Google Maps vs. Apple Maps
- Thread starter Cheetah Designs
- Start date
Apple maps is now available on the web in beta. I usually default to google maps but will try this out for a bit and see how it goes.
I don't really use maps much as I can't drive but I did download Google Maps as I'm used to it from when I had an Android phone a few years ago. As long as it tells me the route to walk to the nearest public transport I'm happy.
Soldato
I've been using Apple Maps as my main satnav since January and have been pleasantly surprised by it, so much so that it's now my go-to for satnav in the car. For years just defaulted to Google Maps but it felt like it was getting a bit bloaty and slow and I wasn't convinced it's re-routing ability around traffic and roadworks was that good. lol I always seemed to be stuck in road works and traffic when using it.
A nice bonus is that Apple Maps works nicely with CarPlay and my Apple Watch, and integrate into mail and other stuff well as you'd expect.
A nice bonus is that Apple Maps works nicely with CarPlay and my Apple Watch, and integrate into mail and other stuff well as you'd expect.
Commissario
Does Apple Maps understand mini roundabouts yet?
Man of Honour
No @Feek it seems to ignore them but I find it much of a non issue I’m happy to stick with it over Google maps.
Soldato
Does Apple Maps navigation have speed camera warnings? Google has some but for some reason misses a load.
Soldato
On a recent trip down the M1 and part of the M25 we were regularly reminded of speed cameras in Apple Maps. Didn't notice any that it missed but I also wasn't looking out for them specifically!
Soldato
I still find Tom Tom Go to be the best Satnav app with its ability to show which lane to be in for unknown areas.
It’s currently free for a year as well I believe.
It’s currently free for a year as well I believe.
Man of Honour
Corrrrr. I remember buying the tomtom app back in the early days (2009 perhaps?) which cost about £100. Was supposed to be lifetime but then they switched to subscription and mine got converted to a year or something.
Wouldn’t mind giving it a whirl.
Does it have the average speed check option? I had a physical tomtom once which was able to calculate your average speed when going through and average speed check zone which was cool.
Wouldn’t mind giving it a whirl.
Does it have the average speed check option? I had a physical tomtom once which was able to calculate your average speed when going through and average speed check zone which was cool.
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Commissario
I had the same thing, used to pay a subscription each month for the traffic updates as well and was happy to do so because at the time, it really was the best. When I changed cars and the new one had TomTom built in, I continued to pay for map updates and traffic until they decided last year that it was end of life and stopped doing maps and traffic.
Now I use Waze, it took a while to get used to it but I'm quite happy with it now. It does cameras quite well and I also have the pocketgpsworld speed camera app in the background. That still gets a camera database update every week but I don't find it quite so good any more as it relies on user contributions and I'm sure the amount of users has tumbled.
Another thing I didn't like about Apple/Google maps was that they don't display your current speed. I don't know if that's changed. TomTom always did and so does Waze.
Man of Honour
No that’s a good point - neither show live speed like Waze does unfortunately.
Commissario
Have they fixed the lag? When it first came out and existing subscribers were forced over to it, the performance, even on the newest phones was terrible. Your position lagged by between five and ten seconds which made it unusable in certain situations.
Soldato
- Joined
- 21 Sep 2020
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I still find that google is the best for traveling around. They just seem to work better for getting trains/trams etc sorted for you.
Apple maps is almost if not completely unusable in Tokyo for example. It couldn’t find a department store in Singapore either and wasn’t updating the trains times accurately at all in Paris a few months back whereas google was.
Just my two pence but google still miles ahead of everyone else.
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I too remember paying a fortune for that tomtom app, at that point in time it was the only app iirc that allowed you to use the ipod app in the background!
Apple maps is almost if not completely unusable in Tokyo for example. It couldn’t find a department store in Singapore either and wasn’t updating the trains times accurately at all in Paris a few months back whereas google was.
Just my two pence but google still miles ahead of everyone else.
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I too remember paying a fortune for that tomtom app, at that point in time it was the only app iirc that allowed you to use the ipod app in the background!
Soldato
Hmm great question. You know what it does seem to be a little behind
And the other thing I noticed is that when it tells you to turn off/take an exit at a roundabout, it doesn’t tell you name of the road, just the road you’re on right now
So I take it back, Tom Tom Go is rubbish
Soldato
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- 21 Sep 2020
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Not really, they were never going to survive once google maps announced it would be free. Their stock price plummeted.
Add to that they aren’t leaders in the galileo/gps for trekking/mountaineering, fishing, biking etc either, miles behind garmin where they could have moved into that field as well.
That's what I mean, they tried to stick to their existing business model, make an inferior app/experience, and then charge for it. They refused to evolve with the times and suffered as a result.
Commissario
The version before TomTom Go was superb. Worked well, maps were updated regularly, traffic information was superb.
So in their infinite wisdom, they declared it End of Life and replaced it with Go. That annoyed a lot of people who had bought it with the promise of it having lifetime support.