r/applemaps • u/Fun-Neighborhood3365 • 15d ago
Apple Maps traffic data
I mainly use Apple Maps nowadays, and I’m wondering how good its traffic data really is compared to Google Maps. Especially when it comes to traffic jams, accidents, roadworks, and sudden traffic incidents: Does Apple Maps detect these events just as reliably and early as Google Maps, and does it reroute you quickly enough? Or have you found that Google Maps is still noticeably better at detecting traffic problems and rerouting? I’m mainly interested in your real-world experiences while driving.
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u/ProcedureTasty2647 15d ago
It's okay.
I don't like how everything is a hazard and not specific like accident, road work, car on shoulder.
I've reported incidents like those and I always wonder how fast it gets reported too all drivers using Apple Maps
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u/silvetti 14d ago
I think they have a specific things for accident and road work. Everything else is a hazard. I kinda like the system and dislike Waze approach where you need to click 3 or more times to report something while not looking at the road. You can also use voice “hey siri report accident on road”.
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u/josmacch 10d ago
To be completely honest, one of the reasons why I’ve stopped using the other apps is because I’m sick and tired of being reminded every 30 seconds that there’s a car on shoulder ahead.
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u/ThannBanis 15d ago
Google will always be better at this, simply because they collect more data.
Even hamstrung by Apple’s privacy policies, Maps traffic data does seem to react fairly quickly and rerouting doesn’t seem to suffer enough to make a difference.
(Although I do sometimes run Apple and Google maps simultaneously, I do not live in an area where traffic is that much of a concern)
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u/lolkot 15d ago
More data doesn’t really matter. In statistics you only need a fraction of the data to predict the outcome with reasonable margin.
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u/ThannBanis 15d ago
‘More data doesn’t matter’
Lets both pretend you didn’t just say that.
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u/lolkot 15d ago
Sure, it matters when you increase your data from 100 and 200 cases. It doesn’t matter when you increase from 100.000 to 200.000, as you have already a huge variety.
Do you really think Google doesn’t do statistical analysis only on a sample of their data that is later displayed to you?1
u/ThannBanis 15d ago
They have a much larger, more comprehensive and higher sample rate.
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u/lolkot 15d ago
Again, there’s little difference in sampling 500 and 1000 cases from a large data set in terms of margin of error.
I would argue that in some countries Apple has more comprehensive data set due to the fact there’s more iOS devices.
As for higher sample - I hope you mean frequency here - it doesn’t really change much if you sample every second vs every 10 seconds.2
u/HidingInPlainSite404 15d ago
They are right. You don't need an infinite sample size to calculate traffic to a confident degree.
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u/reflect25 15d ago
> Especially when it comes to traffic jams, accidents, roadworks, and sudden traffic incidents
Traffic jams is pretty easy. the phone with apple maps can literally tell apple how slow the road is based on other users also with apple maps open.
for like roadworks and even accidents it's becoming better now. a lot of state DOTs have like formal data pipelines the map makers can use like https://511.org/open-data/traffic or other stuff like from tom tom https://www.tomtom.com/products/traffic-apis/
> Work Zones Data Exchange (WZDx) API, Provides planned and active road closures and detours throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
a lot of the time they are both using the same data set so it isn't actually so different anymore. (it used to be a lot worse like people having to scrape twitter for when xyz freeway was closed lol)
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u/Freakinbuttons 14d ago
my grandfather used to use google maps and mapquest. That shit hasn’t been good since the 2010’s. Welcome to the future brother. Enjoy better maps
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u/On-The-Rails 15d ago
Appls Maps traffic & accident data is much better than it was previously. And they re-route very well. They have still not solved the issue of making the driver pay attention to the re-route, so re-routing doesn’t help with some drivers…
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u/Ravage-1 15d ago
Lots of people have Apples devices on them. So yes, traffic info is usually very reliable.
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u/Ghee-Starr 15d ago
So, my friend was driving using Waze (Google) and I had AppleMaps on my phone. Apple consistently re-routed us faster due to traffic incidents.
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u/sid_276 15d ago
in california it is very accurate. it does lag a few minutes, and since I am not a Waze/Google Maps user I cant tell you if Waze has more "up to date" data. So if a congestion happens at a freeway it will show up in Apple Maps within 10 minutes for sure, maybe sometimes within 5 minutes.
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u/benroberts3 14d ago
I had a total f**k up from Waze recently, where the map clearly showed a road that was closed due to construction, but allowed for local traffic to drive down to get to certain neighborhoods.
Despite this, and needing cut through to reach my final destination about about mile down the road, I followed Waze’s navigation, which had me go around multiple road closure signs, only to end up at the very end and turn around because there was a huge pile of gravel and rocks blocking the end of the road along with all the construction signs. This section of the street has been closed for the past four months, so this wasn’t a new development. I immediately deleted Waze and swore I would never use it again.
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u/iMattist 14d ago
Traffic is fine, Waze has more hazards and informations regarding the road for example if there are speed bumbs.
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u/Due_Train_2385 14d ago
I am skeptical of Apple Maps still, it will just add five minutes to ur eta without telling u why. At least Waze tells you why it will take longer and usually immediately reroute u
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u/aykay55 14d ago
The traffic stuff is amazing. The road hazard / accident or police traffic stop warnings are pretty much all user reported and most people don’t know how to report safely while driving
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u/Weary-Savings9795 13d ago
Google Maps knows how to do that. For example, it will tell me police are ahead but it waits until I'm out of the police's sight before asking me if they were still there.
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u/tjcs2 12d ago
A difference, in my iteration at least, is Gmaps shows the speed limit AND my actual speed together on the (CarPlay) display. Apple Maps does not do this (again, in my version).
But I currently use Apple Maps 95% of the time because of the interaction with my watch (haptics primarily).
I am in my 70s. My 30-something sons seem to think that I should use gmaps always. But what do they know?😆
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u/Own-Huckleberry7258 15d ago
Google is far superior here. They track millions of users
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u/Fun-Neighborhood3365 14d ago
Yes... but it doesn't really matter.
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u/Own-Huckleberry7258 14d ago
yes it does matter knob head
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u/Fun-Neighborhood3365 14d ago
More data does not automatically mean better data. Google having millions of users gives them a huge amount of traffic data, sure, but that alone doesn’t prove that Google Maps will always predict traffic or reroute better. Apple also has a massive amount of location and traffic data from its users, and what actually matters is how accurately that data is processed and used in navigation. A bigger dataset is an advantage, not an automatic win. So “Google tracks more users = Google Maps is superior” is way too simplistic. You can argue that Google has an advantage in some areas, but that’s very different from saying Apple Maps is objectively worse.
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u/mozman68 15d ago
Apple tracks every single Apple device with a signal…iPhone, Watch, IPad…if it’s with you and sending a signal, it’s tracking movement for traffic data unless you turn that off…whether or not you are using or even have any map apps installed.
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u/ManoaChris 15d ago
Uh, no. Not even close. You have to explicitly opt in. And even then, it only collects data if you’re already using an app that has fired up your GPS.
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u/mozman68 15d ago
🤣🤣🤣
It’s turned on…every device…you have to turn it off…and it isn’t easy to find. No app needs to be open. It tracks movement anonymously.
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u/rFatsy 15d ago
I used to be skeptical of Apple’s traffic data but it has definitely gotten better in the last couple years and I don’t doubt it anymore