Apple iOS 8 'will put end' to crap map app rap flap misery Apple is set to fix its crap map app this year with an update featuring public transport information. According to a report on 9to5Mac, the fruity firm is keen to leave the Maps debacle behind and chart a new direction. Cupertino's Maps app became infamous after it steered drivers onto one of the runways of Fairbanks Airport …
It's not that the map app was, in itself, crap, it was the data being fed to it that was seriously lacking in some departments. Although it could be said that the map app is still overly simplistic.
To be honest I never had a problem with it. Probably because I don't blindly trust whatever navigation system I'm using, and that I only really use it to locate places in urban areas - although I've got to say that google maps is still more accurate.
Then again I'm old "Skool" I guess at my age. It doesn't seem that long ago that I was navigating London with a well thumbed copy of the A to Z and was thus used to finding things that were not quite as they were when my copy of the A to Z was first published.
Map apps in general are a great assistance but nobody in their right mind should treat any of them as gospel. Unfortunately this is what some people do, and when this is added to a lack of common sense disaster ensues.
One of the really useful features of the nokia here maps on my windows phone is that you can choose to download a region of maps to the phone. This means you can download a map of a foreign city you are visiting and actually use some of the features of your smartphone without needing to hunt down a wifi hotspot.
And while Google's own Maps app tends to prefer a mobile connection (you can try to cache a path ahead of time), there are at least alternatives out there that offer offline downloading and (if you wish) only use the mobile connection to get traffic data, which isn't nearly as demanding on mobile data allowances.
I have my doubts as to whether it'll support that, but I've found "citymaps2go" to be an alternative on iOS. Pay a couple of quid for the app and then download the maps you need. I'm not sure it offers turn by turn, but as I can actually read a map it's not that important for me.
Searches on Apple Maps to work out a distance from Victoria Station in London:
"Victoria Station" gives Sloane Square, three quarters of a mile to the west
"Victoria Station London" gives the junction of Victoria Street and Broadway, half a mile east
"Victoria Railway Station" gives Royal Victoria on the DLR, eight miles to the east
Yes, about time for an update.
I just tried this but as I'm not in London it brings up different results, none of which match "Victoria Station".
That said, "Victoria Station London" asks me if I want to search for "Victoria Street, London, SW1H" or "Victoria St, London, ON N5Y 4A9, Canada", neither of which are correct.
I remember now why I still use google maps which gives me the option of "Victoria Station, Victoria, London" and pinpoints the station exactly.
Google thinks everyone commutes by train. If Apple gets the whole bus thing, that would be helpful*.
* It would be doubly helpful if, unlike Google, Apple doesn't want me to go to Blackpool North to start my commute. I live, and work, in Greater Manchester. I don't want a 2-3 hour detour through Blackpool!
I deleted Google maps because it just doesn't work as well as the native Maps app.
It may not be as feature-rich as Google's effort but it gets me to where I want to go 100% the time (so far...) whereas Google maps has sent me on some really crazy wild goose chases and often gets the address wrong. I admit the Maps.app doesn't find businesses as easily as Gm but if I can find the correct address it will help me arrive. I once stood within 300m of a destination (I knew where the tech park was) but Google sent me 14 km away - stupidly I actually trusted it. When I realised I was in totally the wrong place I turned to Maps.app and bingo it took me straight there by a faster route. Personal experience says the Crap Mac App is better than the alternatives, perhaps that why most iOS users stick with the default Maps.app?
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