The iOS 11 Maps Thread

[stevemiller]

That analogy would be direct if the user was deciding to use TomTom or Garmin or whatever inside the map app. Like the user can decide which email to use inside the Mail app. But that's not a user choice within Apple Maps.

And Apple is certainly a powerful enough company to press for more consistent updates if they seriously wanted to.

agreed. apple determines the data provider for their bundled mapping app, and originally they were using google's data. so if the app now has less robust data as a result of using a different provider, it most definitely reflects on apple. even if google was being ****** and difficult, as the end user, either they are serving me the best data available or they aren't.

that said, at least around me I don't tend to see a clear "better" or "worse" when comparing apple and google map results. and living in a large city centre, honestly every gps app tends to suck at actually figuring out good routes with all the traffic chaos.

 

[Cpives]

Here's an experience I had with Maps about three years ago.

I do about 2 - 2500 miles a week most weeks of the year and I used to use a top of the range TomTom. One day I had my iPhone and iPad with me, so I decided to do an experiment. I plugged the same route on Apple maps on my phone, Google maps on my iPad, and then on my TomTom.

Google and the TomTom both said about six miles, the iPhone said sixteen. So I followed the TomTom, whose route was the same as Google maps. It took me to within 20 metres of my destination alright, but between me and it was a river. My destination was literally on the riverbank on the other side. Now, this river had been there for millennia, it hadn't just appeared overnight. The Romans knew about it, being as it was in Colchester, the oldest recorded town in Britain. Apple maps knew about it and knew I couldn't cross there, so took me to a route via the nearest bridge.

I don't use the TomTom anymore, I use CarPlay and allow maps or Navmii when there's no internet connection, which is a rarity these days. But the other week I had to do exactly the same route. Google maps STILL wanted to take me across the river.

 

[joesegh]

Just thought I'd share this, because I've seen it mentioned in approximately zero iOS 11 reviews: the new labeling system for cities is MUCH better. It uses Title Case (instead of ALL CAPS) at the higher zoom levels, making place names significantly easier to read and unobtrusive. The place labeling is much better in general in this version of Maps.

Further, in CarPlay, Apple appears to have updated the algorithm for which street names to display and at what font sizes (when in Overview mode of a route specifically). In the case of significant street names, it appears to more closely match up with Google Maps, and makes orienting yourself in a place and its major roads much easier. Also, not sure I like it, but in CarPlay it will also render 3D building shapes for cities that have them.

That said, I found the lane guidance to be a bit flawed on my drive last night. Getting off of the Goethals Bridge heading in to New Jersey, it told me to be in the right lane in 0.5 miles to get on the NJ Turnpike South. If I was new to the area, that would certainly confuse me as I had to bear left twice at two road splits prior to having to bear right (for those familiar with the area, even though this is a construction zone, this is the way the road has been set up for as long as I can remember).

My hopes for the near-term iterations of Maps:

• Continue to add more data to the new iOS 11 features like indoor, lane data, and speed limits (none of the NYC-area airports have indoor maps!)
• Shamelessly steal the "popular locations" shading from Google Maps tiles. This has really changed where I decide to check out when visiting new cities for the first time.
• Offline map areas. Incredibly useful when going international and trying to use as little data as possible. This saved my ass on a trip abroad to Scotland where there was poor 2G data service, if any, in much of the north. Google could provide basic route info (without traffic data) even with little or no signal.

 

[angusmcfisher]

at least when using CarPlay, It is really nice how alternate routes are a lighter shade of blue with the estimated ETA showing. You can actually get a live look if another route is faster.

Do you still get this? For me this disappeared after ios 11 beta 4 (non car play) and I miss it greatly!

 

[mattopotamus]

Do you still get this? For me this disappeared after ios 11 beta 4 (non car play) and I miss it greatly!

It did go away...very annoying. I loved that feature

 

[tromboneaholic]

Apple should really let us use Waze for CarPlay. CarPlay itself is great when it works, but having Apple Maps as the only option leads to a poor user experience. I’m not a fan of Google, and I wish Apple had purchased Waze when they had a chance. I don’t think Apple realizes how frustrating It is to actually use Maps for navigation compared to Waze.

It seems incredible to me that on my Android phone (before iPhone 4s finally came to Verizon), I was able to log into Waze and make corrections to the map. Seven years later, Apple still won’t correct my home address in Apple Maps despite numerous reports of it being wrong in Maps. This affects location based alerts (such as notify me when my wife gets “home”) and HomeKit actions (such as turn my bedroom lights on when I get “home”).

I shouldn’t (and won’t) put an incorrect address into my contacts to fool Apple apps into thinking I’m home. The reliance on inaccurate map data for system wide functions is frustrating.