iPhone Maps App Update

It's all good in my world. Since Apple kicked Google Maps to the curb, they have been dodging arrows from critics because it's not perfect. I am not about to apologize or justify for Apple, only check in about my real life testing here in rural Vermont.

Prior to Maps release, I was an avid Waze user. I like the social aspect as well as it's flawless navigation, which is why I use a map app. Google Maps didn't have navigation so it was my go to app when I wanted to use street view. I realize that I may not be the ordinary use case, but with all this being said, Apple Maps has been flawless for me. When it was first released, I navigated around with both Waze and Maps at the same time to see how they compared. After a few hours of use, I discovered that Maps was just as accurate.

I live in northern Vermont about a half hour north of Burlington, our largest city . Canada is only another half hour north, so it's fairly rural. I go to Newport, VT once a week which is even more rural. If there was going to be mapping issues, one would think that they would show up here.

My job as a Realtor sends me out to all sorts of areas, down dirt roads some without road signs. Over the last 3 or 4 months I have had to find homes on roads I have never heard of in areas that I wasn't that familiar with. Maps has not misled me once. In a few cases I would have been hopelessly lost without my trusted iPhone 4S. With the ability to switch to satelite view, I can even see the house I am looking for even if there is no mailbox or address in view.

I am an Apple fanboy, I admit it, but I am not shy to call them out when things don't work. The thing is Maps does work for me. I agree with the critics though, it isn't perfect since there are some gaping holes in other areas which doesn't follow Apple's ad slogan  "it just works". Ok, I get it.

As a side note: I found an app called Street View (.99) that accesses Google's data to provide street views in my area. I also use Google maps on the web for the most accurate street views when I want them.