I'm not sure if you're aware, but the launch of Apple Maps went poorly. After a rough first impression, an apology from the CEO, several years of patching holes with data partnerships and some glimmers of light with long-awaited transit directions and improvements in business, parking and place data, Apple Maps is still not where it needs to be to be considered a world-class service.
Maps needs fixing.
Apple, it turns out, is aware of this, so it's re-building the maps part of Maps.
It's doing this by using first-party data gathered by iPhones with a privacy-first methodology and its own fleet of cars packed with sensors and cameras. The new product will launch in San Francisco and the Bay Area with the next iOS 12 beta and will cover Northern California by fall.
Every version of iOS will get the updated maps eventually, and they will be more responsive to changes in roadways and construction, more visually rich depending on the specific context they're viewed in and feature more detailed ground cover, foliage, pools, pedestrian pathways and more.
This is nothing less than a full re-set of Maps and it's been four years in the making, which is when Apple began to develop its new data-gathering systems. Eventually, Apple will no longer rely on third-party data to provide the basis for its maps, which has been one of its major pitfalls from the beginning.
(Score: 2, Informative) by anubi on Monday July 02 2018, @10:47AM (8 children)
I was looking for a good offline map system, as I have intentions of going out into the desert, and wanted to insure that if I got turned around, I could get back. Although I like Google Maps the best, they have an annoying habit of disappearing after so many days all by themselves, and I haven't figured out how to make them stay there after I have loaded them while online.
I found and loaded Maps.Me.
It is not as "polished" as Google Maps, but it is a heckuva lot more trustworthy in the sense that if I find myself in the middle of nowhere, all I have is my GPS android phone, no cell tower, no wifi, and all I can see is GPS, it will work.
Seems like all the big boys put out eye candy, but I can't trust 'em to be there should I need 'em, so really no sense in messing much with them. Its too much like hiring a beautiful secretary, but she won't show up for work on time, nor do her work, as she's too busy with her friends on the phone, but boy is she something to look at! Executive-grade presentation. I'd rather have my simple old IDI diesel van than the fanciest little show-car when it comes to being in the desert. Now, if I was trying to impress some bimbo that is easily swayed by demonstrating disposal of wealth, it would be a different story.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 02 2018, @11:33AM
Maps.Me used to be good, but has been overrun by advertisements over the past year. YMMV.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by LoRdTAW on Monday July 02 2018, @11:37AM (1 child)
They made this thing called paper and a compass. Maps can be printed on it and retained without flash memory or batteries. You should check that shit out.
(seriously, if you're going to hike in the middle of nowhere, DO NOT rely on technology. Learn to use a paper map and compass. Buy a separate handheld gps receiver which are ruggedized for outdoor use.)
(Score: 1) by anubi on Monday July 02 2018, @12:40PM
The GPS technology is here, and its so cheap I can take multiple receivers with me ( GPS phones ). I know about paper maps, and compasses, but I am often ignorant of my exact longitude and latitude, but GPS will tell me exactly where I am.
Yes, I do carry a magnetic compass with me as well, and an AAA road atlas. I just want to get away occasionally, to go meditate. Find a pretty place and camp for a few days...
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 3, Informative) by KritonK on Monday July 02 2018, @11:42AM (2 children)
If you are using Android, and don't mind doing a bit of setting up, I can recommend Cruiser [google.com]. You'll need to download offline data (map and POI) yourself and, if you want navigation, you will also have to build the required graphs yourself, using the desktop version [openstreetmap.org] of the program.
The application uses openstreetmap data and the Mapsforge [openstreetmap.org] and GraphHopper [openstreetmap.org] open source libraries. It is intended as a reference application for the former, hence the lack of polish in the setting up department. The application, however, has a clean interface, without flashy of trendy bits, and is my mapping application of preference.
(Score: 2) by cubancigar11 on Monday July 02 2018, @01:17PM (1 child)
Try Nokia maps [google.com]. It predominantly works offline.
(Score: 2) by KritonK on Tuesday July 03 2018, @06:59AM
True, but it is produced by one of the "big boys", whom anubi does not trust.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 02 2018, @11:58AM (1 child)
I just noticed that OsmAnd exists for IOS. If it's anything like the Android version, it will give you very detailed offline maps with everything under your control.
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Tuesday July 03 2018, @02:18PM
Eh, I've used OSMAnd for Android for several years but have been looking at switching lately. Its main advantage is that its open source, otherwise...it hasn't got much.
Three major issues:
1) Routing can take FOREVER for longer trips -- the ones you're likely to want GPS for. Adding waypoints can help...but I've been in situations where I missed the turn, and it took literally twenty minutes for OSMAnd to reroute. Marginally better than Google Maps, which just silently crashes and you don't find out until you're sitting there going "Wasn't I supposed to be turning eventually?"
2) The search sucks. It doesn't accept a full street address. It'll get you *close* to your destination, which is usually good enough, but there's plenty of times where I have to search for a map elsewhere in order to find the nearest cross street so I can plug that into OSMAnd. And for things like airports, other GPS apps will get you to a specific terminal while OSMAnd just gets you into the main airport drive after which you're on your own (which doesn't bother me any, but it DOES bother whoever I'm bringing to the airport because they always insist I put "Terminal B" into the GPS...so we end up using their phone instead.)
3) The routing kinda sucks in general. I'll have a 100 mile drive on an interstate, and it tries to drop me onto local city streets every few miles because it thinks driving five miles at 35-55MPH is better than seven miles at 70MPH. It lets you choose either the fastest route or the shortest route, and I always keep it set on fastest. I don't even want to know what kind of convoluted route it would come up with if I told it to look for the shortest one instead...
On the plus side...after a few trips using OSMAnd, I'm now very confident that I can drive from Boston to Pittsburgh without any assistance...because last time I spent most of the trip ignoring OSMAnd telling me to do stupid things which causes it to reroute forever which causes it to still be rerouting when I DID actually need it so I had to figure out those few spots on my own. Although that's a VERY simple drive when you aren't blindly trusting an idiot GPS...