Published on August 4th, 2016 | by Guest

Google vs. Apple: Which Maps App Should You be Using?

In the past few years, technology has becoming an increasingly popular addition to the driving experience. From the ever-popular online driving course to digital maps, technology has changed the face of driving forever.

That’s why Apple’s release of its own map app has caused such an upset. Beginning with the iOS 6, Apple phones will no longer have Google Maps, but will feature Apple’s own map application. Shortly after, Google announced an update to its own maps to keep things competitive. This raises one important question; which map is the best?

Public Transportation

While Apple is marketing a different product, it seems that they have taken a couple of pages from Google. Apple’s map features a turn-by-turn navigation style that is identical to Google’s. The application also uses a traffic viewer to help users see faster routes and using traffic reports to change routes that have slowed due to traffic. While all of these features are nice, they are also the standard that Google Maps has set.

One thing that Apple lacks, however, is an option for travel by public transportation. This is a large weakness that alienates a large section of Apple’s urban audience, so why did they choose not to include it? Well, most cities offer their public transportation routes through GTFS, or General Transit Data Feed. While this service is completely free to use, it was also engineered by Google, which is likely why Apple will not be using it in their own application.

Siri

Apple should get a leg up on Google thanks to Siri, right? Siri is able to provide users with information like where to find restaurants or gas stations nearby, as well as an estimated time of arrival.

While Siri has become a popular feature of Apple products, it functions very much like a normal GPS in this regard. While Siri is a solid addition to Apple’s map application, it does not do much more than any other GPS app on the market.

Nearby Search

Both Google and Apple have a feature that allows users to look up local restaurants and businesses near them. Apple does have a particular edge in this area, though.

Apple’s search not only shows the base results, but it includes Yelp reviews. This means that Apple users can read reviews of various restaurants before deciding to go anywhere, which is a major plus in terms of convenience.

Bird’s Eye View

The newest innovation has been for map application to offer a bird’s eye view of a location. Google recently started doing what it calls “Tour Guide,” while Apple refers to their program as “3D Flyover.”

In short, these features do virtually the same thing. They offer a view of a location from above to help in navigating the area. There is a slight performance difference in Apple’s favor, however.

Apple’s 3D Flyover offers much more intense details than Google’s Tour Guide, and the images are created in real-time without sacrificing stunning visual details.

Given their history, it is no surprise that Apple has an edge here. In the past three years, they took over several mapping companies, two of which specialized in 3D modeling. With these new acquisitions, it is logical that they would offer a better 3D service than Google.

Final Verdict

It is impossible to deny that Apple took a lot of the amazing features from Google without really altering them at all. From turn-by-turn navigation to classic search features, Apple functions in much the same way as any traditional GPS application.

There are some differences, however, and they are worth taking note of. By not including public transportation, Apple’s map feature will likely be far less useful than Google Maps to users that live in large cities. On the flip side, there are other areas that Apple excels in.

Their 3D rendering of a landscape is ideal for anybody planning any kind of road trip and offers far superior navigation than Google’s. For this reason, Apple wins among consumers that find themselves traveling a lot.

Each application has strengths and weaknesses, and ultimately the victor is decided by personal preference and unique user needs.

Tags: app, Apple, google, Maps, vs