Having tried out Apple Maps some more... it really is awful
Oh sure, streets and roads are fine, and it has turn-by-turn, etc. etc., but... So many points of interest (POIs) are completely wrong. Some are in the wrong place, some ceased to exist years ago, and some are not listed at all and so do not even show up in a search
No use having turn-by-turn or a search function if it doesn't find the location you want, or it does find it but takes you to the wrong place.
I've tried it out for a few locations here in Cambridge. I've used it to check out areas I'm particularly familiar with, pubs, my walk to work, and so on.
Just on my walk to work there are several errors: Pubs are on the wrong side of the road, McDonald's is on the wrong side of a roundabout, a B&B is on the wrong block completely, an Indian restaurant that closed down five years ago is still shown, a branch of MFI that ceased to exist when MFI went into administration in 2008 is still shown...
I was out on Thursday night at a popular local pub that has been around for years in the same location: Google Maps has it in the correct location, while Apple Maps has it at the other end of the road and round a corner, while a different pub is shown in its place instead of on the opposite side of the road as it is in reality.
Mrs D and I went to London yesterday for my birthday. She took me to see the stage version of
War Horse (which is excellent btw).
War Horse was at the New London Theatre in Drury Lane, not far from Covent Garden. The theatre opened in 1973, and according to Wikipedia is well known for
Cats, which premiered there in 1981 and ran for 21 years. It's not some random little back-alley theatre that no one has heard of.
While in Covent Garden, I tested both Apple Maps and (via the web app) Google Maps.
I searched for "New London Theatre", and Apple Maps gave me a theatre in New London, Connecticut, USA.
I tried again, with "The New London Theatre". Apple Maps found nothing. I tried again with "New London Theatre London", and it gave me a location in New London, New Hampshire, USA. I tried "New London Theatre Drury Lane", and it gave me Drury Ln, New London, New Hampshire, USA. I tried "New London Theatre England", "New London Theatre UK"... all returned no results.
Mrs D suggested I try some other well-known theatres in the West End's "Theatreland".
"Savoy Theatre" gave me a theatre in Savoy, Illinois, USA.
"Queen's Theatre" gave me Shaftesbury Avenue, Harrow instead of Shaftesbury Avenue, London.
"Novello Theatre" gave me no results.
"Lyceum Theatre" gave me no results.
And what did Google Maps find? It found
every location first time, without problem, and without even needing to refine the search by adding "London" or "England" to the end (not that that helped with Apple Maps!).
Another test: Public transport.
The old Map app, which Mrs D still has on her iPhone 4S as she refuses to update to iOS6, would also handle directions via public transport as well as car or foot. She uses it regularly when she goes to London to see musicals (hence refusing to update to iOS6). Stick in a start point and an end point and it will tell you how to get there by public transport, with detailed information regarding e.g. where to walk to get the bus, which number and destination bus to get, what time the bus is and how long it will take... [This also still works via the Google Maps web app]
Apple Maps on iOS6? Ask it for a public transport route, and... it takes you to the App Store, to the section for transport apps. Useless
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