Apple Maps
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Transit directions are rolling out to Apple Maps users in Europe
Apple took its time getting transit directions onto its maps, and even once it did Apple Maps users in countries outside the US were left wanting. Now, it seems it's finally rolling out transit directions coverage across Europe. According to MacRumors, travelers in cities across France, Germany, Spain and potentially other countries are now able to use the function, which provides real-time information on public transport such as buses, trams and trains.
Apple is officially done rebuilding its maps in the US
To say Apple Maps stumbled out of the gate is putting it mildly; it quickly became an internet punchline when it launched in 2012, and left the company with the unenviable job of fixing it. Since then, Apple has been rebuilding the most fundamental part of the experience -- the base maps themselves -- and today the company says it's finally done. Well, in the United States, anyway.
Apple will take a 'deeper look' at disputed borders in Maps
Apple might just rethink its approach to disputed borders following its change to Crimea for Russian users. A spokeswoman told the BBC in a statement that Apple would have a "deeper look" at how it handles contested borders in Maps in the wake of the controversy, and that there might be more changes as a result of the review. You shouldn't expect it to reverse its Crimea changes, however. The company stressed that it was only labeling Crimea as Russian to obey that country's law, and that the territory would still be listed as Ukranian for everyone else.
Apple caves on demands to show Crimea as part of Russia in its apps
Apple's Maps and Weather apps now display Crimea as a Russian territory when viewed from within the country. According to the BBC, the company was pressured by the State Duma to do so, and had originally suggested displaying Crimea as an "undefined territory". However, Apple finally caved to the Russian officials' demands, according to Vasily Piskaryov, chairman of the Duma security and anti-corruption committee. In contrast to Apple's Maps and Weather apps, Google Maps shows Crimea as belonging to neither Ukraine nor Russia.
Apple's improved Maps expand across the northeast US
Apple is starting to roll out its major Maps update more broadly across the US. It overhauled the app for iOS 13 with revamped maps for parts of California and Texas, and now it's expanding its new and improved Maps across the northeast US.
Navigation apps still lack railroad safety info the NTSB requested
Your phone's GPS app can alert you when you approach a speed trap or accident -- but will remain silent if you come upon a dangerous railroad crossing. Politico reported that Google, Apple and Microsoft have yet to add information on US railroad crossings to their navigation apps, almost three years after a request from The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The agency asked several tech companies to update their map apps after a 2015 incident in which a truck driver following Google Maps turned onto the railroad tracks and caused a fatal collision. So far, only Garmin and TomTom -- which both make GPS devices -- have complied with the NTSB's demands.
Apple is sending cars to help build its own Street View
Google's Street View cars are well known, but you may also soon see vehicles from its biggest rival: Apple. The company today confirmed that in order to improve Apple Maps, it's embarking on a mission to drive cars all over the world, starting in the US, UK and Ireland. It's created a dedicated website detailing the locations it intends to visit and when it expects to be there, which may allow you to "accidentally" get snapped by one of its vehicles. From June 15th, Apple will visit a number of US states and cities, including California, Florida and New York, as well as London, Birmingham and Essex in the UK.
Nokia's Here Maps finally returns to iOS
Although Nokia is no longer in the smartphone game, it has remained committed to its other businesses. One of those is its mapping division, which almost six months ago debuted a new Android app capable of giving Google Maps a run for its money. At the same time, Nokia teased the launch of a completely overhauled iOS app, but its development has been shrouded in relative secrecy. Nokia pulled its first iOS Maps app after admitting things "went horribly wrong," and its developers have had a lot of work to do to make sure it doesn't suffer a repeat this time around. The company believes it's ticked all the requisite boxes as it's now available to download on the App Store. Is it good enough to replace Google Maps or condemn Apple Maps to more misery? We took the chance to preview the app and find out.
Nokia is bringing its mapping app back to iOS
Already a big deal on Windows Phone and soon to make its way to Android via Samsung, Nokia's kept quiet over whether HERE Maps will ever make a return to Apple devices. More than eight months after it pulled the original HERE Maps app from the App Store, citing iOS 7 compatibility issues that "harmed the user experience", the company has now confirmed that a new iOS app is indeed on the cards. Speaking with the Wall Street Journal, Nokia SVP Sean Fernback admitted that after the launch of the first app "went horribly wrong," the mapping team has regrouped and is now on course to launch a revamped iOS and new Android app before the end of the year. Given that we're likely to see a new iPhone (or iPhones) in less than a week, Nokia's unique mapping features, like true offline maps, will need to work flawlessly on iOS 8 if it's to avoid a repeat of last time.
Former Navteq executive Torsten Krenz joins Apple's mapping team
9to5Mac reports that Apple this month hired Torsten Krenz to join the company's mapping team. Though not a household name, Krenz brings a considerable and impressive amount of mapping expertise to the table. Previously, Krenz served as an executive at Navteq, a Chicago-based company which provided detailed geographic and mapping data to companies as varied as Garmin, Yahoo, and Microsoft. Navteq was subsequently acquired by Nokia in the late 2000s whereupon Krenz became the director of regional map and content for Nokia's HERE mapping program. Though Apple still can't seem to shake the notion that Apple Maps is laughably less reliable than Google Maps, the company has steadily and rather quietly improved the service quite a bit over the past two years. Earlier this summer, for instance, we reported that Apple had begun rolling out improved mapping data on a daily basis. Of course, one lingering feature which hasn't yet been incorporated into Apple's Maps app is transit directions. This remains a source of disappointment for anyone who lives in a city environment and would like to have everything neatly bundled within a single app. Now this isn't to say Apple doesn't have this on the agenda. On the contrary, the company has purchased a few notable transit apps over the last year or so. Specifically, Apple last summer acquired the transit app Embark along with the popular transit app HopStop. With iOS 8 likely just around the corner, it's worth mentioning that there's a possibility Apple Maps will add a "Flyover city tours" feature that will present users with a guided tour of landmarks from major cities around the world.
Apple now routinely updating Maps with user corrections
After relying on Google Maps for five years, Apple launched its own Maps app in September of 2012 to joyful fanfare that quickly changed to befuddled confusion. The app's maps were buggy, sometimes directing you to drive across bodies of water to get where you wanted to go. It was bad enough that Tim Cook openly apologized for the service. Time has improved the service, but problems reported by users seldom seemed to get fixed ... until recently. Reddit user heyyoudvd has noticed that Apple has been updating Apple Maps regularly, starting with once a week on Fridays for the past month, before suddenly moving to updating every day within the last week. This one Reddit user has seen more improvements made to Apple Maps data in the last month than in the previous 2 years combined. The new daily updates are coming at 3 a.m. Eastern time. Over the past month, Maps were being updated once a week (every Friday) for me, but now, that has improved further. Over the past few days, I've noticed an update occurevery single day at 3am Eastern. At exactly 3am, Apple pushes out new data and corrects many of the problems that users had previously reported. For example, I noticed that if I open the app at 2:59 but then again at 3:01, the map would reload itself, and a bunch of POI corrections and updates would suddenly be present. Every day, a handful of corrections in my area are made (many of which are the ones I reported in the past week), and after just a few days of this, I'm starting to notice a real improvement in my area. Apple Maps has had a difficult life, from its rough debut to not making an appearance at this year's WWDC due to reported shake ups in the development team. These updates are a step in the right direction. Hopefully when Maps relaunches in iOS 8 we'll be seeing a new side of the navigation app.
The Onion: Apple to re-arrange earth to match Maps app
Now this is just funny. A hilarious video from The Onion states that Apple will respond to errors in its Maps app by rearranging the earth and its physical laws so that they match. Tim Cook is "quoted" in the parody as saying, "Apple is committed to making the best user experience possible. That's why we are working to dismantle the Brooklyn Bridge and put London in Canada." Very funny. Apple Promises To Fix Glitches In Map Software By Rearranging Earth's Geography
The TUAW Daily Update Podcast for April 28, 2014
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. The Daily Update has been moved to a new podcast host in the past few days. Current listeners should delete the old podcast subscription and subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.
Skype makes group video calling free and other news for April 28, 2014
Good afternoon, everyone. This week we've got Skype going all "Google+" with the video chats and Apple Maps expands its flyover feature a bit. Skype has made group video calling free for all users. This used to be a premium feature for users on Windows, OS X and XBox One. The service is now free on those devices, and the company says it will add additional platforms soon. Stonehenge has been added to Apple Maps flyover feature. Now you can explore the mysterious structure from home. Just don't crush it.
iBeacon tech at Coachella and other news for April 9, 2014
Here's your AM roundup of Apple news. This time around it's Apple vs. Samsung (again), iBeacon goes to Coachella and improving Apple Maps. Apple has laid out its claim against Samsung, and it's a whopper. The Cupertino company is after US$2.2 billion in damages. The President of Quantitative Economic Solutions, who is working on the case on Apple's behalf, noted that Apple suffered particular damage because Samsung was able to pick up first-time buyers, who are often loyal to their chosen companies. iBeacon tech to be featured at Coachella. The popular music festival is the latest on a growing number of high-profile venues to adopt the young technology. The official 2014 iOS app features iBeacon support, and the event's official website says, "Use Bluetooth to interact with beacons placed around the grounds." If you attend the show, check it out. Get notified of resolved errors in Apple Maps. MacRumors has noticed that, when you report a problem in Apple Maps, you can now opt to receive a text message from Apple when that issue has been resolved. That's pretty thoughtful and helps users feel like their input is actually affecting change.
How to use the iOS Compass for basic land navigation
iOS ships with a basic compass that you can use to find your basic heading when driving or hiking. It's not as robust as some third-party orienteering apps, but it will work in a pinch when these other apps are not available. When you launch the compass, you may be required to calibrate it by tilting your iPhone until you fill in a circle. This tilting circle is new to iOS 7 and differs from the figure 8 calibration in iOS 6 and earlier versions. Once calibration is done, the compass will show you magnetic north by default, but you can switch to true north by going to Settings > Compass and turning on the toggle for "True North". That long, bold white line is your compass needle and shows you the current direction that you are facing in degrees and direction (77°E, for example). As an added bonus, the compass uses location services and will pull down your city, state and exact GPS coordinates. The four major directions (N,S,E,W) are clearly labeled on the compass face. If you want to find north, hold your phone level in your hand and slowly turn yourself until your white compass needle matches up with N and its red arrow. You can do the same with all the major directions by turning with your phone in your hand until the compass needle aligns with your intended direction. If you know the direction that you need to walk (15°N, for example), you can lineup the compass needle to that heading and then tap on the compass face to lock it. The heading will be bolded and highlighted with a short white line on the compass face. As you walk around, the compass will track your direction and will draw a red arc on the inside of the compass dial that shows you how far you are deviating from your intended target. When you are done, just tap on the compass face and your heading point will be removed. The compass app does not include standard compass features like orienteering lines and a direction of travel arrow for use with a map, but the compass does link to Apple Maps and you can use that in a pinch to navigate. Just tap on the GPS coordinates in the Compass app to launch Maps. You then can tap the navigation icon in the bottom left until you turn on compass mode, which will orient the map with magnetic north. Once you know where north is on the map, you can find your target on the map and guesstimate your direction of travel. This is only a tool that should be used as last resort or for fun. As Apple points out, "the accuracy of the compass can be affected by magnetic or environmental interference; even the magnets in the iPhone earbuds can cause a deviation. Use the digital compass only for basic navigation assistance. Don't rely on it to determine precise location, proximity, distance, or direction."
How to share your location using Apple Maps
If you need to tell someone where you are located and they are not familiar with local landmarks, you don't have to fuss with a third-party app. There's an easy way to share your coordinates using Apple's built-in Maps application. Here's how: Open up Apple Maps on your iOS device. Select the blue icon in the bottom-left corner. This will pinpoint your current location within Maps. Tap on the red pushpin to bring up additional details on your location. Tap on "Share" in the upper-right-hand corner. Select your preferred method of sharing. You can choose from Messages, Mail, Twitter and Facebook. If you have any other ways of sharing your location in iOS, please let us in the comments below.
Google Maps for iPhone losing share to Apple Maps app
Despite a launch that was misdirecting drivers, moving Australian towns and otherwise making people quite unhappy, the Apple Maps app appears to be not only getting over its initial issues, but also gaining a tremendous amount of market share -- at the expense of Google Maps. 9to5Mac's Ben Lovejoy is reporting that the user base for Google Maps dropped significantly after the introduction of iOS 6 in September of 2012, which is of course when Apple replaced Google's map and navigation app with their own app. But even with the reappearance of the Google Maps app in the App Store, Google Maps lost 23 million iPhone users in the US in the last year. Numbers from ComScore apparently show that 35 million iPhone owners used Apple Maps in September of 2013, while only 6 million users were using Google Maps. About 2 million of those using Google Maps are on older versions of the iPhone that cannot run Apple's Maps app. To quote Lovejoy, "when Apple pre-installs software, mass-market owners don't go looking for alternatives." That's even true when the alternative -- in this case Google Maps -- is technically a much more accurate application.
Apple acquires Canadian location data company Locationary
Apple is looking to beef up its Maps and location services by acquiring location data company Locationary. The Canadian startup uses crowdsourcing to create a database with up-to-date location data and local business information. Apple spokesperson Steve Dowling confirmed the acquisition to AllThingsD and added that "Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans." Details on the terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.
Australian firefighters call Apple Maps 'dangerous'
There seems to be no end to the grievances when it comes to Australia and the inaccuracy of Apple's mapping information. Case in point: The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Australia's Country Fire Authority (CFA) is claiming Apple Maps is responsible for creating "potentially dangerous situations" for those using the agency's FireReady iOS app to determine the location of wildfires. The CFA contends that it was "forced" to use Apple Maps within its app, despite the fact that Google offers an SDK to integrate its maps within iOS apps. Perhaps the CFA wasn't aware of this fact, in which case this seems like an open door for Google to swoop in and save the day in a PR win. The problem the CFA has with Apple's maps involves the placement of labels for townships, which appear centered in their respective regions rather than over the actual towns they represent. The fact that they're not visible at all zoom levels is also of concern. You'll remember that Apple Maps caused a bit of a stir in Australia back in December 2012 for a more significant misplacing of a town, when Mildura was transported 70 kilometers from its actual location, causing motorists to drive into the middle of the Murray-Sunset National Park instead.
