Apple confirms that its Maps app will begin showing ads to users “this summer”
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t_negative1
Ars Centurion
what else is new?
companies are always trying to maximize money, even out
of things that don't need it.
all it does is end up pushing them to other services that don't have them,
or the ads get ignored.
companies are always trying to maximize money, even out
of things that don't need it.
all it does is end up pushing them to other services that don't have them,
or the ads get ignored.
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Given that Apple News fills my feed with some of the stupidest, below informercial quality, ads ever, I'm so looking forward to this...
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One of the things I've always loved about Apple is that I'm not their product. Sad to see them giving that up.
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StarturnCaproc
Ars Praetorian
This is the reason why I stopped using Google Maps in my Android phone. Thank FOSS there are plenty of alternatives that use Open Street Maps like OsmAnd+.
Sure it has a weird name but it's actually informative and WAY better for public transport compared to Google Maps.
E: At least in Buenos Aires, Gmaps is beyond terrible for public transport. The bus suggestions are odd and so impractical. And it assumes you don't want to walk more than 400m or something close, so it thinks that taking three different bus lines is a good idea, instead of just one where you have to walk a bit.
Sure it has a weird name but it's actually informative and WAY better for public transport compared to Google Maps.
E: At least in Buenos Aires, Gmaps is beyond terrible for public transport. The bus suggestions are odd and so impractical. And it assumes you don't want to walk more than 400m or something close, so it thinks that taking three different bus lines is a good idea, instead of just one where you have to walk a bit.
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Anyone have a recommendation for an Apple Maps replacement? I'm happy to pay for a service I use.
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I don't really feel that telling customers about the window they have to enroll in AppleCare or the free trials they have with purchase count as adverts. It's akin to a writer on a gadget news website including a link to another article they've written on the same site.
However, being able to pay for search placement is bad. Instead of presenting the best/closest/matchingest results, you get what someone else paid for. This is counterbalanced by the fact that Apple Maps search isn't very good. I'm often researching places in other countries and even when I append the city they're in, Apple Maps frequently shows me entirely irrelevant places in my local area. Or conversely, when searching for something locally, it'll fly off halfway across the country.
It could be worse; they could show sponsored "points of disinterest" on the maps as google do.
However, being able to pay for search placement is bad. Instead of presenting the best/closest/matchingest results, you get what someone else paid for. This is counterbalanced by the fact that Apple Maps search isn't very good. I'm often researching places in other countries and even when I append the city they're in, Apple Maps frequently shows me entirely irrelevant places in my local area. Or conversely, when searching for something locally, it'll fly off halfway across the country.
It could be worse; they could show sponsored "points of disinterest" on the maps as google do.
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As the saying goes.. if you're not paying for the product you are the product.
Also: if you're paying for the product, you still are the product because fuck you, that's why.
Also: if you're paying for the product, you still are the product because fuck you, that's why.
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The more interesting part of this to me is that is sounds like Apple Business Essentials is being renamed and finally expanded outside of the United States and Apple Business Connect may be integarted into Apple Business Manager.
For those unaware, Apple Business Manager is already a thing. It's a free service for registered corporations to register their Apple device purchases and apps/books at bulk licensing. But this didn't do anything on its own, you still needed to sync ABM with an MDM service like Microsoft Intune or Jamf Pro to actually manage the devices.
Some years back, Apple purchased MDM vendor Fleetsmith and integrated it into ABM as a paid addon called Apple Business Essentials for American businesses only to manage their devices without the need for an external MDM. Apparently (I am not American and never had access to ABE) it was a very minimal MDM that also came with an increase in Managed Apple Account iCloud space.
Apple Business Connect also already exists but is much less known. This is the existing interface to claim, create, and manage your locations in Apple Maps. It's a completely separate interface right now, which contributes to its lesser status.
If ABM and ABC combine, and ABE expands outside of the US, that could change the MDM game for small businesses. I've helped so many unfuck devices with Activation Lock and personal Apple accounts on devices meant for corporate use/ownership.
For those unaware, Apple Business Manager is already a thing. It's a free service for registered corporations to register their Apple device purchases and apps/books at bulk licensing. But this didn't do anything on its own, you still needed to sync ABM with an MDM service like Microsoft Intune or Jamf Pro to actually manage the devices.
Some years back, Apple purchased MDM vendor Fleetsmith and integrated it into ABM as a paid addon called Apple Business Essentials for American businesses only to manage their devices without the need for an external MDM. Apparently (I am not American and never had access to ABE) it was a very minimal MDM that also came with an increase in Managed Apple Account iCloud space.
Apple Business Connect also already exists but is much less known. This is the existing interface to claim, create, and manage your locations in Apple Maps. It's a completely separate interface right now, which contributes to its lesser status.
If ABM and ABC combine, and ABE expands outside of the US, that could change the MDM game for small businesses. I've helped so many unfuck devices with Activation Lock and personal Apple accounts on devices meant for corporate use/ownership.
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Back to Google Maps. I put up with how shit Apple Maps was precisely because it didn't do this.
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Thanks, I hate it.
I stopped using Google Maps years ago for unrelated reasons, but recently used it on a friend’s phone on a road trip. I was shocked at how cluttered it was with stupid paid-for business logos and ad-related shit.
I stopped using Google Maps years ago for unrelated reasons, but recently used it on a friend’s phone on a road trip. I was shocked at how cluttered it was with stupid paid-for business logos and ad-related shit.
This is the part that has me most concerned. I can’t wait for my searches to show me all the dozens of Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts and not local independent cafes when I search for local coffee shops. Ugh...
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jonbob_newcastle
Ars Praetorian
Speak for yourself. I have never clicked on an ad. Not once. So, I judge adverts on how annoying they are and with one or two exceptions there’s nothing that pisses me off more than obvious scams with AI voiceovers.
I probably wouldn’t even mind adverts on things like YT if they were legitimate, but they’re not so I do.
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I know quality varies widely, etc. but I've been making a habit of updating POI, address, etc. data into OpenStreetMap with the Every Door app whenever I have a moment out-and-about.
It's fun contributing but another perk is sticking it to companies.
Currently, I use Google Maps for POI's and Apple Maps for navigation, but it'd be nice to offload some to OSM in the future and I recommend folks taking look if it seems intriguing.
Edit: This isn't as relevant but I thought it'd be funny to mention I still have a 10+ year old (maybe 15 at this point?) Garmin GPS on-hand that gets occasional map updates but is also OSM compatible supposedly but I haven't tried. Just got the battery replaced and USB port repaired by PalmDr who I coincidentally bought some Palm m500-series styli from a decade ago.
It also boggles my mind that consumer standalone GPS units are still stocked at Best Buy.
I will also take a moment to complain about visual glitches in Apple Maps. The destination has been appearing on the CarPlay display prematurely before disappearing again for me and my biggest design issue is that when a turn is coming up, it blocks the next step so it appears like the step after that one is the next step.
It's fun contributing but another perk is sticking it to companies.
Currently, I use Google Maps for POI's and Apple Maps for navigation, but it'd be nice to offload some to OSM in the future and I recommend folks taking look if it seems intriguing.
Edit: This isn't as relevant but I thought it'd be funny to mention I still have a 10+ year old (maybe 15 at this point?) Garmin GPS on-hand that gets occasional map updates but is also OSM compatible supposedly but I haven't tried. Just got the battery replaced and USB port repaired by PalmDr who I coincidentally bought some Palm m500-series styli from a decade ago.
It also boggles my mind that consumer standalone GPS units are still stocked at Best Buy.
I will also take a moment to complain about visual glitches in Apple Maps. The destination has been appearing on the CarPlay display prematurely before disappearing again for me and my biggest design issue is that when a turn is coming up, it blocks the next step so it appears like the step after that one is the next step.
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This is unfortunate. While I'm all in on Apple hardware, I'm not all in on their software. Some of it is great but a lot of it is meh.
Apple Maps falls into that latter category. Driving directions are good, but not great. Search is terrible when something is off by one letter. "Recents" rarely includes things I've recently searched for. Zoom stops at an annoyingly high altitude. You can't resize text without resizing text across your device (just make street names bigger as a zoom in!).
Google Maps is better in almost every way (except for text size).
However, I use Apple Maps over Maps. Why? Because Apple Maps doesn't inundate me with ads. I'll put up with its shortcomings to not have half my UI full of ads when I'm just trying to find a place.
Kinda like Southwest getting rid of free checked bags and the chance to always get an aisle seat, remove the differentiators that matter and your product now just competes on something else that matters. For airline tickets, it's price, full stop. For maps, it's all those features that Google does better than Apple.
Apple Maps falls into that latter category. Driving directions are good, but not great. Search is terrible when something is off by one letter. "Recents" rarely includes things I've recently searched for. Zoom stops at an annoyingly high altitude. You can't resize text without resizing text across your device (just make street names bigger as a zoom in!).
Google Maps is better in almost every way (except for text size).
However, I use Apple Maps over Maps. Why? Because Apple Maps doesn't inundate me with ads. I'll put up with its shortcomings to not have half my UI full of ads when I'm just trying to find a place.
Kinda like Southwest getting rid of free checked bags and the chance to always get an aisle seat, remove the differentiators that matter and your product now just competes on something else that matters. For airline tickets, it's price, full stop. For maps, it's all those features that Google does better than Apple.
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A friend got me to switch to iPhone last year from Android. They are a diehard Apple person (watch, ipads, mac, appletv) and even they don't use the Apple Maps app. We went on a short trip and I booted up the default Apple Maps and they looked in horror and told me "Go get Google Maps, no one uses that thing!".
This is for the car-centric US. YMMV for public transport outside there.
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"There's a McDonalds 500ft from your destination. Would you like me to open the McDonalds app for you?"
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The clean interface for apple maps was the only thing keeping me using it. No electric charging route options, difficulty in planning alternate routes, and now ads? my go to will probably be google now.
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Google Maps has been really good for public transportation in NY and DC for me. Maybe those are just easy environments for it though.
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The thing that pisses me off most about these giant companies is the never ending drive to take every last cent from a customer. It's not good enough that they're doing well. It's not enough that they have a massive profit margin on every device they sell. It's not enough that they take a big cut of every piece of software sold for their devices. It's not enough that they see companies that are doing well on their devices and use that data to make competitors. It's not enough that other companies pay them billions of dollars to put their service on their devices. It's to the point that they want to annoy the people that have paid a premium to buy their device with lousy ads to make an additional 0.00001¢. It's never freaking enough.
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I already dislike Apple Maps since Google Maps is superior for navigation. Plus I hate having to go to Yelp to read reviews of businesses, I wish Apple had their own reviews.
But if they start putting paid advertisements at the top of search results, I'll probably just switch to Google Maps, and if I'm going to let Google track me that closely, I may as well just move back to Android (and get the even more superior Android version of Google Maps)
But if they start putting paid advertisements at the top of search results, I'll probably just switch to Google Maps, and if I'm going to let Google track me that closely, I may as well just move back to Android (and get the even more superior Android version of Google Maps)
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As a user of the Mac since the first one, I can’t remember a time that Apple OS and application software were both so poor. Given the quantity of thoughtlessly designed, amateur, buggy SW they have released in the last couple of years, they might as well be renamed Applesoft. The spread of ads within the ecosystem is just plain insulting. Maps is not so good that it can't be uninstalled. We paid a premium for this platform to be free of the rot found elsewhere, but that equation is starting to look decidedly shaky.
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I'm trying open map apps like CoMaps for the past six months to avoid the BS nonsense like this from either apple or google. I enjoy CoMaps for the most part, but is there any real reason why it is so difficult to input an actual address and it be able to find it? Is that protected by some patent? Such a basic UI/UX feature feels so core to using a map application.
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We seem to be way past the point where adding ads to everything could make any sort of difference to spending habits. What are the people buying these intrusive ads thinking? They’re more likely to alienate potential customers than anything else.
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When driving to a new location without previous landmarks, I use my Garmin or Waze.
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What's frustrating is that people have spent time submitting updates to these closed-source maps instead of making OSM better.
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Guess it's about time I went back to Linux then.
Now what can I replace my phone with?
Now what can I replace my phone with?
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Oh yeah. And it'll never cease to piss me off. I hired a consultant to look at my practice and help make sure I was keeping up with OSHA and HIPAA and staying miles away from anything that could remotely be considered insurance fraud. Instead what I got was somebody telling me that their surveys showed I had an unusually high degree of trust from my patients, and they believed I could make an extra $200-400 a day by recommending adult fluoride treatments and selling electric toothbrushes for double what Walmart charges for the same item. And they said all that with a straight face thinking they were helping.
People honestly just suck.
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It's called "testing the waters" and it generally results in an ever increasing number of adverts in everything.
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HERE WeGo Maps
App store
Google Play
Is it the best map app? No, but I hate ads, and rather use something not as good to avoid ads as much as possible.
App store
Google Play
Is it the best map app? No, but I hate ads, and rather use something not as good to avoid ads as much as possible.
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