The Amazing iOS 6 Maps

[GlennD]

There's also a good (and free) Mapquest app.

[odiakkoh]

Originally Posted by GlennD

There's also a good (and free) Mapquest app.

Mapquest always sends me to the wrong places lol. For me I think I might actually be better off using the iOS maps.

[tubemonkey]

I use paper AAA maps for driving.

[lorenzoens]

LOL!

[rlowe]

I wonder why people keep compailing about Apple Maps, it's not that bad at all. Anyway, hope that Goole could bring Maps to iOS 6 soon.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by rlowe

I wonder why people keep compailing about Apple Maps, it's not that bad at all. Anyway, hope that Goole could bring Maps to iOS 6 soon.

Assuming you mean "Google" rather than "Goole" (which is a town in Yorkshire, England), you can already use Google Maps in iOS6. You just have to use it via Safari, rather than as an App. But iOS lets you put any web page as an icon on the home page, so there's really little to distinguish it from an app.

[david_e]

I haven't been following this brouhaha other than reading a few posts here at MR.

Is the problem primarily outside of the U.S.? I ask only because I noticed the people posting with missing towns and moving airports were located throughout the world but didn't notice anyone from the states.

I live in the western part of the country, a city of approximately 2 million people, and a cursory check of my regular haunts showed they were all where they should be.

[afv011]

Apparently you can hack Google Maps back on.

Source

[jswinden]

Originally Posted by david_e

I haven't been following this brouhaha other than reading a few posts here at MR.

Is the problem primarily outside of the U.S.? I ask only because I noticed the people posting with missing towns and moving airports were located throughout the world but didn't notice anyone from the states.

I live in the western part of the country, a city of approximately 2 million people, and a cursory check of my regular haunts showed they were all where they should be.

I saw quite a few USA examples of incorrect locations listed for businesses, schools and universities, etc. So it does effect USA. It looks like there is a screwed up database for locations being used. Also the map rendering engine looks like it needs a lot of work, especially in the 3D maps.

EDIT: It looks like TomTom maps are the main source for the new maps app. TomTom bought up Tele Atlas back in 2008 and that database is the main source they use, but they supplement that data with countless other sources. Whether TomTom does a good job of supplementing to provide accurate maps is another topic, but I know they are not known for having stellar maps. Google also used Tele Atlas but I'm not sure if they still do. However, Google also supplements their map data via many sources including their own map vehicles which drive around verifying map locations and taking photos. My guess is that Google does a much more thorough job than TomTom, especially in the USA.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I use paper AAA maps for driving.

My lady friend loves those so we use them when we take a road trip. I admit they come in useful on occasion because of detail and good updates.

I got AAA for her so I wouldn't worry so much when she is on the road.

I seldom drive when we take a trip in a car.

I am normally over there lolled out with my visor, sun glasses, with my big Garmin GPS on the windshield (or my lap), with the appropriate State Map, with the AAA map strips, with a printed Sky View, and sometimes with a topographical map and I feel like I have control, but when the snow comes to the Parks we frequent, I mainly rely on God, Prayer and the ability to push the car back on to the road.

I am getting her a SUV with an automatic all terrain drive in a few month, so our next trip "with a chance of flurries" will go better, besides her old minivan odometer is about to roll over the second time.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by afv011

Apparently you can hack Google Maps back on.

Source

My gosh. No real "Apple person" would sully the experience with non Apple software and a hack at that. (Wash your mouth.)

[jswinden]

I've been using Garmin for over 20 years. You can't really beat them for the price. The standalone GPS devices like TomTom, Garmin, etc. will always be a better, more reliable, more accurate means to navigating a vehicle are yourself. They are designed with good GPS chips that have everything they need to navigate. Cellular phones don't have true GPS like the above mentioned devices. They instead rely heavily on supplemental location information derived from cellular tower locations.

Bottom line, if you are serious about navigation use a GPS unit by Garmin or some other reputable company, not a cellular phone. The iPhone and Android phones do a lot of things well, but navigation isn't one of them.

[tompe]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I've been using Garmin for over 20 years. You can't really beat them for the price. The standalone GPS devices like TomTom, Garmin, etc. will always be a better, more reliable, more accurate means to navigating a vehicle are yourself. They are designed with good GPS chips that have everything they need to navigate. Cellular phones don't have true GPS like the above mentioned devices. They instead rely heavily on supplemental location information derived from cellular tower locations.

Bottom line, if you are serious about navigation use a GPS unit by Garmin or some other reputable company, not a cellular phone. The iPhone and Android phones do a lot of things well, but navigation isn't one of them.

The gps in the phone is a real gps. So I do not understand what you mean. A car gps usually have a better antenna then the one in the phone but that is another thing. And with a phone you can use data from the net to get the initial fix. And I compared Google navigation to a Garmin and did not see any quality differences in the routing.

[ilovejedd]

Originally Posted by jswinden

I've been using Garmin for over 20 years. You can't really beat them for the price. The standalone GPS devices like TomTom, Garmin, etc. will always be a better, more reliable, more accurate means to navigating a vehicle are yourself. They are designed with good GPS chips that have everything they need to navigate. Cellular phones don't have true GPS like the above mentioned devices. They instead rely heavily on supplemental location information derived from cellular tower locations.

Bottom line, if you are serious about navigation use a GPS unit by Garmin or some other reputable company, not a cellular phone. The iPhone and Android phones do a lot of things well, but navigation isn't one of them.

I've got a standalone Magellan GPS and the smartphones (both Android and iPhone) get a location fix/lock before the Magellan does. Smartphones nowadays have assisted GPS which consists of an actual GPS which gets location information from satellites and additional help via triangulation using cell towers, etc.

Ease of use, though, naturally the Magellan wins since it has a dedicated interface designed primarily for GPS usage.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Assuming you mean "Google" rather than "Goole" (which is a town in Yorkshire, England), you can already use Google Maps in iOS6. You just have to use it via Safari, rather than as an App. But iOS lets you put any web page as an icon on the home page, so there's really little to distinguish it from an app.

You don't have to use Safari. You can also use G-Whizz app for any Google product. It has less visual overhead than Safari.

Dale