Yup, Apple Maps Still Suck
Remember how big a disaster Apple Maps was when it launched last year?
When you searched for things they didn't show up, you were given wrong information, in certain parts of the world people were incorrectly diverted hundreds of miles off course. Lots of people, even non geeky, non techie people knew it was a huge blunder. People kicked and screamed to have get Google Maps back and since it was released I think that is what the majority of people have been using for maps on iPhone since.
Apple has claimed to be hard at work since then on updating data and fixing mistakes. It's been quite a while from that time so I decided to spend the last few weeks using only Apple maps to get around. Have things improved? Nope, not at all from what I can see.
The best thing about Apple Maps in my opinion is that they look great. The detail of the maps and the navigation are just awesome. But what good are looks when your data is bad?
Google Maps are so great because they've spent years mapping out as much of the world as they can. Apple bought a few mapping companies and use satellite data. This in no way comes close to catching up on the information Google has amassed when you're talking cartography.
The image to the right is what comes up when I search "ICA Museum Boston" in Apple Maps. I'm searching for the Institute of Contemporary Arts which should be a major point of interest in the city. The ICA is located on the waterfront in Boston. What comes up here is some company in Brookline Massachusetts. After nearly an entire year of Apple maps being available I can't search "ICA" in the Boston area and at least get other suggested results besides whatever this company is? Ridiculous.
Here's one that is even worse. I wanted to search for an address in Waltham, another town in Massachusetts. Since I am in the area I should be able to just search the street and get suggested results in my area. I get zero suggestions though and Apple tells me about some address in Ohio.
I could give even more examples but just trust me when I say it is really bad. Clearly after a year, Apple maps isn't even close to "there". It will take years to get to the level of data Google has but it is pathetic that even this much time Apple can't get major landmarks in a major city correct or even know when I am searching for an address in a city that is only a few miles from my current location.
Google Maps will be the go to for most but another app that I've been trying that is awesome is Waze. It has great data even more so than Google in some cases, its navigation works well, and it has a bunch of cool social features. I highly recommend it, especially over the abomination that is Apple Maps.
Download Waze
