I had an opportunity to REALLY test the accuracy and reliability of our mapping software. I was so glad Google released their app for the iPhone so I could give it a whirl along with Apple and Garmin.
I had to reinspect abound 20 homes, spread all over Southern Indiana, Utica, Jeffersonville, New Albany, Lanesville, New Salisbury, Corydon, Floyds Knobs and parts in between. Roads that are nothing like Shively, Louisville, St. Matthews. No, these were areas that had more cows and chickens by a factor of 10 than humans. Beautiful country but narrow roads and most were designed by those same cows. I used the Apple maps for 90% of the test, and believe me it didn't fail, not once, not even missing the addresses by a few feet. It was really amazing. The Apple maps also were more detailed than Google, that is the dogleg twist and turns were more noticeable with Apple while Google would smooth out many of the turns other than those of a tighter angle. Not a problem other than you didn't have the advantage of knowing which way the road was always going to be as you drove unfamiliar territory. One GREAT feature of Apple's app is it doesn't "dim" on you no matter how long the time of use, while the Google app would continually dim and if I didn't hit the phone with a finger it would eventually go to sleep and I would have to reenter my passcode to then go back to the app. That was annoying. Another great advantage of the Apple map was the use of the phone while using maps. With Apple a text, email, phone call, the Apple app would put a thin green bar at the top of the phone so when you were done with whatever you were doing you touched the green and instantly were back with the maps. With Google you had to get out of the app. answer the phone and when done then go back to your icons and once again hit the Google Maps icon to get back to where you were. This was VERY annoying. Another betterment for Apple was the amount of coaching the Siri girl gave you when driving. This was much more like the Garmin GPS I had gotten used to. Apple is talking to you as you approach, and then need to make your turn while Google was much more of an introvert, speaking very little. I guess that isn't a huge deal but it sure would be if you were in heavy traffic and needing to watch the road and relying on voice commands to help you make your proper turn. There was one address that gave Apple, Google and Garmin fits, due to the country road having the strangest numbering of the homes. All three put me at house numbers in the 140 to 150 range while I was looking for 206. I tried this using all three systems and they all made the same mistake, however the crazy numbering of the homes was the problem. After calling the place I was looking for I was told the numbers go from 190 to 206, then the very next home was 306 so count this mistake to the county officials.......however there was a HUGE error with Google when using it to try and find the location IF YOU DROVE PAST IT. I wanted to see where Google was going to take me and a joyride it was. I was taken at least 10 miles beyond the address, and on two different occasions Google told me to take a turn that wasn't there, one of the turns looked like it was an exit ramp off an expressway where you loop around. Finally it took me back to the road my PREVIOUS home had been located. If you are used to using Garmin and I imagine TomTom you would have been told to turn around, make a U turn and go back. Not Google. Finally the way the maps look. Google has two views when in street view, one appearing as if you were in a helicopter above your vehicle with more on a "long" view. It was cool, but very jerky and constantly moving, it was like the map was "stuttering", moving back and forth as you drove along. If you changed the setting to "your car" (they don't call it that, it's an icon) then it smooths out and has more of the view of the Apple and Garmin maps. One great advantage of the Apple maps is the info. on the screen. At the top the Apple map shows the time of arrival and the distance to your destination, like the Garmin. Not so with Google, it has nothing. In the lower right corner is an icon that if you bring up will show you the distance to the next turn, an arrow showing which way you turn, then the next and so on to the destination, just like MapQuest does on our computers. If you then switch to the Satellite view even that goes away and I could not find a way back to street view. Satellite view is cool for sure but now you have lost even what little info. the street view gave you. The ONLY advantage I could find with the Google maps was the ability to zoom into a location much closer than you could with Apple. I looked at my home with both and Apple would stop the zoom much further out than Google but other than that there wasn't a single thing, not anything that was near as well done as Apple. Satellite view, zooming were it. For the life of me I have NO idea why so many have downloaded the app for if folks will give the Apple map a try and compare I think they will find what I did. Apple has just begun this program, it will improve but I hope they don't scrap the many things they already give us for it's a far superior product. I mean I really gave this a test, as I drove these routes for days and didn't have but the one failure mentioned above. I would say the only advantage Garmin would have over either of the Apps would be the Satellite feature for with Apple or Google you have to have cell towers around for them to work well and in some parts of our country that may be a problem. I really get twisted over all the hype over Apple, it seems there are so many that can't wait to find a pebble and attempt to make it into a mountain and yes I guess some parts of the country are not mapped well but in our area I can't begin to complain. Once again it's not near as bad as the press wants you to think. John _______________________________________________ MacGroup mailing list [email protected] http://www.math.louisville.edu/mailman/listinfo/macgroup
