It looks like Tim Cook is making good on his word to improve Apple Maps, though it'll be a while before it's up to the company's usual high standards.
Mac Rumors notes that people trying to find their way using Apple's navigation software are seeing some improvements in the service. The Statue of Liberty is no longer flattened, for one.
Improvements have been ongoing, but visitors to the Mac Rumors forum have noticed a greater swathe of corrections of late. They mostly concern the slightly dodgy 3D rendering that left bridges looking like smears on the screen. Flyover imagery has made its debut in Honolulu, Hawaii and in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. And new 3D buildings are appearing in London as well as New York. Good news for us Brits.
Seeing as it pulls its info from the cloud, Apple can make improvements without having to issue a whole new software release. Which is a good thing, seeing as there's still a lot of work to be done.
But even though Apple is obviously working hard to improve Maps, not
everyone can see the tweaks. This is because of how Apple Maps caches
data. It uses vector graphics too, so it doesn't have to download new
map images every time you adjust the view.
Tim Cook apologised for Apple Maps' awfulness last week and promised to improve the service. The company has reportedly roped in staff from its Apple Stores to lend a hand, suggesting improvements and reporting errors. In the meantime, Cook recommended disgruntled iPhone 5 owners try Bing, the Google Maps web app (which has just added Street View), or Nokia Maps.
The next day in the App Store, up popped some mapping recommendations for your iPad too. So Apple really is eating a big slice of humble pie over this one.
Have you stuck with Apple Maps? What's been your experience? Let me know in the comments below or on Facebook.
Image credit: Mac Rumors
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Comments 17
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Mark Anderson 6 October, 2012 11:04
Of course it's improving. It was so bloody awful to start with that the only way is up.
The question is: Is it still rubbish?
anonymous 6 October, 2012 11:44
I've been sort of using Apple Maps alongside Google Maps, simply because it's on my phone. It's not very good, but it's not hysterically bad, just a number of years behind Google.
I've been trying to add & correct places around me, and realised that quite a few of these are missing from Google or placed wrong as well. However when Google gets a location wrong, it doesn't get it as wrong as Apple. That's mainly because Google has so much data from past searches, etc to play with that Apple doesn't yet have.
Apple also needs to fix missing rivers and boundaries and add plots for larger buildings. I still don't like Apple Maps, but I have great hopes for it. Why should Google be the only quality mapping source out there? (Apologies to Nokia...)
damien2501 6 October, 2012 12:15
it wont take long for apple to get it up to google maps standard and beyond, apple maps is basically a beta, it needs user input to reach the finished product level. there is no other way around creating a mapping product
BIGPADDY 6 October, 2012 16:05
Just buy a site nav
BIGPADDY 6 October, 2012 16:06
#BIGPADDY16:05 Problem Solve
Ruffus Stone 6 October, 2012 16:54
Even though it's pretty awful, it won't stay that way for very long.
However it's going to take a couple of years to match or surpass the alternatives.
Google Maps wasn't that great when it started, but back then our expectations were much lower as we hadn't had such facilities before. We just accepted it and only moaned when it went wrong.
Several years on , they've been able to hone this app to a very high standard, but it still throws a wobbly every now and then.
My Wife's S3 tells her to turn down a dirt track 100 metres before the turning into our road and to drive through two back gardens to and through someones house, to get to our address. That's progress !
Peter Hudson 6 October, 2012 17:44
Well I live in Belfast NI, I wanted to use the satnav today to get me to a shop I'd never been to, the road that the shop was on wasn't even on the map. And my house is in the wrong place on the map.
anonymous 7 October, 2012 07:02
This IOS5 Apple Maps is so bad in Asia - practically unusable in most places. It returns 'Not found" for 4 of the top 5 hotels in Mumbai - a city of 18 million people.
And worse, Apple has blocked the option to revert to IOS5 as too many users were reverting. Is this legal? Can they block millions of their users from reverting to their earlier functional product they paid for? ALL software allows this.
anonymous 7 October, 2012 07:03
This IOS5 Apple Maps is so bad in Asia - practically unusable in most places. It returns 'Not found" for 4 of the top 5 hotels in Mumbai - a city of 18 million people.
And worse, Apple has blocked the option to revert to IOS5 as too many users were reverting. Is this legal? Can they block millions of their users from reverting to their earlier functional product they paid for? ALL software allows this.
anonymous 7 October, 2012 07:03
This IOS5 Apple Maps is so bad in Asia - practically unusable in most places. It returns 'Not found" for 4 of the top 5 hotels in Mumbai - a city of 18 million people.
And worse, Apple has blocked the option to revert to IOS5 as too many users were reverting. Is this legal? Can they block millions of their users from reverting to their earlier functional product they paid for? ALL software allows this.
anonymous 7 October, 2012 07:04
This IOS5 Apple Maps is so bad in Asia - practically unusable in most places. It returns 'Not found" for 4 of the top 5 hotels in Mumbai - a city of 18 million people.
And worse, Apple has blocked the option to revert to IOS5 as too many users were reverting. Is this legal? Can they block millions of their users from reverting to their earlier functional product they paid for? ALL software allows this.
Jason Alexander 7 October, 2012 13:03
I've used the new maps app every day since launch and prefer it to the old one. It's much more accurate once I have the exact location that I need but it was easier to find locations with the old one. I guess I now use maps 80% of the time and google maps or in browser about 20%, it depends what I need. Pay your money and make your own choice!
damien2501 7 October, 2012 20:13
What i wanna know is where are all the fanboys who normally come out of the woodwork to say Cnet are bias towards apple? oh and also how come people are allowed to post the same thing loads of times
anonymous 13 October, 2012 01:04
I asked for directions from Maputo in Mozambique to Nelspruit in South Africa - a 4 hour drive. The route suggested goes about 1000 miles out of the way and takes 26 hours. Disaster
anonymous 14 October, 2012 11:48
it's not improvinf where I live in London. I have reported all the errors in bar, restaurant location (virtually all of them!!) and, weeks later, no changes have been made. I've given up on it, and await the Google app
anonymous 21 November, 2012 09:03
I live I'm Scotland and my house and street were just a black pixelated mess, but now it looks as though they are using google map data again in places and where I live (at low level zoom anyway). It's definitely getting better, or at least, it's getting similar to how it used to be.
anonymous 10 December, 2012 14:02
I must say that if Steve Jobs were with us this would not have happened. Apple would never have released a product that was this bad. Even Siri with all its flaws does not put you in the position of getting lost in the Outback.
It took Google years to get it right and I don't expect Apple to come out with a great product anytime soon.
Mapquest is a free app and does a decent job.