Re:Apple Maps Vehicles
by danso on Wednesday June 17, 2015 @12:25PM
(#9733020)
This is impressive...while I'll be using Google Maps on iOS for a long time to come...Google has such a lead that creating one's own geospatial dataset seems tantamount to reinventing the wheel...yet, it seems dangerous to not have competition in this area, as it gives one company almost unilateral power to define the existence of geography (at least for day-to-day usage). And of course, using Google Maps means buying into their user-information-sharing system. Glad Apple is using its money to take on the challenge.
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For me the biggest problem with Apple Maps on iOS is usability, not data.
The first thing I've ever seen anyone do when they start a route on Apple Maps is pinching to zoom out. No, you need to use the overview button. Wait, where's the overview button? You need to tap the map to show the button, and then tap the button and it shows the whole route. After that you have to zoom back in to see what's coming up next in the route.
Agreed. Another issue I find irritating is that Siri speaks the directions way too late, like as I'm passing my exit or crossing an intersection that I was supposed to turn in.
Re:Apple Maps Vehicles
by roflchoppa on Wednesday June 17, 2015 @01:00PM
(#9733396)
oh man that drives me up the wall, but i also noticed that it drives my mother up the wall too, i guess even a 50 year old lady with limited tech experience also saw through that flaw.
> 50 year old lady with limited tech experience also saw through that flaw.
It has been my experience that these are the people most likely to snuff out UI flaws whether they know it or not.
Google isn't much better. Searching for directions from A to B where neither A nor B are your current position always stumps me.
Google Maps data is better right now, no question, but I've been using Apple Maps in iOS recently because of performance. I've found that the Google Maps app is frequently unresponsive and often takes significantly longer to load data, which is particularly noticeable when I have a less reliable cellular data connection.
Has anyone else noticed this difference between the two apps?
When you talk about user-information-sharing-system you mean Google having the information about maps use, so, you sharing the map use information with Google, isn't?
I'm not sure what your question is asking...but what I mean is that Google Maps are ostensibly improved by analyzing how users use the app and how they seem to utilize the information...I imagine just as Google search tracks which search results you click -- and also, if you hit the Back button, and how long it took you to do that -- in order to evaluate SERP effectiveness, there must be some kind of feedback for Google Maps...? The live traffic projections, AFAIK, are a result of collecting GPS information from Android phones on the road.
Apple has been claiming that it wants to build apps that don't draw on user information, as to prioritize user privacy. Maybe they'll apply that attitude towards their Maps app.
Re:Apple Maps Vehicles
by piyush_soni on Wednesday June 17, 2015 @01:06PM
(#9733457)
Slowly, gradually, they will start doing that. The trade off for them is too much. Previously they claimed they don't read your personal emails like Google does. They soon realized they were losing big customer base because of people preferring Google Now over the pretty useless Siri. Now they have announced Siri Proactive, but for offering those features it has to read your personal emails. Now they claim they do read emails, but everything will stay on their phone. On the whole, users want intelligent features, and if Apple doesn't give it to them, they're going to go away.
Then you won't have things like live traffic, it is a tradeoff