Archived version: https://archive.ph/hguLn
Excerpt (and context):
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.
I prefer it to Google Maps in most cases now. The Google Maps app is very bloated nowadays.
Apple Maps has very detailed maps, has its version of “Street View” in many areas where Google Maps doesn’t (at least here in Germany) and it’s a lot smoother, navigation is better, and Apple Watch integration seamless. Public transit is also decent.
The only thing I still use Google Maps for is to get information about restaurants and such, where Google Maps tends to have more data. Being able to download an area for offline use in Google Maps also helps in a pinch, but that’s coming to Apple Maps with iOS 17 as well.
If they release an Android version I’ll compare maybe switch to them.
I’d say ditch both Apple and Google and use an app based on OpenStreetMap data. The mapping data shouldn’t belong to any corporation that can decide to restrict access tomorrow. Use OpenStreetMap and if you find the mapping is not good enough contribute to improve it, just like one can do in Wikipedia.
To access OpenStreetMap data I’d recommend the apps Organic Maps (lightweight and simple) or OsmAnd (more feature packed but heavier). Magic Earth is also an alternative.
