Tweet
The Age (Melbourne, Australia)
September 22, 2012 Saturday
First Edition
Ararat in Armenia? Apple Maps turns sour
by ASHER MOSES AND LUCY BATTERSBY
APPLE's new map application for iPhones and iPads has been panned and
derided on the first days of its release for incomplete directions,
poor location ability and basic mistakes.
Users have already found roads, businesses and even entire towns such
as Mansfield, Goulburn, Kiama, and Cairns in the wrong places.
Apple released its new operating system - called iOS 6 - this week,
which removes Google Maps from devices and replaces it with Apple's
own offering based on mapping data from TomTom.
The new iPhone 5 comes with iOS 6 installed and existing devices can
be updated at any time.
In Melbourne, users have found Apple's map ignores the city's toll
roads, instead sending drivers on long diversions.
"This is especially disastrous if you want to get directions to
Melbourne Airport from the east or the south-east, both of which rely
on toll roads for a quick and direct route to [and from] the airport.
Using my house as a starting point, Maps currently sends me on a route
that covers an extra 15 kilometres, turning what should be a 45km
journey into a 60km journey in order to avoid tolls," iPhone owner
Matt Hui said.
Another reader, Charles Edge, said there was no way to select toll
roads on the Apple map.
"On a specialised GPS, routes and road types can be selected. Under
the Apple system, we get three alternatives, all of which bypass toll
roads and we can't find any way to make it put them back," he said.
A search for the regional town of Ararat sent The Age straight to
Ararat, Armenia, without offering an option to view the closer
Victorian town.
And new 3D images are technically impressive, but visually
disappointing. Roads and railway tracks appear to end at right angles
at tunnel entrances while buildings, cars, people and trees have
freakish angular qualities.
Melbourne's Federation Square comes up cleanly, however.
Compared with the Google map it replaced, Apple's has no street view,
limited traffic information and the most basic public transport
information (no timetables).
Apple told The Age that its Maps app was "a major initiative and we
are just getting started with it".
"We are continuously improving it and as Maps is a cloud-based
solution the more people that use it the better it will get," a
spokesman said.
September 22, 2012 Saturday
First Edition
Ararat in Armenia? Apple Maps turns sour
by ASHER MOSES AND LUCY BATTERSBY
APPLE's new map application for iPhones and iPads has been panned and
derided on the first days of its release for incomplete directions,
poor location ability and basic mistakes.
Users have already found roads, businesses and even entire towns such
as Mansfield, Goulburn, Kiama, and Cairns in the wrong places.
Apple released its new operating system - called iOS 6 - this week,
which removes Google Maps from devices and replaces it with Apple's
own offering based on mapping data from TomTom.
The new iPhone 5 comes with iOS 6 installed and existing devices can
be updated at any time.
In Melbourne, users have found Apple's map ignores the city's toll
roads, instead sending drivers on long diversions.
"This is especially disastrous if you want to get directions to
Melbourne Airport from the east or the south-east, both of which rely
on toll roads for a quick and direct route to [and from] the airport.
Using my house as a starting point, Maps currently sends me on a route
that covers an extra 15 kilometres, turning what should be a 45km
journey into a 60km journey in order to avoid tolls," iPhone owner
Matt Hui said.
Another reader, Charles Edge, said there was no way to select toll
roads on the Apple map.
"On a specialised GPS, routes and road types can be selected. Under
the Apple system, we get three alternatives, all of which bypass toll
roads and we can't find any way to make it put them back," he said.
A search for the regional town of Ararat sent The Age straight to
Ararat, Armenia, without offering an option to view the closer
Victorian town.
And new 3D images are technically impressive, but visually
disappointing. Roads and railway tracks appear to end at right angles
at tunnel entrances while buildings, cars, people and trees have
freakish angular qualities.
Melbourne's Federation Square comes up cleanly, however.
Compared with the Google map it replaced, Apple's has no street view,
limited traffic information and the most basic public transport
information (no timetables).
Apple told The Age that its Maps app was "a major initiative and we
are just getting started with it".
"We are continuously improving it and as Maps is a cloud-based
solution the more people that use it the better it will get," a
spokesman said.