One of the downsides of Apple's Maps app is that it doesn't support turn-by-turn directions for all countries. A new jailbreak tweak is promising to fix the lack of turn-by-turn support within Apple maps, and it was just released on Cydia. Appropriately entitled MapsAllCountries, this new jailbreak tweak is available for iOS 6 and iOS 7 users who are jailbroken. Have a look past the break for more details.
Apple's Maps for iOS - and now for Macs running OS X Mavericks - still pales in comparison with Google's offering and will continue to struggle for some time until Apple achieves some sort of feature parity.
Google Maps are not only more accurate, they sport more features that put Google's rich data sets amassed in years past to good use.
For instance, Google Maps have long had layers, basically objects that consist of one or more separate items that can be manipulated as a single unit.
Traffic, transit, bicycle, weather, clouds, photographs - these are all map layers.
Apple, too, is working on various layers of information for its digital maps offering, but with a twist, a new patent filing published Thursday has indicated...
Apple recently dropped a cool $350 million on the PrimeSense acqui-hire. An Apple spokeswoman has officially confirmed the deal last week, but refused to discuss her employer's purpose or plans (as is the company's wont). Unless you've been sleeping under a rock for the past few years, you must be familiar with PrimeSense, a Tel Aviv-based startup that licenses its 3D sensing hardware designs and chips to third-parties.
Perhaps the most famous PrimeSense licensee: Microsoft, whose Kinect motion-sensing system for the Xbox console is powered by PrimeSense.
For the sake of completeness, the much-improved Kinect that ships with the new Xbox One uses Microsoft's own 3D sensing technology, not PrimeSense's. Be that as it may, the PrimeSense deal has prompted a swirl of speculation among the Apple punditry. Some folks think Apple snapped up the Israeli startup for its rumored television set, others mention iPhones and iPads.
One well-informed source warns all of the speculated uses are too obvious and off mark. Instead, Apple needs PrimeSense to bolster up its Maps, the source insists...
Despite all of the user complaints and negative PR Apple encountered when it replaced Google Maps with its own in-house software in iOS 6 last year, the app has turned out to be quite a hit with US iPhone and iPad users.
According to research data from comScore, more than 35 million US iPhone owners used Apple's Maps app in September 2013. That's significantly more than the 6 million or so that used Google's standalone iOS Maps app...
When Apple replaced Google Maps in iOS 6 with its own software last year, one of the biggest user complaints was that the new app didn't have public transit data. For folks who take the bus or train to work everyday, it was a big deal.
The good news, though, is that the company does appear to be working on adding the feature. In addition to acquiring transit experts like HopStop and Embark, Apple has been hiring software engineers for its 'Transit Routing' team.
Apple has posted a new job listing today, calling for a Maps Web User Interface Designer. The inquiry asks that applicants be able to design, develop, and maintain complex front-end code for a new 'secret project.'
The position is located in Santa Clara Valley, California. And according to the listing, it's part of a smal team that is working on an advanced web platform that will be the backbone of many future Apple services...
Just when you thought the dust has settled over Apple's digital personal assistant, Siri, and the company's Google Maps replacement software in iOS, latest reports once again pan the two services over gross inaccuracies.
Worse, these stories paint Apple Maps and Siri in a not-so-favorable light - and very publicly, too.
The first report comes from Alaska and warns about people looking for directions to the Fairbanks International Airport, only to be instructed to drive onto an airport taxiway, which is located directly across the runway where airplanes take off and land....
It appears that the Norwegian government is blocking Apple from capturing 3D Flyover footage of Oslo, its capital. The news comes from a report out of Norway-based newspaper Aftenposten.
A Norway government official has confirmed this to be the case, saying the country's National Security Authority is intentionally blocking Apple from grabbing the aerial data it needs for its Maps app because it doesn't want the company accidentally mapping out confidential buildings within Oslo...
A bunch of job ads surfaced earlier today on Apple's website, advertising positions on the company's Maps team. The iPhone maker is seeking so-called ground truth specialists around the world to help correct address and landmark inaccuracies.
Apple is looking for people "with a passion for mapping, great testing skills, and deep regional knowledge to help us build better and better maps".
Ideal candidates will be responsible for the quality assessment of Apple's Maps in their region, including both data and map services...
Last Friday, Apple confirmed it had snapped up HopStop, the brains behind a transit-navigation app which provides detailed subway, bus, train, taxi, walking and biking directions. The move should complement Apple's troubled mapping solution as the company works toward folding HopStop's high-quality public transit data into its in-house Maps app.
Though an important capability, Apple initially felt content with third-parties tackling the transit navigation puzzle. Be that as it may, it's now come to our attention that the Windows Phone app has rather unceremoniously been pulled following the HopStop acquisition.
File this one under the 'business as usual' drawer: Apple similarly pulled Chomp for Android after acquiring the app discovery engine back in February 2012...
As pointed out by multiple outlets and tweeted by several reporters, Apple has acquired an online navigation startup HopStop.com to improve its troubled Maps offering, Bloomberg just reported. HopStop makes a free iPhone and Android transit app that features detailed subway, bus, train, taxi, walking and even biking directions.
This is exactly the kind of data Apple's Maps need in order to become a viable alternative to Google Maps. The HopStop software also features real-time transit information via the HopStop Live service, the official transit maps, nearby station search and station-to-station schedules in over 600 cities throughout the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, including 140 major metropolitan areas...
According to a new report, Apple has acquired Toronto-based Locationary, a Canadian startup that provides crowdsourced location data, for an unknown amount. The deal, which has already closed, includes both the company's tech and team.
Apple spokesman Steve Dowling has even confirmed the new acquisition, offering up the usual boiler plate response 'Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.”