The best Maps App
Apple Maps is, without a doubt, one of the best navigation tools available today. It offers a range of incredible features that make getting from one place to another both simple and efficient. One of the standout features is its ability to display speed limits, helping drivers stay aware and safe on the road. Additionally, it provides real-time alerts for important details like the location of police officers or traffic jams, giving users the opportunity to adjust their driving accordingly. What makes it even more impressive is that Apple Maps doesn’t just notify you about traffic jams—it actively tries to reroute you to avoid them, ensuring you reach your destination as quickly as possible. By automatically offering the fastest route and allowing users to customize their journey by avoiding highways or tolls, Apple Maps helps save both time and money. It also excels in lane guidance, clearly showing which lane you should be in to avoid missing an exit or turn. This feature, combined with its visual cues on the screen, ensures you don’t even have to look at the map while driving, as the directions are seamlessly displayed for easy access. All of these features come together to make Apple Maps not just a good navigation app, but an exceptional one, surpassing other maps in terms of usability, accuracy, and user-friendly design. For all these reasons, Apple Maps truly stands out as a superior choice for navigation.
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Marginally better than no navigation
I’ve used Apple Maps alongside other navigation programs as well as a dedicated Garmin GPS unit for years now. I’ve observed some incremental improvements but seriously, as a native app for IOS devices a makeover is long overdue.
Integration with contacts and Siri is laughable, and searches for points of interest is woeful. Features like a dedicated display of heading, current speed and current road speed limits, regardless of whether navigating or just displaying the current map while driving should be standard. An option to see satellite view on a CarPlay display would help immensely in comparing map location to the local terrain. And with a constant connect to the internet (cellular or WiFi) and GPS satellites, there’s no excuse for an outdated POI database or lack of current traffic conditions along your route.
Come on Apple, with this being the default / only selectable navigation option to display on a CarPlay device it’s way past time to invest in making this a powerhouse navigation app rather than appearing as an afterthought to take advantage of a few basic iPhone features.
Integration with contacts and Siri is laughable, and searches for points of interest is woeful. Features like a dedicated display of heading, current speed and current road speed limits, regardless of whether navigating or just displaying the current map while driving should be standard. An option to see satellite view on a CarPlay display would help immensely in comparing map location to the local terrain. And with a constant connect to the internet (cellular or WiFi) and GPS satellites, there’s no excuse for an outdated POI database or lack of current traffic conditions along your route.
Come on Apple, with this being the default / only selectable navigation option to display on a CarPlay device it’s way past time to invest in making this a powerhouse navigation app rather than appearing as an afterthought to take advantage of a few basic iPhone features.
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Great App
Apple Maps is a truly amazing app. Its UI is clean, minimalist, functional and easy to use. I have found it to be easier to use than Google Maps and it’s more fast and fluid. Its street view function is also better than Google’s one.
Out dated
Going on vacation and was trying to look up my hotel and it isn’t even on the map despite the hotel being there for at least 2 years. It shows where it should be but that’s it….otherwise useless.
Still fails to provide reliable navigation
I am a long-term denizen of Apple’s ecosystem, for the most part happily residing within the walled garden of MacOS, iPadOS, iOS, watchOS and tvOS. One big exception has been Apple Maps, which I’ve generally avoided since its diabolically poor offering at launch. I recently dipped my toe back in to try to take advantage of Maps’ deep integration with other aspects of the ecosystem, particularly Siri and calendar.
Sadly, Apple Maps remains unreliable in Australia, even for basic navigation. Many destinations that are available in Google Maps can’t be found in Apple Maps, the location of some destinations are inaccurate, and navigation routes, even to simple residential addresses within capital cities, can be either bizarrely convoluted or do not take account of recent or temporary changes.
Apple Maps still falls far short of Google Maps and, at least in Australia, appears to be a long way off being a viable alternative, if it ever will be.
Sadly, Apple Maps remains unreliable in Australia, even for basic navigation. Many destinations that are available in Google Maps can’t be found in Apple Maps, the location of some destinations are inaccurate, and navigation routes, even to simple residential addresses within capital cities, can be either bizarrely convoluted or do not take account of recent or temporary changes.
Apple Maps still falls far short of Google Maps and, at least in Australia, appears to be a long way off being a viable alternative, if it ever will be.
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I absolutely hate this horrid app.
Nothing in this world fuels me with more hatred than this stupid stupid app. Every day I wake up dreading opening this stupid app. I zoom in, the world becomes a snow ball. I zoom out, the darkness consumes. And why can’t I go to space? Niel the grass Armstrong once said “I went to the moon, why can’t I go to the moon on a couple of pixels on a stupid apple app” and I said that actually I don’t know that guy. Why did I have to pay for this. Not like this app but my phone, if it comes with this. Can I go back to the guy and ask for a refund? Probably not because he had a VERY thick Indian accent and I could not understand what he was telling me. I also said happy thanksgiving to him and felt horrible cause I remembered “oh he doesn’t celebrate this that’s why he’s open today” and I cried a little bit. It was really embarrassing and he was honestly fed up with me because when I asked for a new Apple ID he said “uhh yeah okay but it’s gonna take like a WHOLE lot longer on my part 🙄🙄” and that was spooky. Anyways sorry off track, uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh oh yeah uhhhh can I get a double ham slam grande meal? Wait no, I hate this app, oh yeah! Bye I guess…. Everyone always leaves…..I doubt you even read this far….you hate me….i get it 😔😔JUST LEAVE ME. LEAVE ALREADY. GOODBYE. STOP IT. GET AWAY FROM ME. ILL CALL THE POLICE. Ugh my fingers are getting tired, stay homo, British cigarettes, uhhh buy gold BYEEEE
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Use Google Maps instead
I’ve switched almost all my products to Apple but Maps is the one that I still cannot use.
I’ve tried it off and on over the last month to see if I can use it but while the turn by turn UI is arguably better than Google I get the same issues repeated:
- screen will suddenly lock while driving (Google maps never does this)
- screen will often go dark and needs to be touched to wake (separate to the sudden lock issue)
- it loses reception in tunnels really easily and loses directions. Again I drive with the same route with Google and no issues
- the re-route option is awful and I’ve had several occasions where it offers a shorter route, you tap yes, and it gets confused about where it is and gives you no route at all!
- it often zooms out to show you traffic jams. No alternatives, just shows you the jam. But I want to see the next turn coming up and it’s gone to this super zoomed out view and no way to zoom it back in
- turn by turn (ie the above) is actually the only thing it’s good for, everything else, like reviews or even finding the place in the first instance, I use Google Maps
I really want to transition off Google completely but honestly there is no comparison between Google Maps and this product. Don’t bother
I’ve tried it off and on over the last month to see if I can use it but while the turn by turn UI is arguably better than Google I get the same issues repeated:
- screen will suddenly lock while driving (Google maps never does this)
- screen will often go dark and needs to be touched to wake (separate to the sudden lock issue)
- it loses reception in tunnels really easily and loses directions. Again I drive with the same route with Google and no issues
- the re-route option is awful and I’ve had several occasions where it offers a shorter route, you tap yes, and it gets confused about where it is and gives you no route at all!
- it often zooms out to show you traffic jams. No alternatives, just shows you the jam. But I want to see the next turn coming up and it’s gone to this super zoomed out view and no way to zoom it back in
- turn by turn (ie the above) is actually the only thing it’s good for, everything else, like reviews or even finding the place in the first instance, I use Google Maps
I really want to transition off Google completely but honestly there is no comparison between Google Maps and this product. Don’t bother
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Neat, clean. Needs work.
Update: I’m planning a route but when I share from Maps, the recipient only sees the destination, not the waypoints or route. Disappointing. Prev: The new topographic maps for parks are nice, but I’d love to see it as its own layer (explore, transit, topographical, etc). I appreciate how clean Apple Maps are. No clutter needlessly obscuring views, like other maps. I do, however, think Apple Maps could be so much more than it is. I’d love to see 3D terrain maps for use in live and offline navigation modes. It would be useful to be able to import paths I’ve recorded and input coordinates (various formats) for hiking and camping waypoints, and to see destination bearing when exploring. Also, why isn’t there a dark mode when navigating ? Lastly, there seems to be a glitch in adding places to Guides if multiple locations are in the same vicinity. This was noticed when trying to add parking location to walk-in campsite location, feet (or miles) apart. Maps will indicate that the location I’m trying to add is already saved to the guide. It’s not. It’s a separate location. smh
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Voice directions
I wish Apple would bring the detailed voice directions maps once had, sounding out the address of the destination rather than just the red visual end route it uses more
Useless without satellite view navigation
I really really really want to use Apple Maps. But even after all those years I still can’t. Navigation while showing a satellite view is an ABSOLUTE MUST, and for some reason it is still missing this most basic capability that renders the whole app useless.
