Is there any reason to switch to iOS 11 Apple maps?

[mattopotamus]

What’s the advantage of CarPlay + Apple Maps? I don’t use maps often but when I have to I prefer Waze as it allows real time 3rd person perspective even while not using navigation.

Just the fact it is built into your cars screen, and it is the easiest thing to use on an iPhone. IOS 11 has really good features like lane assistance (tells you what lane to be in). If you have CarPlay and an iPhone, apple apps is the only option. It is not that it is anything special, but it is a lot better than it was a year ago.

 

[MozMan68]

Same question here. Besides, Waze runs on both Android and iOS devices, so you have a much bigger pool of data.

But almost every person who owns an iPhone is already submitting traffic data whether they know it or not....

 

[LarryJoe33]

With regard to Waze, I tried it and used it for a while. When iOS 10 came out I switched to Apple Maps for it's integration that I already noted as well as the ability to use it with Siri. I use Siri a ton while driving.

The ONLY thing I miss with Waze is police officer notification. As far as I can tell, Apple Maps is just as good as Waze with navigation, traffic and routes. My girlfriend always launches Waze after I start an Apple Map route to see if it jives. It always does or is better.

I doubt the Cop thing will be included ever. It requires you to use your phone while driving. Apple is not going to promote this (unless Siri can do it??) given the new "I can't text I am driving" functionality.

 

[dBeats]

I think Apple Maps in iOS 11 is much better. Lane guidance, better route optimization in route, ability to see alternate routes with similar etas without bothering you about it. I've been using apple maps since it came out. Honestly I never had so many issue with it, not like google was perfect either. I tried Waze for a while but then I realized I'm driving distracted all the time trying to get points for pointing out a piece of wood on the side of the road. It's just not safe.

Apple has hit the nail on the balance between features, ease of use, and integration. If I'm motorcycling and need more waypoint features, I used inRoute (which uses the Apple maps engine under the covers). It's a great 3rd party app for road trips and such.

 

[one more]

But almost every person who owns an iPhone is already submitting traffic data whether they know it or not....

Sure, but we are still talking about a much larger traffic data pool for Waze due to its dual iOS & Android model. Also, ironically, despite Apple Maps supposedly knowing my location at all times, it still takes it about 12-14 seconds to calculate a route for me, whereas Waze crunches the same exact route in 2 seconds. Go figure.

 

[LarryJoe33]

Sure, but we are still talking about a much larger traffic data pool for Waze due to its dual iOS & Android model. Also, ironically, despite Apple Maps supposedly knowing my location at all times, it still takes it about 12-14 seconds to calculate a route for me, whereas Waze crunches the same exact route in 2 seconds. Go figure.

Yeah, I second that. Apple Maps can sometimes take an annoying amount of time to calculate a route. Waze is faster but I still prefer Apple Maps. It seems just as accurate as Waze bigger data pool or not.

I bet the ratio of Apple to Android phones is 10 to 1. No science here, just an eye ball test. I don't know anyone who uses and android device based on the circles I run in.

 

[MozMan68]

Apple routes for me just as fast as Waze...

 

[one more]

Apple routes for me just as fast as Waze...

It's probably because Apple covers your "Right here..." area well. Venturing out might produce a different result.

 

[IGI2]

It shows the info in a much better way than Google Maps if you're using public transportation.

Exactly, I use Apple Maps in London and it was just a pure pleasure. Everything was so clearly indicated.
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Everyone that advocates Apple Maps over Google Maps, do you rely on Apple Maps when you need to be somewhere at a specific time? I find that Apple Maps never has an accurate ETA when the route is first entered. With Google Maps it already accounts for delays with delays, traffic, accidents etc.

Does anyone else notice this? I'd love to use Apple Maps exclusively but don't find it as reliable as Google Maps when it comes to efficient routing and accurate ETAs.

Inaccurate ETA? ETAs in my country are super accurate. Friends and family are laughing that when I tell them the time of my arrival, for example: 22:34, I'm really, 22:34 on their driveway.
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I think it's depends on how much iOS devices in that area. On the other hand , Google use location from android device to calculate ETA so they have much more data than Apple does.

Apple gathers data from TomTom, so no go and check how many TomToms are there and they are used by professionals, truck drivers, and in many cheaper devices, and they are strictly about driving. Who cares if there are millions of Androids, when they are possessed by pedestrians walking 4 km/h. It's about active navigation. TomTom tracks important roads with satellites as well so there can be no TomTom device and no Apple device on that road but Apple Maps will still know about that traffic ahead.

 

[MozMan68]

It's probably because Apple covers your "Right here..." area well. Venturing out might produce a different result.

I have been using it outside of my normal area quite extensively and have not noticed a difference...always extremely fast routing.

My issue is still with POI's....and probably always will be until they update.

 

[IGI2]

My issue is still with POI's....and probably always will be until they update.

Exactly! POIs are still horribly bad organized.

Searching for them, lack of them, the lack of flexibility. Sometimes you don't know the correct spelling and Google Maps has your back, but with Apple you sometimes need to google it first

 

[throAU]

I used google maps for awhile when it came out and enjoyed it for what it was. Then I tried google maps and was shocked at how good it was and haven't used Apple maps since. Are there any reasons to switch back to Apple maps when the big update comes?

I see if I open Apple maps now on my phone I still can't arrange my favorite locations or have folders for them. That seems so basic to have. I hope this has changed

The main reasons I use apple maps instead of Google maps are the integration with everything else i own. The mac, the iphone, the watch, Siri, etc. e.g., a common apple maps use case is "hey siri, take me home" from whatever random location i may be at.

I guess it depends on how entrenched you are in the Apple ecosystem. If you're only dealing with 1 device, or don't do much cross-device stuff then use whatever works for you.

But if you do have multiple Apple devices then handoff between them for Apple maps tends to work pretty well. If you use calendar appointments with travel time then you're using Apple maps perhaps without even realising it.

I haven't had any real problems with Apple Maps accuracy for a few years now. Certainly no more issues than i ever had with Google maps when i used that. I wouldn't say it's perfect, but Google never was either.

I suspect your experience with accuracy, etc. may depend on where you live. Personally i've noticed no major difference in accuracy between the two in recent years.

Certainly when Apple maps was first announced, things were different. But as of late... no major complaints.

 

[Dwalls90]

I'm not convinced Apple Maps is as good as Waze, or will reach that point by iOS 11.

There are a few things Google still schools Apple on, IMO:

- Maps
- Mail
- Messaging (across platforms, thanks to browser based messaging)

 

[MozMan68]

And I should clarify, my POI issue is with the parsing of them....I described it above somewhere from my 750 mile trip last week.

Searching for poi's that I know the name of has actually been pretty damn good. Can't think of the last time it didn't find what I was looking for.

 

[Arndroid]

I think it's depends on how much iOS devices in that area. On the other hand , Google use location from android device to calculate ETA so they have much more data than Apple does.

Yeah but that includes people in janky arsed cars and homeless people walking in circles so that increased dataset is not necessarily better.

 

[LarryJoe33]

Yeah but that includes people in janky arsed cars and homeless people walking in circles so that increased dataset is not necessarily better.

So you are implying that "people in janky arsed cars and homeless people" use andriod devices? Oh boy....

 

[Arni99]

Is there something I'm missing or like...how do you organize your favorite places?

I just scroll through my favorites list in CarPlay by pressing the heart symbol in the top right corner. This list of about 30 favorites can’t be edited to my knowledge in terms of what is on top.
You create a favorite by choosing your destination and scrolling down. Then just tap the heart symbol. Done.

 

[RadioGaGa1984]

Is there something I'm missing or like...how do you organize your favorite places?

Personally I don't find it useful or necessary to organize favorite places in a maps app. If it's that much of a favorite I know how to get there.

 

[Tom G.]

Back in the early days of iPhones I downloaded the Tom-Tom Navigator (partially because of its name, ) and found it to be a mostly great app to use. (In those days you had to pay a very exorbitant price for it.) The only complaint I had was that, to my mind, it asked questions backwards. At least once it led me to exit a highway that was becoming a toll road into a rather bad part of a city that I was not familiar with because I incorrectly answered its question about whether or not I wanted to use the toll road. (I did because the toll was not that great and I wasn't going to be on it that long.) I especially liked the speed limit feature which I think saved me a ticket or two. I found that feature to be very accurate adjusting just as I went past the sign designating the new limit. I was very glad that Apple began using this app in their maps app.

I also downloaded Waze but never got the hang of using it, I felt that it was not all that user friendly. The basic idea was sound but it was too complicated to use especially while driving.

With these two apps combined into Apple Maps and schmoozed by Apple's software engineers I think that Apple has hit a home run. It may not be perfect yet but it is very very good and I not only use it whenever I can but recommend whenever asked.

Apple and Google have had a good competition going on in their maps apps and sometimes one or the other is better. Right now I think that Apple has the lead and will for the immediate future.

 

[IGI2]

Right now I think that Apple has the lead and will for the immediate future.

You should have this sentence at the top...

 

[MozMan68]

Personally I don't find it useful or necessary to organize favorite places in a maps app. If it's that much of a favorite I know how to get there.

It's not about knowing how to get there, it's about traffic and re-directing if necessary (and in the case of Waze, police, things in the road, cars on the shoulder, etc.)

I certainly know how to drive the 37 mile commute to work and back to my house every day, but that doesn't mean I don't use a mapping program to alert me to traffic or other issues that may change my normal route.

 

[RadioGaGa1984]

It's not about knowing how to get there, it's about traffic and re-directing if necessary (and in the case of Waze, police, things in the road, cars on the shoulder, etc.)

I certainly know how to drive the 37 mile commute to work and back to my house every day, but that doesn't mean I don't use a mapping program to alert me to traffic or other issues that may change my normal route.

I guess I just don't use a map app for that stuff. I don't worry about it. It is what it is.

 

[PeLaNo]

Yeah but that includes people in janky arsed cars and homeless people walking in circles so that increased dataset is not necessarily better.

I don't think so. They can use speed to differentiate walking from driving.

 

[MozMan68]

I guess I just don't use a map app for that stuff. I don't worry about it. It is what it is.

Another great example just yesterday....so, I've been using Maps all the time just to see what happens (really annoys my wife...hearing the voice). We were heading to a tenns shop that I've been to a hundred times...about 12 minutes away.

When I looked it up in Maps, it came right up...the standard route SEEMED to be the one I would normally take...just did a quick glance of the overview map and hit "go".

A third of the way into the trip, it has me turn right onto a street that is parallel to the one I would typically take...wasn't a re-route...it was just the way Maps wanted to go. So, I followed it. When I turned left onto the main road the tennis shop is on, I eventually passed the street I would normally take. And wouldn't you know...they were paving the street and only one lane was open...and traffic was backed up a long distance.

Apple Maps obviously knew this and took me on a better route...so...again, traffic alone is a good reason to use it, and this is actually what drove the development and success of Waze as a mapping app.

 

[one more]

I have just taken AM on iOS 11 PB3 for a ride on a familiar route of about 130 km (80 miles) through South-East of France. The UI looks sleeker and transitions much smoother than those in iOS 10, so big thumbs up for the esthetics. However, the underlying data is still poor: it is still showing a wrong road layout that had been changed about 4 months ago, no lane guidance and no speed limits. I understand that the last two features might be enabled later on, but still cannot rely on it due to the road layout mishaps, which was reported by me several times via AM & TomTom app about three months ago. So I am sticking with Waze for the time being and will check AM again after the iOS 11 official release in the autumn.