this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2023
71 points (83.8% liked)

Technology

59438 readers
3761 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
L3s
[email protected]
[email protected]
L4s
enu
71
A decade after a disastrous launch, is Apple Maps finally good? (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/technology
26 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Archived version: https://archive.ph/hguLn

Excerpt:

Apple Maps’ offering might surprise people who remember its disastrous launch in 2012, which the Guardian described as the company’s “first significant failure in years”. Users were more than furious – they were lost, sometimes dangerously so. In Australia, police had to rescue tourists from the huge Murray-Sunset national park, after Maps placed the city of Mildura in the wrong place by more than 40 miles. Some of the motorists located by police had been stranded for 24 hours without food or water. In Ireland, ministers had to complain directly to Apple after a cafe and gardens called “Airfield” was designated by the service as an actual airport.

But mostly the map was just glitchy and unhelpful, its directions always a little off kilter. Users revolted and Apple made a rare retreat, allowing Google Maps to be used as the default on many iPhone apps and apologizing for the product.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] HollandJim 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I'm not in the US so I'd use either use Apple Maps, Google Maps and Waze, but until the past 4-5 years none were that great. G-Maps would take me down roads that didn't exist, or it would Waze occasionally send me to parts of Germany by way of England. We were not amused. Forget using either for actual live navigation, especially in Germany or France - really slow at predicting turns or which lane to be in when they split. They ALL occasionally want to send you to the service dock in the back alley, instead of the front door (a result of getting initial data from delivery companies, I'd bet).

Apple Maps, about 3-4 years ago, just started getting WAY better for navigation: far better turn prediction, lane bifurcation guidence on top and really nice CarPlay integration with my VW ID.3.

Another thing to mention - report issues. The more you report, with proof (pictures, especially) the faster the map data gets updated. I'm assuming it's tied to your iCloud account - I've had maps changes happen in 2-3 days, but I've been submitting data changes for years now.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

As you've been very diligent reporting errors and suggesting changes to map data, have you ever considered contributing to OpenStreetMap? You might like helping by using the app Every Door on iOS, for example.

[–] HollandJim 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

While I appreciate OSM, I tend to fix what I use - reminded of the the old cowboy adage: "You gotta dance with them what brung you". My dance card is full with Apple Maps.