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Comment by Lunatic666 | Hacker News Reader

In Singapore the Apple Maps capabilities seem to be a little better, after they introduced bus lines a couple of months ago I’m using it as my main guide to go around the city or when I’m lost. The general direction is always correct, points of interest or businesses are sometimes missing, but it feels like they’re improving, so I don’t think they gave up on it. I think they just don’t put so much effort on it compared to Google, because the data gathered from the service doesn’t have the same value for Apple.

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The problem in Singapore is that Apple (or whoever they contract this to) hasn't updated major parts of the city in several years - Go take a look at Maxwell Road near the Singapore Chinese Cultural Center connecting to Central Blvd from Straits Blvd - that road hasn't been there since 2015 (at least, maybe longer) - but Apple Still says that it exists and uses it for directions.

Maps are one area where Apple has a "meh, good enough" attitude, but Google really seems to want to really bring the next level of quality.

I live in a city in Germany (280k population) where Google hasn’t updated the 2D satellite images since 2004.

A few months ago, they introduced 3D buildings, and Earth shows up-to-date satellite imagery now, but still didn’t update the satellite imagery used in the Maps app.

Worse yet are maps and transit – roads and sometimes entire districts missing, data from somewhere between 2005 and 2009, and no transit data at all.

Every other map service has it all. Apple, Here, Bing, OSM, everything. Google doesn’t.

And yet people here continue using Google Maps, because "it’s the default", and Google Now can only give you estimates from Google Maps.

That's very odd, and unusual for Google - outlier. The place I grew up, Fawn Lake, British Columbia, has had three or four revisions to its satellite pictures since 2008. I watch my mother do construction on her property, and by how many outbuildings there are, I can see that it has been updated in at least the last 2 years. Population about 250 (generous estimate) in the 200 square miles around Fawn Lake.

The big problem with this is, we have a situation where Google maps is very obviously inferior, to all competing solutions – even paper maps are now more up to date – and yet, everyone still uses it. Because it’s the default.

That shows just how powerful the advantage of a default app is, and how at this point, Google Maps is entirely without competition just because it is the default.

Not even when Google Maps sucks do people switch away – often because many don’t even know there are alternatives.

(And btw, this issue isn’t just like that in one German city, Google Maps is here like that in many places).

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