Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution/Apple
Evidence of the upgraded Apple Maps expanding in more European countries was spotted a few weeks ago, and now Apple has decided to make it official.
The company has announced that its new-generation Apple Maps experience is launching in Austria, Croatia, The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovenia.
I first reported on the debut of Apple Maps in these countries in early March. At that point, the updated maps went live for limited users, but starting today, they should be available for everyone.
Apple explains that the expansion comes with all the goodies that are part of its new Apple Maps. These include Look Around – a rival to Google’s Street View, options to share the ETA with a contact, and lane guidance.
Additionally, Apple Maps provides users in these regions with additional navigation capabilities, including multi-stop routing. With the new Apple Maps, users can configure navigation that includes a maximum of 15 stops. For comparison, Google Maps only supports 9 stops for a route.
The updated Apple Maps also sports hazard reporting. With this update, Apple’s navigation solution steps into Waze territory, allowing users to send traffic reports while driving. On the other hand, Apple Maps only supports three types of reports, namely accidents, speed traps, and other hazards. Waze, whose main focus is traffic reporting, supports more categories, including traffic jams, roadkill, broken traffic lights, and potholes.
Apple Maps also updates the navigation in these regions with speed and red-light camera locations. Electric vehicle charging points are also making their way to users.
Apple officially announced the new Apple Maps experience, which includes maps based on the company’s own data, in mid-2018. Since then, the company has been gradually improving the availability of the new Apple Maps in the United States and the rest of the world. However, the rollout is happening slowly, forcing many users to stick with Google Maps.
The Apple Maps availability is improving, but Apple still has several shortcomings to address. The lack of features is what limits the app’s potential, as many users don’t consider jumping ship from Google Maps because of missing offline maps. Without this feature, the route guidance requires an Internet connection. Certain features, such as crowdsourcing-powered incident reporting, can’t work without a data connection, as Apple Maps needs to download traffic data submitted by other drivers.
At the same time, Apple Maps also lacks satellite navigation. The application does offer satellite maps, but only for exploration. When navigation is enabled, Apple only supports the default map layer. On the other hand, Google Maps not only comes with satellite navigation, but also offers this feature on CarPlay. The same mode can also be used on the CarPlay Dashboard, making the navigation more convenient at all times.
I first reported on the debut of Apple Maps in these countries in early March. At that point, the updated maps went live for limited users, but starting today, they should be available for everyone.
Apple explains that the expansion comes with all the goodies that are part of its new Apple Maps. These include Look Around – a rival to Google’s Street View, options to share the ETA with a contact, and lane guidance.
Additionally, Apple Maps provides users in these regions with additional navigation capabilities, including multi-stop routing. With the new Apple Maps, users can configure navigation that includes a maximum of 15 stops. For comparison, Google Maps only supports 9 stops for a route.
The updated Apple Maps also sports hazard reporting. With this update, Apple’s navigation solution steps into Waze territory, allowing users to send traffic reports while driving. On the other hand, Apple Maps only supports three types of reports, namely accidents, speed traps, and other hazards. Waze, whose main focus is traffic reporting, supports more categories, including traffic jams, roadkill, broken traffic lights, and potholes.
Apple Maps also updates the navigation in these regions with speed and red-light camera locations. Electric vehicle charging points are also making their way to users.
Apple officially announced the new Apple Maps experience, which includes maps based on the company’s own data, in mid-2018. Since then, the company has been gradually improving the availability of the new Apple Maps in the United States and the rest of the world. However, the rollout is happening slowly, forcing many users to stick with Google Maps.
The Apple Maps availability is improving, but Apple still has several shortcomings to address. The lack of features is what limits the app’s potential, as many users don’t consider jumping ship from Google Maps because of missing offline maps. Without this feature, the route guidance requires an Internet connection. Certain features, such as crowdsourcing-powered incident reporting, can’t work without a data connection, as Apple Maps needs to download traffic data submitted by other drivers.
At the same time, Apple Maps also lacks satellite navigation. The application does offer satellite maps, but only for exploration. When navigation is enabled, Apple only supports the default map layer. On the other hand, Google Maps not only comes with satellite navigation, but also offers this feature on CarPlay. The same mode can also be used on the CarPlay Dashboard, making the navigation more convenient at all times.
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