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Comment by wutbrodo | Hacker News Reader

Is there a reason anyone uses Apple Maps, aside from wanting to avoid Google out of principle/privacy/monoculture concerns? To be clear, these are entirely legitimate reasons, but I was wondering if the product has any direct benefits for the user (which is a coherent subset of reasons given the modal users' level of concern about systemic issues).

I'm not trying to randomly snipe at Apple here, I just know very little about Apple Maps beyond the bad press its gotten and Apple's general software product competency weaknesses.

EDIT: Thanks for the responses, that's all pretty much the kind of thing I was wondering about

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I use Apple maps for navigation and Google maps for looking. Apple maps's navigation does basic things like tell me what the next exit on the freeways, even thought it's twenty miles away, so I have some idea what I need to do next. It knows that in the UK, roundabouts go by the city the road goes to next (on signs), instead of Google which uses road names (not on signs, useless). It tells me right before I need to turn, unlike Google which I always misinterpret. Apple maps seems to label the major roads better. Google maps seems to have decided that things like freeway numbers aren't necessary until you zoom in really tight, which is extremely unhelpful when driving.

Google maps, however, knows where everything is, everywhere. Also, you can download offline maps and get navigation in the middle of nowhere.

If I'm being 100% honest, no, other than better integration into the iOS ecosystem. For me, Apple Maps is pretty terrible all around. It feels like it was designed by a group of people that don't actually drive anywhere.

Issues:

- Search results are terrible compared to Google's.

- While the UI is generally smoother, it lags behind (i.e. It shows a turn a good bit after I do). This is especially frustrating when driving through small city blocks and trying to be in the correct lane for the next turn.

- Lane guidance was finally added, but no way to see ahead like in gmaps.

- Day/night mode is very fussy. When I'm driving through the Bay Bridge at night it constantly flips back and forth between day/night due to the overhead lights.

- It is pretty frustrating that the line ahead of me is constantly wobbling around instead of matching the curve/line ahead of me. It feels disorienting and makes it difficult to see if there's an upcoming left/right ahead. Google generally does a good job trying to visually match what you're seeing. https://imgur.com/a/t3Sxm

- If I check traffic when I wake up, then go through my morning routine, then check it again, there's a 90% chance it'll crash on startup.

- No way to add a stop

- No street view

and so on...

"- No way to add a stop"

You can add a stop, but it's limited to gas stations, coffee shops and restaurants. Why? I don't know.

I use Apple Maps when walking because of the nice turn by turn integration with the Apple Watch.

Two reasons:

1. Google’s Material UI is a total dumpster fire and I use it only as a last resort.

2. Apple Maps integrates much better with everything else I’m using, so the experience is smoother (e.g., looking up an address on my laptop and then sending directions to my phone).

I keep Google Maps around as a backup, mostly for places of interest way out in the boonies, like hiking trailheads.

Do you have any coherent reasoning behind your characterization of Material as a "total dumpster fire"? Other than "I don't like it and thus it must be bad?"

A large part of it is certainly my personal preferences. And even if Material were itself good, completely disregarding the UI pattern the rest of the phone follows in your apps to implement your own is still going to be jarring.

But I always come back to Material's "Up" button when asked for an example: https://material.io/guidelines/patterns/navigation.html#navi...

I use it primarily because of integration with the lock screen and integration with CarPlay.

I would like to use it for these reasons, and also that the Apple Maps UI just feels a little nicer to me than the Google Maps app on iOS. There's also the unfortunate fact that Apple doesn't allow users to select a default maps application, so Apple maps integrates better with Messages and other 3rd party apps.

But even with all of these reasons, Google's data and search capabilities are so much better than Apple's that they make Apple Maps feel unusable by comparison.

Google maps absolutely obliterates my battery life (iPhone 6S+). Last time I travelled it I was down to 40% at noon.

I've had the same experience, but is it Maps, or the continual use of GPS?

I'm pretty sure it's maps- could be a buggy version. IME Apple maps navigation causes minimal battery drain.

It's probably both. Apple Maps is lighter on the battery, but I'd assume it uses the GPS too since it uses the battery harder than would be expected with just keeping the screen on.

I find it a much better view of the transit layer, and I actually enjoy its navigation UX, but that's about it.

Apple Maps automatically tracks my parking location. Have to do that manually in GMaps.

Really? Google Maps used to ask me if it should remember where I was parked (as of last year). Last week I noticed while visiting Google Maps when waiting in line to checkout that GMaps had automatically labeled where I was parked without input from me.

Possible they started doing it already... it should be easy for them. I don't see it happening yet though.

Apple doesn't allow non-apple maps apps to be used with CarPlay.

Google Maps doesn't work well at all on one of my Macs. In Safari, the 2D view works, but the 3D view doesn't work. In Chrome, the satellite tiles are all black (but the roads are visible). In Firefox, the satellite and roads are both black.

It's the same (and most recent) version of all these browsers as my other Mac, where it works fine. How does one debug this? I've tried googling (ha) for every combination of words I can imagine. Google's tech support seems basically nonexistent, for their free services.

Or I can just open Maps.app, and it always works. The data isn't as good but it's not terrible, and at least the basics work fine. I'm not a heavy maps user so that's good enough for me.

Sounds like a problem with webgl? Try lite mode https://www.google.com/maps/@?force=lite&dg=dbrw&newdg=1.

Yes, that works, in all browsers. I assumed it's something related to 3D graphics, but that doesn't really help me with troubleshooting it. Other WebGL demos (like the famous ball-in-water one) work fine. Only Google Maps is broken.

On iOs/mobile, Apple Maps has a much prettier, more usable UI. All the buildings are shown 3d in Bay Area during navigation. Google maps does not show 3d while navigating. From this point of view, Apple offers a superior user experience. That's why I use it.

I switch to Google when traffic is really bad, as I trust its timing estimates more.

* Apple Maps has better navigation in Oakland than Google * Transit instructions are vastly superior.

Apple Maps, OSM, etc are needed because even weak competition forces Google Maps to keep improving

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