Physical Address

304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124

4 Things Apple Maps Does Better Than Google Maps


Google doesn’t offer features like this. You can ask for directions using directions, sure, and the directions take into account the arrival time. You can also get a list of arrival times if you find a bus stop, which is useful in some cases, but you can’t just get a list of arrival times for all the stops near you, which is good if we’re trying to choose between several options. Google should hack this, because it’s nice to have.

Integration with the Apple Ecosystem

I’m a fan of messing around Apple Shortcutsan automation platform built into Apple devices. For example: I added a “Save my parking” button to my phone’s home page. I couldn’t create a shortcut like this for Google Maps because Google doesn’t offer any kind of Apple Shortcuts integration. This is just one example of how Google differs from Apple’s ecosystem.

And there are integrations built into Apple’s apps and features. The calendar app on my Mac and iPhone defaults to opening maps when I click on an address. Siri switches to Maps when I ask for directions. If the Apple app provides directions it will work through Apple Maps. You might call this unfair, sure, but Google does the same thing on Android. Google Maps is tightly integrated with the rest of the company’s smartphones, and this integration can make life easier for people who use these services.

It’s just a wash

4 Things Apple Maps Does Better Than Google Maps

Courtesy of Justin Pot

Google Maps, over time, has had many things grafted onto it. Nothing makes this more obvious than opening all the apps and seeing the difference. Apple Maps sports fewer tools, fewer buttons, and in my opinion the location provided on the map is more useful (probably because, unlike Google, less is paid).

Now, I’m not the first person to say that Apple’s software is cleaner than Google’s, and I’ll be the first to admit that the difference is permanent. But I think Apple’s design does a better job of keeping it out of your way, which is needed when you’re trying to get around.

Pointing to these features does not mean that Google Maps does nothing better than Apple Maps. Google’s platform has a huge head start on enterprise content, for one thing, and even after a decade Apple hasn’t caught up. I noticed this especially on a recent trip to Peru, where Apple Maps was basically useless. I hope that people will contact me and tell me about other things that Google does well, which is fine. I just want to say that Apple Maps is great now and in several ways I find it better than Google Maps.

If you haven’t tried Apple Maps in a while, I highly recommend you do. You may be surprised.



Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *