Apple Maps Good Now Problem Google Maps – Apple Maps has come a long way in its decade on the market, but Google Maps hasn’t stopped getting better either. Here’s how the two mapping giants compare in 2022.
When Apple replaced Google Maps with Apple Maps in 2013, there was a period of chaos. The original map data was below average, the directions downright bad and the images worse. Apple tried to combine multiple data sources into one map app with poor results.
Apple Maps Good Now Problem Google Maps
But Apple now has a decade to build on that initial failure and create a competent competitor to Google Maps — at least in the United States. Apple has even leapfrogged Google in some cases in terms of experience, feature set, and map detail.
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Here’s exactly how they compare in 2022, and you can see how things have changed since our last comparison in 2020.
A lot of information is displayed when one of the mapping applications is opened, and what is displayed tells you the priorities of the application. With Apple, you see an explore view with a search bar at the bottom and minimal interaction points. For Google, you see a number of icons, menus, search bar, tab bar and places nearby.
User interface paradigms reveal how differently each company expects people to use its app while navigating yours. Google hopes to help you however it can by giving you as much data as it has at any given time, while Apple only shows what information is needed for a given interaction.
Either method can be frustrating. With Apple, it may not display what you need – like the way street names stay the same size or actually shrink when you zoom in to read them.
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With Google, you might be making quick decisions about where to go, yet lingering over figuring out which button means you want to start.
This design metaphor is reflected in both applications. Google treats itself like a database of information to learn about an area first, with map elements in the background. Even social features like sharing photos and reviews are more at the forefront of Google than its actual mapping.
Simply put, Google Maps acts like a coupon book you’d get at an amusement park. You need to know how to search through the available information to find that one piece of information that is worthwhile.
For example, the pull-out screen at the bottom of the “Explore” tab in Google Maps hosts a pseudo social media experience. Reviews from locals who spend time photographing and reviewing places, much like Yelp, are at the forefront here. There’s even an option to follow people and bookmark content.
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On the other hand, Apple Maps takes an approach that you could easily call aloof. Here, the search bar is the gateway to information, and the further you go, the more detailed the data is. On the front, however, Apple Maps always presents itself as just that: a map.
There are social features in Apple Maps, such as creating and sharing personal guides or leaving photos of places. However, these features have to be discovered and are barely in your face.
Google Maps is the clear winner for the amount of data present and available. It gets its vast collection of information from companies, websites, users and others.
Apple Maps also has a lot of data, but while it uses crowdsourced data similar to Google, it doesn’t come from as many places. There are obvious gaps in knowledge between these two applications that fill the massive data and search empire of Google.
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However, data is not everything, as there is a threshold of utility and usefulness. This threshold varies from person to person, but not everyone needs the amount of data available from Google.
If you need to find out where a business is, when it’s open, how to contact it, and how to view reviews – you’ll be set on any mapping app. However, Google goes a step further and lists everything it has about a location, almost to a fault. Google displays information that Apple doesn’t, such as delivery options, popular times, in-line menus, and more.
It’s up to you to decide which app to use based on available data versus easy to find.
However, no application is immune to errors, missing or incomplete data. Users can report issues to either map, though both are known for quick responses and fixes.
Google Maps Search Function Not Working
Or rather, they are for what you might call specific errors. For example, a road that has the wrong name or a road that is now blocked due to construction.
For example, in the UK it is common for motorways rated at 70 mph to have bridges passing over normal roads rated at 30 mph. Apple will routinely tell a freeway driver a slower speed for a mile or more.
There is nothing worse than looking for a way and ending up in the wrong place. This was a regular occurrence when Apple Maps first debuted
With Google’s crowdsourced data and avid user base, every bit of construction, business change or building demolition will be updated within hours. That’s the power of Google’s data engine, and one Apple can’t match.
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Apple has introduced a compelling estimate of the delay when you hit those red sections of road. Since both maps change their orientation and zoom to best display route information, it is difficult to determine how long a stretch of road is.
So where you’ll see a road marked with different colors depending on how busy or slow it is, there was no way to interpret how long the slow section was. Apple Maps will now tell you.
It’s a little inconsistent, but if you enter a stretch of road that’s very busy, then after about a minute it will overlap the estimated time it will take you to get through that stretch.
This estimate has proven to be highly accurate, but as a result, you’re immediately looking for it when the road slows down. So the inconsistent time to produce data is strangely frustrating.
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Both apps excel at simply providing step-by-step instructions. Again, Google offers multiple layers of data, but both get you from A to B in a similar way.
Both are also excellent at sharing your ETA. On Google Maps or Apple Maps, you can choose to notify someone – or several people – when you’re arriving.
This arrival time is updated even if there is a significant delay and has proven to be highly accurate in use.
The Share ETA feature on Apple Maps can be confusing if you want to share your ETA when someone else is sharing theirs with you. Quite reasonably, you can’t always see their ETA and location on the map because Apple Maps shows you your own route.
Apple Maps Vs Google Maps
Other data from Google includes choosing more economical routes to save gas or traffic density along the route. Both options allow users to avoid tolls or other obstacles.
Apple Maps is great for your daily commute, finding a new place you’ve never been, or general business information searches. But Google has a superpower that Apple hasn’t yet recognized: trip planning.
If Apple Maps is the tool you use for daily mapping and route planning, Google is your once-a-year vacation planner. You can plan a trip with stops, bookmark places and have the entire driving itinerary played out.
There are options on Apple platforms such as third-party apps or built-in Apple Maps for those who never want to use a Google product. For example, instead of planning a step-by-step itinerary, you could create a guide in Apple Maps called “Road Trip” and list all the stops you want to make there.
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Both Google Maps and Apple Maps offer directions for various forms of transportation, but these features vary greatly depending on your location. If you’re in a city with subway lines, both Apple Maps and Google Maps will likely offer directions using those lines.
By the way, Apple Maps has a good system for getting directions based on public transport that even Google can’t match. This will vary depending on the location and the amount of information Apple has about the area. Expect things like San Francisco or New York to be very detailed.
However, Google’s crowdsourced data and market time give it an advantage over other forms of transportation. If you need biking or walking routes that follow sidewalks, trails, and other routes away from cars, Google may be your only option.
Apple has started providing more detailed information for these types of transportation, but you’ll likely only benefit in larger cities. There are also third-party options specifically made for cycling and walking routes if Apple and Google aren’t quite what you expect.
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Both Apple and Google get information about accidents and construction from similar sources. Data collected from drivers using their respective mapping applications, together with general road hazard data, is usually sufficient to adequately represent the data.
However, drivers can take reporting into their own hands to help keep information up to date. When retrieving a route of any kind, the user can enter hazard details to be registered for the map application