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Apple Maps Gradually Winning Over Google Maps Users, Report Suggests

Even when I head over to my mums (approx 30 mins away), I always use Waze to get me there.

Not because I need directions, but I trust it the most to know what dramas are en route and take me the best way.
 
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Waze is still superior to the 2. I primarily use it for actual navigation around unfamiliar cities. But I 'll use Google Maps/Earth street view to get more detail to familiarize myself to a new location. Apple Maps I'll use if I"m too lazy to switch it and I asked Siri for directions somewhere, lol. Otherwise I still find Apple Maps lagging behind Waze/Google Maps.
 
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KeepCalmPeople said:
I definitely find Apple Maps on par or superior to Google Maps, and I have switched to it 95% of the time. I wish you could turn off the turn-by-turn navigation being mirrored on your watch when using Apple Maps in CarPlay. It doesn't make much sense to me.

Edit: Just found that there is a way to turn off the turn-by-turn notifications on the watch when using CarPlay:
Turn of turn-by-turn on Apple Watch
Click to expand...
I really like the Watch integration because one of our cars does not have CarPlay and using the phone screen for driving directions is useless and dangerous. The Watch turn notices give me just what I need.
 
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Just been checking my own house.

Google aerial imaging is very good and up to date. Apple is aerial imaging very good but about a year or so behind. (There is some building going on nearby which makes it easy to see.)

But Google roads are dreadful. About 15 years out of date for my actual house/road. My entire bit of road is missing - it should feed about 15 houses. And I can see the discrepancies between the aerial image and Google's own map!

Another bit of the road carries on about 100 yards where it doesn't, and never will, exist! Almost every day we get people (typically delivery drivers) thinking they can drive up that bit of road. We have to explain and they have to drive about a mile and a half to get where they want to go!

In the small image you can see a diagonal finger of road going over private driveway, garden and bare earth. (It's not obvious, but there is a 'cliff' of about 15 feet in height. And it ends in a lake - currently dry.) And the road in the bottom right is simply ignored.

Twice submitted corrections to Google - but no changes have been made.

1689886655653.png


Apple maps for this area are well within three metres/ten feet of spot on. Air tags, Find My, navigation - all absolutely right.
 
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Azzin said:
I think there’s a way of using Waze via a URL…
Click to expand...
There’s a way to get all of CarPlay up in a URL, so full access to every app that supports it. It’s kinda ugly, seeing the browser wrapper and all, but it lives. Just too many steps to really be worth it. I’m fine with their system, just a tiny bit of customization and selection would go a long way.
 
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I heard downloadable offline maps are coming in iOS17 - I'm on a cheap, low data plan so - that's a big hurdle finally overcome. The. the expansion of cycling routes in the UK would be my last reason not to delete google maps from the phone
 
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Is there any possibility that Apple will let us define an area round our houses within which Apple Maps just shuts up?

Once I am on the road before the road I live on, I really don't need any further directions!

Whether defined by specific roads, or being within a specific distance. Even knowing how often I'd driven that road previously!

(If there were major snarl up or accident, OK to advise us.)
 
polyphenol said:
Is there any possibility that Apple will let us define an area round our houses within which Apple Maps just shuts up?

Once I am on the road before the road I live on, I really don't need any further directions!

Whether defined by specific roads, or being within a specific distance. Even knowing how often I'd driven that road previously!

(If there were major snarl up or accident, OK to advise us.)
Click to expand...
Yes, I don’t need directions to tell me how to get out of my driveway. Most times, I only want voice instructions when I am within a mile or two of the destination.

There is an option to mute directions that is much easier to use now. Tape on the ”speaker” icon on the screen and choose mute, directions, or only alerts.

Most times, anymore, I just keep it on alert only. Then I get buzzes on my Watch to prepare for the next turn.
 
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Nosmo King said:
One of the problems with maps for me is when you start the route. The app is very slow and cannot find its orientation until you start driving, and then you realise you are driving in the wrong direction and I have to turn around. I don't understand why Aplple does not use the compass to help Maps find its start up orientation.
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I don’t think anyone does this. Sometimes I do delivery work through Amazon and UberEats and have this same issue.

Another user a couple posts down from yours mentioned this is the case on their Android phones also.

Your suggestion would certainly make more sense. Apple.com/feedback?
 
mjs916 said:
I don’t think anyone does this. Sometimes I do delivery work through Amazon and UberEats and have this same issue.

Another user a couple posts down from yours mentioned this is the case on their Android phones also.

Your suggestion would certainly make more sense. Apple.com/feedback?
Click to expand...
If I start up Maps, within effectively no time, it has placed me/my device on the map and oriented the lighthouse beam correctly - and found my parked car. The same on both IOS and iPadOS. If I turn, the lighthouse beam follows very closely (it is effectively instant).

1690301869582.png


The only issue I have is that my car will usually be on a private driveway and the routing won't start until I am on the public road. But that isn't a problem - unless I am on some private property that I really don't know. (Even then, most car parks are fine even if they are actually private property.)
 
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_Spinn_ said:
Apple Maps has been my only mapping app since 2020. It is quite good now.
Click to expand...
As part of my experiment to test out Apple Maps, I tried using it while on a work trip last week. When it showed me the location of a nonexistent Target and tried to direct me on a walking route along the side of a highway instead of side streets, I decided it still wasn't ready for primetime and went back to Google Maps. Considering I was in a pretty sizable American city, it was disappointing to say the least.
 
I primarily use Apple Maps with Google Maps as a back up, just in case. It works 9 times out of 10. If I go on road trips, I make sure to download the entire trip with offline maps. It'll be nice with iOS 17 when downloadable maps (finally) arrives.
 
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Tagbert said:
Fast company has a problem with the number of paid “placements” on Google Maps these days.

discussion:

Google Maps has become an eyesore | Hacker News

news.ycombinator.com news.ycombinator.com

article:
Click to expand...

Exactly my issue. Google Maps has become so cluttered with ads and paid placements that it makes it hard to read (and why do I need to know about local hotels when Google Maps knows I live 2 miles away and I'm looking for a route to a local business?), and I also agree with the complaint that it doesn't show all the road names.

That said, I still can't make the jump to Apple Maps. I tried again last month, and the same thing happened to me that was mentioned in the Fast Company article -- when I was away on a work trip and looking for a walking route to a local restaurant, Apple Maps decided the best walking route was down the breakdown lane of a multi-lane freeway rather than the surface streets with sidewalks. It also listed the same Target in two different locations. So back to Google Maps (and its clutter) I went....
 
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Personally, I find Apple Map generally better, I also find that Google maps provides more route opinions than Apple Maps.
 
Nosmo King said:
One of the problems with maps for me is when you start the route. The app is very slow and cannot find its orientation until you start driving, and then you realise you are driving in the wrong direction and I have to turn around. I don't understand why Aplple does not use the compass to help Maps find its start up orientation.
Click to expand...
Google does that to me too if I'm in a lot, so I don't know which way to turn out of it
 
I like Apple Maps for directions, public transport especially are superior, and some features like 3D flyover but in the UK at least street view is still limited to London and reviews are just non existent compared to Google, businesses are missing, opening times outdated etc. so end up jumping between the two. And given the user base and availability of Google I just can’t see Apple catching up when it comes to reviews.
 
newton4000 said:
Isn't just Waze just part of Google Maps by this point?
Click to expand...
When I drive and use CarPlay for directions I prefer Waze. But if I’m driving and have a map on the screen (not using directions) I prefer the look of Google maps with the streets in different colors for traffic volume.
 
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