Engineers’ work on cycling and public transit have transformed the app – but rural directions remain a sticking point

Archived version: https://archive.ph/hguLn

Excerpt:

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.

  • @[email protected]English
    14•11 months ago

    The new Futurama season dropped an Apple Maps punchline in the last episode that felt painfully out of date even for our timeline.

    I thought the writing had been decent up to that point, which made me realize how bad public perception still must be (on a product that works great now, imo)

    • @[email protected]English
      5•11 months ago

      Every few months I give Apple Maps another shot, most recently being two months ago, it still tried to drive me into a lake. Don’t get me wrong, aesthetically it has improved greatly! But direction wise, I wouldn’t trust my life with it.

    • Bo7aEnglish
      3•11 months ago

      You must not spend a lot of time outside of cities. Or maybe it just sucks in Canada? But as soon as you leave a city here it is a toss-up whether apple will get you where you are going, or to some random place ten miles away in an area with no cell coverage :p

      • @[email protected]English
        1•11 months ago

        I’ve found Apple really responsive to map updates if you include a photo of the issue in the report.

        Also the next version will let you download all the map data for a trip ahead of time. Looking forward to that!

        • Bo7aEnglish
          1•11 months ago

          I have sent photos, land descriptions, and even proof that I own the land in question. I sent a correction request from my own macbook, my work macbook, and a friend’s iphone. Some while standing at the place in question. Some standing at the wrong turn they make people take that adds over an hour to a 5 minute drive and then doesn’t actually get where it is going.

          No luck. I gave up. Now I put in delivery notes: Apple maps is wrong. Use google maps or another source if you don’t want to go for a swim.