Apple Maps UK - Ramp Up / Recent Changes

[AaronG123]

Hi All, I have been monitoring the Apple Maps service closely over the last few days in particular Transit within the UK.

It looks like Apple are putting a large amount of effort into this side of Apple Maps, not only in key cities or London but across the UK (mostly south at the moment). It looks like we might be in for a surprise with Transit being broader then just 'London' as per the usual Apple way.

These are the changes Ive noticed -

Country wide bus stops are now showing on the Maps:

New Apple Data Provider's Noticed (which has yet to be updated in the source of providers within apple maps):

Mega bus

First bus

National express

Rail Air

Albelio in Surrey

Green line

Carousel

Looks like more are actively being added too.

Train Stations in the UK have all started being drawn up with mapped out entrances:

Live Data for buses (specifically) is being displayed outside of London:

Upon Searching for a Station, the Apple search results already automatically know which train providers serve said station (e.g. South West Trains & First Great Western):

These improvements are extremely exciting news in particular for myself (a commuter) and are pointing to the Apple Maps that should have been, what with POI's more accurate then ever now using Trip adviser, Yell, Booking etc. Next stop (excuse the pun), Indoor Mapping, a equivalent of Streetview & HD Satellite imagery (this is very poor in the UK).

Could this be a final ramp up towards the iOS 9 GM release?

 

[Jakeycov]

Nice write up. This is great news. I have also noticed that they are now very fast at making changes requested. So it's always great to send a quick note about closed shops etc. they fixed one in my town in a couple of days.

 

[AaronG123]

Nice write up. This is great news. I have also noticed that they are now very fast at making changes requested. So it's always great to send a quick note about closed shops etc. they fixed one in my town in a couple of days.

Thanks - Ive found updates to be quicker then before, however still been a couple of weeks to see changes usually. Although Ive found less things to report due to the sheer accuracy now using more reliable sources I guess.

 

[GreyOS]

yeah nice write up. bus stops are in Bristol now. looking forward to further developments outside of London

 

[TwoBytes]

Does it go the extra mile and let you know the platform number for trains?

 

[AaronG123]

Does it go the extra mile and let you know the platform number for trains?

Nope, I haven't seen this yet - very much hoping it will be implements as its much needed at larger stations!

 

[0003462]

This is really exciting.

Just took a look: my local bus stops in rural Scotland have been added. No information other than the name of the stop and direction of travel, but it's very promising.

 

[bigchrisfgb]

Could anyone check to see if bus/Metro information in Newcastle is working please.

 

[AaronG123]

Could anyone check to see if bus/Metro information in Newcastle is working please.

Only showing bus stops & train stations at the moment, no live times, nor Station outlines/entrances mapped out.
Have noticed that the whole area's buildings outlines have been mapped out (noticed the same for oxford & southampton) not sure if this means 3D mapping is coming?

 

[bigchrisfgb]

Only showing bus stops & train stations at the moment, no live times, nor Station outlines/entrances mapped out.
Have noticed that the whole area's buildings outlines have been mapped out (noticed the same for oxford & southampton) not sure if this means 3D mapping is coming?

Thanks.
I guess it will take time to come here, London, Manchester, Birmingham etc will all come first.

 

[KaPOWitsCHRIS]

I can confirm bus stops in Coventry are there and for the most part accurate.

 

[seble]

Looking forward to seeing what's in store for my uni town!

 

[nickhutson]

Don't know why they just didn't buy CityMapper and be done with it.

 

[AaronG123]

Well there doesn't seem to be any further improvements on the Maps UK Transit front, lets just hope Apple will push out more data/live data along with tomorrows GM...

 

[TwoBytes]

I've been trying maps on El Cap and it's a disaster. I thought they learned from the maps fiasco? The routing is really off. Agree- should of bought the brilliant city mapper.

 

[iGeek2014]

Slightly off topic but am on iOS 9 PB 3 and used AP at Tesco Metro in Kensington today.

The i next to the recorded transaction brings up the stores details and also mentions AP as mentioned in the keynote.

 

[TwoBytes]

I thought apple had street cars all over. Things look the same to me

 

[sb742]

I like how it tells you which numbered exit to take out of a tube station when changing at ground level or where you have a transit plus walk journey. I've only just noticed this recently but perhaps it was there from the start.

 

[nickhutson]

I dislike the way the live bus times are very hard to find once you've chosen your route.

Work needs to be done on this.

 

[TwoBytes]

missing roads still. What happened to all of the London street cars sweeping through the city? Maybe there were out for doughnuts because nothing has changed I can see..

 

[TwoBytes]

So iOS 9 is live, the maps app is updated but has anyone spotted anything different?
To me, all the roads looks the same, same mistakes, same bad info, all outdated etc.
What happened to all the streetcars roaming the city?

 

[AaronG123]

So iOS 9 is live, the maps app is updated but has anyone spotted anything different?
To me, all the roads looks the same, same mistakes, same bad info, all outdated etc.
What happened to all the streetcars roaming the city?

They are still roaming the city & recording streets - most likely to be released with iOS 10.

 

[AaronG123]

I haven't seen too much happening in the Apple Maps UK front recently. There have been a few changes I have noticed locally however -

Train Station Entrances & Exits (outside of London) have been removed [As per original post, these had been all mapped out with a red dot]
Train station Layouts (in red) are now more defined in shape and more accurate
Train Station Layouts in some cases are in 3D, even when the city or town is not yet in 3D
When searching for a train station, the rail provider/s no longer appear

On a side note, in my local area at least a LOT of rogue POI's have appeared - for example a Boots located at a school (with all proper listing & Apple Pay logo) but just in totally in the wrong place.

Anybody else notice any significant changes recently?

 

[daijholt]

Have to say I'm also impressed by the rate of improvement in Apple Maps. Reported a Pizza Hut near me on the map that has never actually existed, and a post office that has since closed, and it was fixed within 3 days (and they notified me through the app that it was done).

Reported multiple issues to Google maps and no reply, plus no change on the map weeks later. I guess people looking for my local church will have to use faith to find it after G Maps sends them a quarter of a mile in the wrong direction.

 

[magicMac]

Now seeing all three major train stations in Milton Keynes in 3D with platform info. Unfortunately no train times coming in from national rail data yet, but looks like this will be happening soon.