no football clubs and only 3 pubs….

Early days of Google Maps, I recall typing in "Tokyo" and it showed me little tokyo in Los Angeles.

Apple is not worse, IMO.

 

[ethanwa79]

Waze is the best, simply because of all of the speed trap warnings, object on road, car disabled, crash reports, etc that come in from its highly user-driven data.

That stuff is super important to me.

 

[Milagroson]

Like iMsgs, Apple Maps only works well in US. I find it that I only use it there. I like the way that it uses traffic lights as points of reference. In my country, it never does it, it's inaccurate and Waze still wins hands down.

Depends on case usage, my buddy was in Tel Aviv and he said it was great for navigating around town.

 

[3xBoom]

I'll take Maps with its remaining "issues" over The Google Police and its clutter any day of the week.