Apple Maps Leads the Way in Navigation

On Monday I had a meeting at Apple with podcaster Leo LaPorte, TWiT CEO Lisa Kentzell, and marketing guy Glenn Rubenstein. We were in three separate cars, each with a different navigation system, and we had several places to stop, including 1 Infinite Loop at the Apple headquarters in Cupertino.

Unbeknownst to everyone else, lest they race around like madmen, this was a battle of the systems.

Leo was using Waze, which he thinks is great. He was misdirected in one instance and took forever to get there. He got lost for unknown reasons at another target location. Overall, he—and Waze—came in third (and last).

Glenn, who actually inspired my idea for the test, was using Apple Maps, which he switched to after iOS 6 dumped Google Maps. "I don't have any trouble with it," he said. "It works fine." In fact, it worked better than Google. On one leg from the Apple facility to a shopping mall, Glenn beat me, though just barely. Leo was the laggard. But then from that location to a lunch spot, Glenn and I followed each other. Suddenly, Glenn jumped on to the freeway as Google Maps directed me through the city streets for a cut across town.

At the time, this seemed like a better route, not to mention a more scenic one. But the long stoplights in Sunnyvale are dreadful. Glenn arrived at least five minutes ahead of me. I gave the nod to Apple and now wonder what the fuss was about.

I have loved Google Maps until recently. I'm noticing that it is getting a little ragged. On this occasion, at one fork on 101, it told me to turn right to go south when 101S was left. I turned left. Normally I follow these instructions to the letter but this exact same right/left discrepancy was wrong about a month ago up in Washington state and after following Google's advice, I ended up driving all over the place to get back on track.

A couple of other things I've noticed: I have not been routed around a traffic snarl for six months or more when I personally know detours that work fine. The first time I got routed around a snarl was in Washington state, where I was taken through Tacoma to get past a wreck on the Interstate 5. It was great.

I have not confirmed this with Google, but I'm certain some people have complained about the confusing rerouting. This could be fixed by a simple notice like, "you are being rerouted because of traffic conditions/an accident/a closure."

If that is the case and users do not want to be rerouted, then a toggle should be available to turn it off.

Even Google Maps on the computer is deteriorating. When I first began this trek, I routed myself to the Apple headquarters using Google Maps on the computer. It showed three routes to the facility from Berkeley, but the fastest route, according to Google's own calculation, was over the Dumbarton Bridge. Oddly, it was not shown as an option. I had to create it myself.

When I finally got to the Apple facility, it told me I had arrived at 1 Infinite Loop when in fact I was at 4 Infinite Loop, which is farther up the loop.

This was not a big deal as I continued to drive until I found the correct number.

"You have arrived at your destination," it then announced and it displayed a handy picture of the location. It is semi-accurate and seems to be from the Google Street View data.

And although Google Maps on the computer shows the correct portal for 1 Infinite Loop, here is the location at Apple headquarters shown by the phone:

Apple headquarters, according to Google

Really? Mistake, gag, or insult? You choose. I had to laugh. But whatever the case, Apple Maps still won this battle. So Apple got the last laugh.