In less than 48 hours, Apple’s new Maps application for have turned an Irish farm into an airport, destroyed the Statue of Liberty and iconic New York bridges, and created a great new meme. Apple Maps’ replacement of Google Maps has launched a massive schadenfreude party in the tech and social media circles, and everybody with an iOS device and a screenshot is invited.
Meanwhile, some of us are probably wondering how we can actually get to where we’re going with our upgraded iPhones. Here’s how to overcome the weaknesses of Apple’s pretty but inexperienced Maps, either by augmentation or outright replacement.
Get Public Transit Directions Back
Perhaps the loudest and truest knock on Apple Maps is its lack of directions using trains, buses, and other public transportation. Maps doesn’t do public transportation badly, it just doesn’t do it. Maps can suggest other apps that will get you public transportation, but with different apps for different cities.
My pick, and the pick of some of my bleeding-edge, iOS-using acquaintances, is City Maps by Lumatic. There are 25 major cities included, and if you’re in one of those cities, the directions and way-finding experience on City Maps is comprehensive and fairly smooth. Every point is shown with Street-View-style graphics, and step-by-step directions move smoothly between walking, trains, and buses.
HopStop is an alternative app, one with more cities covered in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. You probably know the basics of how it works, but what you might not know if you haven't used HopStop lately is that it also keeps tallies on your calories burned, the carbon dioxide you’ve kept out of the atmosphere, and other habit-enforcing measurements. The turn-by-turn features aren’t quite as detailed as in City Maps, but HopStop does know which way you’re facing and walking, and can reroute you if you take a detour.
Get Turn-By-Turn Directions On Any iOS Device
The built-in turn-by-turn directions in Apple Maps have received some mixed reviews. But assuming Maps can find the actual spot you’re heading toward, turn-by-turn works pretty well. But if you want something more than just left-right-merge commands, you have options.
Waze is a crowdsourced, almost wiki-style map and directions app, with the appeal of possibly finding you better routes through the power of people actually driving them and reporting back. Waze offers turn-by-turn directions, live traffic and accident reports, speed trap and police locations (if you live in a rather active Waze community), and nice touches, like a soft ping sound that alerts you that your route is being recalculated. The look of Waze is entirely different than your average navigation app, too, but whether that’s a plus or minus depends on your taste.
This week, in particular, you should also check out Scout by Telenav, because a year’s worth of upgraded “Scout Plus” navigation service, normally $25, is free until Friday, Sept. 21 (2012). Telenav messed up with an upgrade, and is making amends with a year-long freebie. Both Waze and Scout are especially great options for iPhone 4 owners, who get Apple’s Maps, but don’t have turn-by-turn directions.
Simply Use Google Maps Again
Google knew the Maps drop was coming, and they’re likely expediting their own Google Maps apps for iPhones. In the meantime, you should consider heading to Google Maps on your iPhone, hitting the Share button in the bottom-middle of mobile Safari, and choosing “Add to Home Screen.” Now you’ve got a direct link to Google’s very capable web-based Maps app, which looks slick, can find where you are, show you exactly where you’re going, and pull from Google’s years of testing and massive data stores.
Get Your Location Onto Apple’s Maps
One of Apple Maps’ biggest problems is its awkward misinterpretation of where things are. It switches up taxi drivers and taxidermists, mosques and hotels, and puts roads through factories. If you have your own location that you want new and upgrading iPhone owners to find quickly, you have some tools available.
The first thing is, wherever possible and applicable, put your business on Yelp, and make sure your existing business has correct, detailed information. Apple Maps relies on Yelp for business details, and locations. Maps had absolutely no response to a search for “CoworkBuffalo” (the proper spelling of a coworking space) earlier today, but instantly pulled up “Cowork Buffalo,” with the technically incorrect space added. Adding “Cowork Buffalo” in the description on Yelp might have helped. In any case, cover as much ground in Yelp as possible.
Second, if Yelp isn’t the right avenue for your business, you can try to search out your business. If the results are funky, or not there at all, tap the paper-like “curl” in the lower right corner, then look for the tiny “Report a problem” link, on the right, above the major buttons.
Source : fastcompany[dot]com
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