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| On Apple’s new Maps app (right), a search for City Square Mall in Kitchener Road turns up Northpoint Mall in Yishun, while the Google Maps on an Android phone (left) puts it in the right location. (ST Photo/Dios Vincoy Jr). |
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Singapore.
According to Apple's new Maps application, Bedok Reservoir is the same as Bedok
North.
That is
what businessman Leonard Wee found out when he used the app in his new iPhone 5
to trace a Housing Board block near Bedok Reservoir.
"Luckily,
I knew the place and didn't have to rely on the app to get there," said
Wee, 38, adding that the app pointed him to Bedok North, about 1 km away from
his destination.
Singaporeans
and consumers elsewhere have voiced frustrations over the app's inaccuracy in
pinpointing an exact location, as well as the lack of details of buildings,
sites and points of interest.
The problem
affects those who are using the iPhone 5, which runs on the iOS 6 operating
system, or those who upgraded devices like the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S to iOS 6.
The
brouhaha started last Thursday — just before the iPhone 5 was launched — though
the brickbats did not dent demand for the smartphone, which notched sales of
over five million in three days.
Apple,
which replaced Google Maps with its own Maps in iOS 6, had relied on Google's
navigation service in its products, like the first iPhone and iPad, since 2007.
Some
analysts think the move to drop Google Maps could be linked to Apple's wariness
of Google's own attempts to be a major mobile phone player.
Apple Maps'
features include turn-by-turn spoken directions to get to destinations, and
Flyover 3-D views that you can pan, zoom into and rotate. But it does not have
public transport information, which Google Maps has.
Some 3-D views
look either flat or comically distorted, while the Flyover feature is not
available in Singapore.
Said
technology consultant Kenneth Tan, 42, who had upgraded his iPhone 4S to run on
iOS 6: "The 3-D views do not show the buildings as advertised."
And when he
used Apple's Maps app to seek out City Square Mall in Kitchener Road, it showed
Northpoint mall in Yishun.
Other users
have also noted that a search for directions to the KK Women's and Children's
Hospital would either point them to the right location, or that of the
Singapore General Hospital.
According
to analysts, the shortcoming is more acute outside the United States.
A Tumblr
blog titled "The Amazing iOS 6 Maps" has been set up by a student in
Britain to showcase screenshots of Maps' mishaps. Some screenshots show Las
Vegas and Chicago "melting" and cities that look like they have had
an apocalyptic transformation.
Apple has
tried to minimize the damage to its reputation. In a statement to technology
news site AllThingsD, Apple's spokesman Trudy Muller said: "Maps is a
cloud-based solution, and the more people use it, the better it will get. We
appreciate all the customer feedback and are working hard to make the customer
experience even better."
Users can
report any bugs to the company using the "report a problem" link in
the Maps app.
However,
there are some who are willing to give Apple time to iron out the kinks. They
note that the app is not without its charms or usefulness. "It's actually
more fun; I'm amazed to see these little cars in satellite view," said
marketing executive Sharon Ng, 34.
Commenting
on the turn-by-turn instructions, membership relations manager Celine Yeo, in
her mid-40s, said, "as long as it is able to direct me from A to B, it is
good enough for me."
Muh Hon
Cheng, 31, developer of apps like SG NextBus, said you can still bookmark
Google Maps on your home screen. He thinks Apple is being harshly judged as
Google Maps has set a very high standard. "I think, compared with other
available maps, Apple Maps is probably not far off," said Muh, who feels
Apple will act swiftly to fix the issue.
Earlier,
there were reports of some users here and elsewhere who had trouble logging
into Wi-Fi networks with their iPhone 5 or any other iOS 6 device.
The problem
was traced to the gadgets using an Apple web page to ascertain whether they
were connected to the Web, and that page was down. It has since been fixed; the
problem will go away by turning the Wi-Fi switch on the iOS 6 device off, and
on again.
How to get
Google Maps back on your iPhone
You can get Google Maps back on your iPhone in
the form of a Web app.
In other
words, it is a shortcut key that brings you to Google Maps on your mobile
browser.
You will be
able to get transit directions and more location information. However, there is
no Street View or turn-by-turn voice directions.
Here's how
to do it:
•
Start the mobile Safari browser and go to "maps.google.com".
•
Once it has finished loading, it will prompt you to tap on the arrow
icon.
•
Then tap on the "Add to Home Screen" option.
•
You will then have Google Maps as a Web app on your home screen.
Reprinted
courtesy of The Straits Times
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