When Apple announced it would replace Google Maps with its own mapping and navigation solution for iOS devices at WWDC 2012, the company was probably not expecting to face so much criticism over what many users determined was a shoddy, incomplete product — riddled with bugs, glitches, and data inaccuracies, galore.
In fact, the iPhone-maker’s original attempt at creating a viable mapping platform was so ill-received when it arrived alongside iOS 6 in the fall of 2012, that the backlash ultimately prompted a public apology from CEO, Tim Cook, as well as the ouster of Cupertino’s original Senior VP of iOS Software, Scott Forstall, just weeks later.
In the years since, Apple employees have been working tirelessly to patch holes and deliver feature-packed updates to its fledgling Maps application, such as by releasing transit directions for major cities, as well as routine improvements in business, parking, place and point-of-interest (POI) data with each successive update..
But despite those efforts, Maps has a long way to go until it reaches the depth, detail, and accuracy of what Google Maps has to offer.
Fortunately, even to this very day, Apple has a team of dedicated engineers and software developers working to churn out more robust features and precise data information for Apple Maps.
What’s New for Apple Maps in iOS 12?
According to a new exposé published this week by TechCrunch, the company is planning to unleash a massive, top-to-bottom refresh of Apple Maps as part of its upcoming iOS 12 software update — with the first round of new feature additions expected to arrive as part of the next iOS 12 beta build.
- Describing the update as a “full re-set of Maps” that’s been in development for the last four-years and counting, TechCrunch’s Matthew Panzarino notes the re-built platform will rely almost entirely on first-party location data gathered by iPhone devices using a “privacy-first methodology” — in conjunction with the company’s registered fleet of luxury vans packed with cameras and sensors — to collect the location data it needs to make Maps great.
- While Apple Maps currently relies on a mixture of third-party data and user-submitted POI information, Panzarino noted that Apple will stop relying on third-party data including route and POI information, altogether, to render its Maps platform “more responsive to changes in roadways and construction,” allow for context-dependent and visually rich graphics, and more detailed views of land and topography features such as “ground cover, foliage, pools, pedestrian pathways and more.”
- Apple’s rebuilt Maps solution will launch in San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area cities as part of the company’s third or fourth iOS 12 beta build, with all of Northern California expected to be covered by the official iOS 12 release this fall.
To learn more about the new features and view infographics showing what Apple’s new Maps platform will have to offer, be sure to check out Panzarino’s extensive coverage of the looming update (via Tech Crunch).