Now that we're approaching a week of regular Apple Maps usage (meaning the non-developer testing variety), what is the actual general consensus of how well they're working or not working?

I've used them for driving directions a couple of times and in general use around San Francisco, and it's been great. But I can't believe there's any better place in the world to do that than here.

I do know I have had some terrible navigation experiences on google maps too... And since the knives are out for Apple, people are seeking out weirdness.

So basically, they've worked for me but I'm sure they've got bugs. Google's maps have bugs too--but they've had time to fix a lot of them, and Apple hasn't. What will be more damning is if Apple hasn't improved things in 3 or 6 or 12 months.

The road maps around Durango have been pretty good with the exception of a new county road it doesn't know about and one place where it asks me to make a U-turn that isn't legal.

The big issue I've found is with POI, but I think they'll get that stuff figured out sooner rather than later. For that stuff, I suspect that the more people help fix problems, the faster stuff will get fixed.

It's been a rough few days, but this will all be forgotten in 6 months, just like "You're holding it wrong."

Unless you're Superman, Flyover is more a simulator than a mapping solution, but I've lost hours exploring in it anyway.

Turn-by-turn has worked better for me in Montreal than some well known 3rd party nav apps.

Thanks to @thetransitapp, I'm not missing out on transit directions.

Points of Interest are thin. But if you live in an area with no good transit app and really bad mapping data, then you're going to be in a lot of pain until Apple has time to improve things. (Or Google Maps gets approved for the App Store)

It's iMovie, FCPX, or Xcode 4 gone mainstream. Rebuilding and repatriating are tough.

I wrote something earlier, but I'll rehash it again:

Apple was in an unenviable spot and had to make a decision. They could either renew their license with Google and live with a lackluster Maps app that they couldn’t control, or they could run with a lackluster Maps app of their own creation that they could control.

What would be lackluster about a Google Maps app? For one, it would suck in comparison to Google Maps on Android, (no turn-by-turn). It would also have ads.

So Apple chose a mapping solution that they could control, a solution they could improve. Is it better than Google Maps right now? Definitely not, and it probably won’t be on that level for a while. But it was the logical choice considering Apple’s situation.

If you have a confirmed starting and ending point, the driving directions are some of the best I've ever seen. Everything about the turn-by-turn UI is phenomenal.

But for me, that's the only place where Apple Maps shines.

I think the actual maps are worse and less accurate than Google's.

I think finding POIs is inaccurate. And in my searches for addresses in SF (without putting "San Francsico"), I'm sent to completely different cities many times.

And of course, transit is non existant. Yes, I understand you are sent to other apps. But I really think that's integral and should be baked in.

So, I think Apple has a LOT of work to do. Personally, I'd rather strong POI search and map quality than more useless features like FlyOver.

After using it for a few days here in Ghana (West Africa), it seems to be working better than Google Maps did overall.

Google Maps isn't really "great" here, and neither is Apple Maps. But turn-by-turn is a major boost, and as far as I've seen no location on Apple Maps is out of place. The worst I've seen is "El-Wak Stadium" being spelt "Ewak Stadium". We don't have a Public Transport system here so Transit doesn't really affect me.

Again - Search Results aren't great, but neither are Google's here. The only reason this wins out is because of turn-by-turn, which actually works pretty well surprisingly. You just have to do a bit of digging (or pinpoint where you want to go beforehand) before you see its value.

After using The new Maps since the official launch, I feel that it's definitely not up to the standard's that I'm used to with Google.

The Flyover is nice, the UI is great, but the data is just not there. Living on a large university campus, I need to rely on Maps to get from building to building. Google's Maps have data for each building on a campus, while Apple's Maps don't. This is a real issue for many.

The turn by turn works well in environments where the data is present.

I think Apple has the best foundation for Maps, great and unique features, but the data is just not there yet.

Apple Maps is on week one, and once it gets the right data, I think it's going to make us forget that Google Maps ever existed.

A couple quirks here and there, mostly related to absolute locations of various businesses. Not sure if this is Apple's 'fault' or just a result of incomplete data.

One thing that definitely works well is turn by turn on a motorcycles (I realize I am in the minority on this one).

However, since I can't actively view the screen I have to rely on the spoken directions 100%.

Other apps (TomTom, Navigon, etc) don't pinpoint me accurately enough (this causes frequent route recalculations and verbal directions that are outright confusing). Also the other apps often don't speak the directions soon enough, not giving me enough time to prepare for the next action.

I have been using them since beta1. They are functional, especially in big cities. they have improved substantially in the last two months.

My only concern is that searching for places is a worse experience than the one Google Maps offers. I think it's the search algorithm fault, not necessarily the dataset that Apple is using.

Funny gaffes and mishaps happen in every map system:

pcworld.com

To sum up: Are they better than Google's? No way. Far from it. Is this a tremendous deal? For the majority of users, probably not.

It's been excellent for me in Columbus, Ohio. The turn-by-turn directions are a welcomed addition.

I do miss Street View a little bit, but it's one of those things that you really have to consider how often you use it. I couldn't tell you the last time I did.

Apple was in a tough position. In a year, it will probably pay off. Right now, it looks a little rushed. Maybe they just should have been a bit more upfront explaining that it's a work in progress, while also putting more emphasis on why this is a good thing long-term. The wow-factor of 3D maps wears off pretty quickly, and that's about all I remember from the original presentation.

@Karan - along those lines, the iOS Maps + China post that just hit Techmeme is interesting as well. anthonydrendel.com

Anecdotal 1 of 3,123,019:

Used iOS 6 Maps app today to find a location. It routed me to a empty building. 0_o
It was the address I expected. Yet, I was not delighted. WTF?

Oh wait. I used Google to search for that address.

Routing actually worked as expected and delighted once I had the _right_ address typed in from an email where I could click vs. rely upon some SEO juiced (obviously) old address supplied by Google.

What this tells me is that my use patterns aren't in line with the functionality I carry now. So, I have to question a bit more than I did before but I am betting even pre iOS 6 Google powered Maps app would have given expected but not delighted results.

The remaining question is how Apple populates and refines long term.

@parislemon Not quite. I should've clarified: Apple Maps still misses a lot of the listings. Quite a bit more than Google. But what it does get is accurate location-wise, and Google Maps wasn't complete either so I've gotten used to Bookmarking locations I need to get to. Thanks to that, turn-by-turn is a huge bonus.

Below is "Oxford Street" on Google Maps and Apple Maps. The difference is shocking, considering this is easily the most popular area in Ghana:

cl.ly

(It's not this bad everywhere though, this is just the biggest anomaly. It also doesn't bother me much because this is near where I live so I don't need Maps. Tourists though would have a lot of problems.)

I've actually found the Apple Maps search suggestions responsiveness to pretty good, even on par with Google's. I also like the one tap driving directions, turn by turn and Yelp integration.

Sure, Transit Directions are a pain requiring another app (or maps.google.com) but that will get sorted out.

Apple is notorious for creating little pain points and then solving them to create the feeling of bliss. This will be no different.

I have been using the new Maps in Italy for the past month, and my feelings are mixed.

As others said, if you enter specific addresses for turn-by-turn navigation, Maps performs remarkably well. Apple's design decisions for this feature are just right in my opinion.

I find very annoying how, with Siri set to Italian but the phone set to English, turn-by-turn commands are spoken in English, though.

It gets worse with POI names. In my town, Viterbo (a relatively small one compared to Rome or Milan, for sure, still one with its own province), I find Apple Maps to have outdated business listings or simply missing stuff.

The other day, I had to get to a restaurant outside town, and had to use iOS 5.

I wouldn't trust Apple to plan a trip.

Saudi Arabia VISA process willing I hope to test this in Riyadh as well. Branch doesn't appear to provide any geolocation awareness in avatar decorations.

Here in LA the POIs have been relatively accurate for my purposes. I've used Maps to find a few restaurants (all of which were correctly reflected), but noticed it has a harder time being accurate with generic searches. Searching for "gas", for instance, is very hit-or-miss (and actually sent me to a location where there was not, in fact, a gas station).

That said, I'm thrilled I don't live in NYC anymore, because I think the accuracy issues would be a much bigger annoyance. Here in LA, I'm usually in a car so I'm not using Maps that much these days (both of our Priuses (Priii?) have built-in navigation systems).

Flyover is an amazing demo, but completely pointless. I miss street view more than anything, because I used that a lot.

Yeah, it's broken in a lot of ways. It's also the 1st release of what is an *insanely* complicated thing to build. Hell, it's probably the most complicated thing Apple has built from the ground up in a few years. Working with that much data (literally an entire world's worth) is terrifying. There's a reason why, in an ecosystem with many hundreds of thousands of developers, only a handful are crazy enough to label themselves as routing experts.

It'll get better quick. There was already a good amount of team-shuffling internally leading up to WWDC to get Maps ready for the preview builds. After the launch was met with some degree of backlash and ridicule, you can bet that a whole bunch of smart people have found themselves with new duties.

The biggest challenge is getting anywhere near Google's transit offering; it seems so straightforward, until you factor in things like bus delays that can leave you stranded at the end of the night, the ancient APIs that some of these transit systems use to share their data, and whatever exclusivity deals incumbent map folk already have in place.

Apple's play for that is perfect: let third-parties try to fix it through the Routing App extension api (which, I'm told has already proven mind-blowingly beneficial for a company that took advantage of it in NY and SF), all whilst gobbling up the data on which alternative proves most popular/sticky. Acquire. Move on.

If this is something people are still bashing on in 6 months, I'll be shocked.

I should mention that I don't find the current implementation disappointing for the same reason I wasn't disappointed when the first iPhone didn't do copy/paste or have 3G. You have to start somewhere.

Honestly, the only way for me to explain this is by saying that having played with Apple Maps for the past few months on the developer version, I've not seen major improvements from iteration one to the final gold version that was just released to the world.

That alone bothers me. Also, plenty of nongeeks have hit me up and asked me why Apple changed something that worked after everyone had gotten used to it over the years. Whether Apple and Google can work together or not, Apple at least had a baseline on what was a minimal viable product.

iOS 6 Maps is not viable, and it sucks.

In New York City, it works well. Granted, only Manhattan is 3D, but the directions are pretty on target.

With the third party transit apps, the stuff I get is equal to Google Maps. That said, point of interest is an issue. See Anil's Bloomberg problem (although funnily, Google Maps for iOS got the Bloomberg address wrong. I know because I used it on my phone the day after iPhone 5 was announced when I went on Bloomberg and was shocked to see that the driver took me 20 blocks south if where Google Maps told me. Keep in mind, I didn't install the iOS 6 GM on my iPhone until the weekend), but I expect it to improve.

With Beta 3 or 4, I used turn-by-turn over GPS and Verizon in the suburbs of Atlanta to a point of interest and it rocked.

Having said they, Apple has a real perception problem, much as it did with Antennagate. If the company doesn't start addressing the deficiencies quickly, it could face a negative perception for years to come.

The sooner the company can own the messaging, even if it means recommending map alternatives for certain areas, the better.

Hmm, looks like my comment here got lost yesterday. I've never had an issue with the fact that Apple's gonna fix maps; Obviously that's going to take a long time but it'll get done. What I found troubling was *when* they thought the product was ready to switch to; The prioritization of their Google battle over user experience sucks.

And yeah, Apple is gonna have a bigger bullseye on their back because they're the biggest player. Seems fair to me. I do wish they'd pick up Foursquare or somebody to paper over their shortcomings, because in NYC I still see things like major subway stops missing, which is just woeful.

Not sure it's fair to say "the prioritization of their Google battle over user experience" in this case.

Honest question: When would be the right time to switch to Apple Maps from Google Maps? If they waited two more years, would the data be exponentially better? I doubt it. Apple (and their partners) alone cannot begin to compete with millions of customers' usage and corrections. When Google launched Maps it was mostly in the same boat, but we don't fault them for it today. I think delaying this release only provides marginal increases in quality and an even deeper hole against Google. Eventually, they had to launch with less data.

I don't look at this as Apple vs. Google. I look at this as Apple needing to control this part of the OS.

Agreed. There's a certain amount of "calc.exe" to that argument but it is beyond the app experience itself of Maps alone. The true test will be how geoloco oriented apps improve and the past annoyances (documented somewhere I'm sure on dev forums) go away (or shift) eventually.