Apple wants its own Maps app and service to be the best there is, so the company is completely rebuilding everything from the ground up. Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue told Tech Crunch Maps is ditching its dependance on other mapping services and has been working over the past four years to make its own map data. Cue says the new Maps will be built from Apple’s own data and include much more information, get faster updates for new and changing roads, and offer a level of detail not found in other map platforms. Cue said:
We wanted to take this to the next level. We have been working on trying to create what we hope is going to be the best map app in the world, taking it to the next step. That is building all of our own map data from the ground up.
The new Maps is launching in California with iOS 12, and expanding out from there over the next year. I find all of the current map app options lacking in different ways, so bring on the new and better Apple Maps.
Check It Out: Apple Maps is Getting a Total Reboot
That’s nice. I hope Apple allows us to manage the overlays because more often than not what I really want to know is not where the nearest hotel is but the name of the street I’m on, so I can see where I am, and where I want to go, and the streets I have to follow to get there. Or to see the route the bus is taking. . . In short, I need a map!
And, thanks Jeff for the reporting that you do. I know I don’t say that often enough.