With such a vast amount of data required to make a maps service truly functional and trustworthy, Apple has been widely derided for releasing a product that wasn’t ready for release.
Complaints run far and wide: from out of date business listings, incorrectly labelled POIs and clouds covering satellite views, to locations listed in entirely the wrong place, phantom locations appearing and disappearing, and important places invisible unless searched for in the exact format Apple Maps lists them (try searching for Paddington Station).
The problems have generated such furore that Apple head honcho Tim Cook took the rare step of releasing an official apology in the form of an open email on Apple’s website. While not exactly explaining what went wrong, Cook does acknowledge the problems and even goes so far as to suggest (read: recommend) using some rival maps offerings while they fix it.
That’s not to say that Apple Maps has been a complete disaster. Typically, it looks great and the 3D rendering is mind-bogglingly pretty where implemented (the Gherkin has never looked so good). Turn-by-turn voice directions are easy to follow and include nice details like rerouting due to road works (that’s as long as it’s sending you to the right place of course).
But for the time being and with no Google Maps app imminent, Tim Cook’s words reverberate. So it’s well worth considering the alternatives.
Five of the rest
Short of using the iOS 6 add a website icon to your homescreen function and linking it direct to Google Maps online, there are other mapping services that should suit most needs.
Navfree
Price: Free
Billed as ‘the world’s first crowd-powered navigation system’, this GPS nav app uses OpenStreetMap mapping system created by its community of 350,000+ users and stored directly on your handset, meaning no data connection and no costs.
Main features include day and night modes, voice navigation, 2D and 3D displays, click and route guidance without an address needed, automatic rerouting, POI search, offline address search in the UK and dedicated pedestrian navigation.
Bing Get Me There
Price: Free
A London-centric travel app, Bing’s Get Me There guides you door to door using Bing maps but also encompasses public transport – the Tube, DLR, London Overground and buses with live travel updates and departure times.
Get Me There will also direct you to the nearest tube, train and bus station with map and directions, deliver live alerts to your homescreen for favourite journeys and offline access to tube maps.
TomTom
Price: £49.99
TomTom’s all-encompassing car satnav system may seem expensive but is feature-laden. You get integrated and detailed offline maps, daily map updates, speed camera alerts and turn-by-turn voice instructions, while IQ Routes and TomTom HD Traffic offer accurate arrival times avoiding jams.
More unique features include eco routes, POI search using Google, Facebook and FourSquare, lane guidance, background navigation and the option to buy celebrity voices to guide you.
[Related: Are you getting the best deal on your mobile phone?]
M8
Price: Free
Mere weeks old, M8 has been garnering much positive feedback for its accurate and auto updated road maps, turn-by-turn navigation with announced street names, live traffic updates, speed camera alerts and dedicated car or pedestrian navigation.
It also offers integration with Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor to help you find recommended restaurants and hotels, social (but crucially unobtrusive) integration with Facebook to coordinate with your friends and, for Londoners, a list of Boris Bike stations complete with the number of bikes available.
ForeverMap by Skobbler
Price: £1.49
A complete offline map for most of Europe with city-specific maps that (like Navfree) uses OpenStreetMap software.
Address search, location finder, route plotting and POI information pulled from Wikipedia are all available offline – you just need to download maps in advance using a WiFi connection, which are small enough to keep but also easy to uninstall.
