The rollout of Apple Maps in 2012 was not a good one. Routes to nowhere and mistakes filled the app. Now, though, after 13 years of refining and tweaking, the app is, as Justin Pot explains in WIRED, “pretty good now.” Pots explains four things Apple Maps does better than Google Maps, writing:
Little Audio Details
Apple Maps, in my opinion, is better at explaining in plain language what you need to do next while you’re driving. For example: Google Maps, when a turn is upcoming, will tell you to turn at a specific street after a certain number of feet. This, while technically correct, almost always leaves me feeling confused. Apple Maps, meanwhile, will tell me to pass the next traffic light and turn right at the one after it. That, to me, is a much clearer instruction. There are a lot of similar interactions. It feels like having a really good navigator sitting next to you.I also generally find Apple’s voices to be both clearer and more expressive, though that’s possibly subjective.
Quickly Check Transit Times
Apple Maps has a transit feature called “Nearby transit” that just shows a list of the incoming buses and trains near where I’m standing. I use this while waiting for a train at a stop and also when I’m almost ready to leave a bar or restaurant—I can quickly see the next few transit options and time my departure accordingly.Google doesn’t offer a feature like this. You can ask for directions using transit, sure, and those directions will take arrival times into account. You can also get a list of arrival times if you tap a specific bus station, which is useful in some circumstances, but you can’t just get a quick list of upcoming arrival times at all the stations near you, which is better if you’re trying to decide between multiple options. Google should probably steal this feature, since it’s really nice to have.
Integration With Apple’s Ecosystem
I’m a fan of messing around with Apple Shortcuts, the automation platform built into Apple devices. For example: I added a “Save my parking spot” button to my phone’s homepage. I couldn’t build a shortcut like that for Google Maps because Google doesn’t offer any kind of Apple Shortcuts integration. This is just one example of how Google doesn’t go out of its way to integrate with Apple’s ecosystem.And then there are the integrations built into Apple apps and features. The calendar app on my Mac and iPhone default to opening maps when I tap an address. Siri defaults to using Maps if I ask for directions. If an Apple app offers directions it’s going to work through Apple Maps. You could call this unfair, sure, but Google does the same thing on Android. Google Maps is tightly integrated with the rest of the company’s mobile OS, and that integration can make life easier for people who use those native services.
It’s Just Cleaner
Google Maps, over time, has had more and more stuff grafted onto it. Nothing makes this more obvious than opening both apps and noticing the contrast. Apple Maps sports fewer toolbars, fewer buttons, and in my opinion the geographic references offered on the map itself are more likely to be useful (possibly because, unlike with Google, fewer of them are paid advertisements).
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