[prewett]

It's possible that they liked Apple Maps better. I finally fired Google Maps and switched over to Apple Maps for turn-by-turn directions. Google Maps used to be great, and then they seemed to tell me to turn immediately when I had to turn without much forewarning. It would also say things like "in 500 feet, turn right." I have no idea how far away 500 ft is. I think Apple Maps does more of "at the next street, turn right." If I remember correctly, Google Maps has a tendency of telling me the next turn without indicating how far away it is. "At McFarlane St, turn right" as opposed to "In 1.3 mi, turn right on McFarlane St." So far, I've made a lot fewer wrong turns (or lack of turns) with Apple Maps.

Also, Google Maps has become much less good for driving, since you frequently have to zoom in quite far to see a street name. I don't know if Apple Maps is better, but I know that Google Maps used to show a lot more street names. It would be nice to have a choice about whether I see businesses and landmarks or street names, rather than making it for me.

[mulmen]

Just yesterday I gave Apple Maps another try for turn-by turn and the UX is far superior to Google Maps. Apple Maps changes perspective dynamically depending on how far away the turn is, when it is far you get an angled view that allows you to see the upcoming roads. As you approach a turn the view switches to a top-down view that makes it easier to see the layout of the intersection. When you arrive at your destination Apple also does a better job indicating which side of the street the address is on.

Google still wins on the lane awareness but that's their only advantage.

It absolutely staggers me that nobody seems to bother making sure street names are actually visible on the map. I don't know how anyone that ships navigation software without visible street names sleeps at night.

[dylan-m]

> It absolutely staggers me that nobody seems to bother making sure street names are actually visible on the map.

That's the worst thing with Google Maps for me. It drives me mad when I'm trying to navigate on foot. I never trust the compass in my phone, so figuring out my direction by looking at street names is actually pretty important. (I prefer doing that anyway, because that's just how people use maps). It's to the point where if a street actually doesn't have a name, I'll still spend a minute trying to trick Google Maps into showing one because there's no way to tell.

Does Apple do a better job with it?

[mulmen]

I didn't notice yesterday, I have been trained when using turn-by-turn to not look for street names anymore and just estimate from the highlighted route. Apple Maps appears to do a better job than Google but its still not what I would call good.

[vxNsr]

    >>Google still wins on the lane awareness but that's their only advantage.

Apparently Apple Maps is getting this in iOS11.

[PhantomGremlin]

Google Maps has become much less good for driving, since you frequently have to zoom in quite far to see a street name. I don't know if Apple Maps is better

In the past I've preferred listening to Google Maps while driving, rather than listening to Apple Maps.

I just bought a car that supports Apple Carplay. My first impression is it's pretty damn good. A nice chunk of the display is dedicated to the distance to the next turn, the name of the street to turn onto, an arrow showing the direction of the turn, etc.

Presumably "Android Carplay" or whatever Google calls it is also good. The point is that a smartphone integrated with a display screen on the dash produces a much nicer driving experience than a smartphone by iteslf.

Edit: BTW this only works well if you've entered a destination. The Carplay display of Apple Maps is total crap in terms of street names etc if just randomly driving around. Maybe that's your complaint with Google? You mean while driving around rather than navigating to a specific destination?

Perhaps I just haven't figured out how to make Apple Maps display better without entering a destination.