Born in 2012, Apple’s “Maps” application has evolved to surpass the competition in multiple aspects: from offline trekking itineraries to tactile navigation on smartwatches, here are the key functions in which it has separated Google Maps.
For years Google Maps was the navigator par excellence, while Apple Maps carried with it the terrible reputation it gained upon its debut in 2012, when incomplete maps and geographical errors even became widespread “memes”.
Since then, however, Apple has invested enormously in the service and today the comparison is much more balanced. Google continues to have some advantages, especially in terms of quantity of data, places registered and coverage, but Apple’s Maps (“Maps”, in the Italian version) also offers functions that the competitor does not yet have or manages in a less refined way. Four, in particular, show well how much the Cupertino application has changed.
Offline itineraries
Let’s start with the “trails”. Google Maps already allows you to download an area of the map and use it without a connection, but the operation essentially consists of saving a rectangular geographical area on your phone, period.
Apple Maps, on the other hand, offers hikers the possibility of building a truly personalized itinerary, choosing the starting point, paths and destination, and saving it before leaving. Not only the cartography remains in the file, but also the step-by-step directions, the length of the route, the estimated duration, the topographic data and the difference in altitude, i.e. how much you will have to climb or descend in total. Once everything has been downloaded onto the iPhone, navigation continues to work even where neither the cellular network nor Wi-Fi reaches. It is a particularly useful difference in the mountains or in isolated areas, where losing the signal right at a crossroads is decidedly less fun than noticing it while looking for a restaurant in the center.
“How human, you”…
Then there’s the way the app explains where to turn. Traditional navigators rely mainly on distances: “in 300 meters turn right”, for example. It is precise information, but not always very easy to translate onto the road while driving, even more so if you find yourself at a crossroads with multiple branches.
Apple does something different, that is, it also uses immediately recognizable elements in the surrounding environment, such as traffic lights and road signs, to produce instructions more similar to those a passenger would give. For example: “go through this traffic light and turn left at the next one“.
The advantage is not only linguistic, but intuitive. The driver does not have to continually estimate how many 200 or 300 meters there are or take his eyes off the road to understand which intersection the navigator means. It must be said that Google has also progressively made its indications more natural and can use reference points in some situations, but Apple has integrated this type of language in a decidedly more systematic way.
Vibration system
With an Apple Watch, Maps can even communicate direction without needing to look at a screen. In fact, the watch uses its vibration system, called Taptic Engine, to produce different sequences of small touches on the wrist: a succession of pulses signals a left turn, another a right turn, while a longer vibration indicates arrival at a destination. After having learned to recognize these “codes”, during a walk it is therefore possible to follow an itinerary while keeping the iPhone in your pocket and without continually lifting your wrist to read the map.
It is a particularly convenient function when walking in an unfamiliar city, because it avoids having to keep your eyes glued to your smartphone and allows you to pay more attention to traffic, pedestrians and the surrounding environment. Google Maps can also send directions to smartwatches, but to directly communicate the type of turn, it does not use a similar differentiated tactile grammar.
Always visible
Finally, a philosophical and substantial difference: Apple simultaneously controls Maps, iOS and the iPhone hardware, therefore, when you start a route and then switch to another application, the directions do not disappear. On compatible models they can remain in the Dynamic Island, the interactive area at the top of the screen that surrounds the camera and front sensors. The next turn and distance are shown here in compact form, and just one tap takes you back to the full map.
During navigation, Apple Maps can also show directions on the lock screen, highlighting the route and updates without constantly requiring you to unlock the phone. They are details rather than revolutions, but put together they make the app less invasive even while you are using it and they tell a good story of the transformation from an application that at its debut made you immediately regret Google Maps, to a competitor capable, at least in some aspects, of teaching it something.
