Pickup: Apple Maps Got a Major Makeover
News Summary: On January 30th, Apple made a major update to its map application "Maps".
The content of the update is that the map data, which is the basis of the application, has been switched from the license agreement to Apple data. It's a seemingly incomprehensible update, but it makes a big contribution to keeping map data updated in real time and maintaining the accuracy Apple expects.
In addition, a collection function that allows you to create a favorite list released in iOS13 last September, a more advanced real-time traffic information and navigation function, and a "Look Around" function like Google Street View, which was limited to the area, have been added. rice field. Currently, only the US version of Apple's map data has been completed, and the European version is scheduled to be completed in the second half of 2020.
Talk Point: While this release is an update to Maps, it's a "reincarnation" because we're rebuilding the map from the ground up.
Speaking of Maps after 2012, it was famous for being too inaccurate map information before ease of use. Mistaking cities, labeling entire towns as nature parks, and worse, labeling farms as airports.
For that reason, I don't think many people recognized it as a competitor to Google Maps, even though it was the iPhone's default map app.
Of course, improvements have been made year after year, and there are no noticeable flaws in the United States. Going back to what created the flaws, we were too reliant on licensing agreements with TomTom, OpenStreetMap, Weather Channel and others. There were many inconveniences in realizing the functions and UX based on Apple's vision, which may have lowered the quality of the product.
Therefore, based on in-house map data, we combined license agreements and user-provided data to make up for the lack of map data, and changed the expansion of the map app to be controllable. By the way, Google also builds map data in a similar way.
In this news, starting with Northern California in the fall of 2018, we have gradually switched maps and announced a version that covers the entire United States. Eight years after the first release of Maps, we are finally at the starting point.
In the future, the regions where you can use new functions such as "Look Around" announced at "WWDC 2019" hosted by Apple last year will be expanded. Compared to Google Maps in terms of functionality, the only major differences are the AR function and the My Place function that allows you to create an original map for each theme, so there is no difference in the core functions. However, it cannot be said that it has surpassed Google Maps, which has superiority in algorithms. "Infinitely close" would be appropriate.
However, Apple's Maps also has advantages over Google Maps. That's privacy management.
"Location information" is an integral part of developing a map application, but as the accuracy of GPS increases, companies are required to handle it more strictly. Even if you do not register highly confidential information such as your real name, address, or credit card information, your Google account is full of hobby and taste data. In a way, your Google account is your digital persona. There must be many people who dislike the situation where this digital personality is linked to location information and one company has a monopoly.
For users, the benefits of linking a Google account to a map app are not great. If there is, it will give priority to display the restaurant that suits you from the specified position, or you can see the timeline on Google Maps. In this regard, Apple has indicated its intention to win trust with its privacy management mechanism.
Specifically, user IDs are not associated with location information, and Apple does not possess location information data. In other words, the information registered in the Apple terminal and the location information will not match.
Of course, it would be putting the cart before the horse if the convenience was reduced in exchange for stricter privacy management. Therefore, you can still share your location information with third parties. However, it is not a mechanism that allows the permission to be passed continuously once permission is given, but the specification is changed to allow the user to give permission at each timing when the location information is to be passed.
You can expect Google to be unlikely to take the same stance as Apple. This is due to the difference in their business models. Google wants to sell ads, so it wants to know who the users are and where they are, while Apple wants to sell devices, so it knows who the users are and where they are. I don't mind.
Traditionally, map apps are convenient, but there are no other options than Google Maps. The existence of Maps of equal value is likely to have a deep impact on privacy-conscious people.
Privacy policy emphasized at WWDC 2019. I think that's exactly where Apple wins.
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