Consumer Reports Compares Navigation on Apple’s Maps app with Android Maps Navigation

Consumer Reports has already called the iPhone 5 “another winning smart phone from Apple,” and now to everyone’s surprise they’ve also come out in relative support of Apple’s new Maps app… Their latest test pitted Apple’s Maps offering against Google’s on Android, and there’s no denying that Apple’s app held up quite well.

The map battle between Google and Apple took place in New York when staff from Consumer Reports used both software systems to get from Point A to B… In their article, Consumer Reports noted that they were aware of all the “melting bridge” imagery attached with Apple’s app, but still, they ended up with this final statement:

“Overall, Apple impressed our staff with the graphic presentation for the interface, results, signage, and points of interest info. However, there is less customization throughout than Google—a mixed blessing when driving, where distractions can be dangerous. Google comes across as more business like and less fun.”

Okay, so both Apple and Google provided “good solutions” for standard software, but can you really compare two mapping systems based on one test? By the very nature of a navigation app, the measure of its overall performance would have to encompass a wide range of locations, and that was impossible with the approach taken by Consumer Reports.

I’m willing to cede that Apple’s Maps app is nicely designed and will even work very well in certain situations—but am I going to trust it as my one and only navigation app? Not yet, not by a long shot.

About the Author

Devin Wieland

 

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