14 DAY TRIAL // Ever since the Maps fiasco in 2012, Apple has been struggling to gain a leading position among mapping vendors, with a particular focus on giving Google (Maps) a run for its money.
After firing Scott Forstall and apologizing for the messed up Maps experience, Apple started updating Maps once every few months, then once every few weeks, and more recently once a week.
Some updates came bundled with new firmware versions (i.e. a new version of iOS), while others were made on the server side. In fact, most Maps updates are made in the server, since that’s where most of the service resides. Users aren’t required to do much, just report inconsistencies every now and then if they find any.
The problem with the issue reporting was that Apple provided little to no feedback on how these fixes were being scheduled or even if the company was taking these user-reported corrections into consideration.
Starting now, we have full confirmation that Cupertino is indeed paying much attention to users’ feedback. Redditor heyyoudvd reveals that after a month of testing he’s discovered something interesting with the Maps application. It refreshes and updates its data once every 24 hours and the corrections made by Apple are visible.
He explains that “Over the past month, Maps were being updated once a week (every Friday) for me, but now, that has improved further. Over the past few days, I've noticed an update occur every single day at 3am Eastern. At exactly 3am, Apple pushes out new data and corrects many of the problems that users had previously reported.”
User heyyoudvd offers an example, providing context to the way Apple handles the daily Maps updates.
“For example, I noticed that if I open the app at 2:59 but then again at 3:01, the map would reload itself, and a bunch of POI corrections and updates would suddenly be present. Every day, a handful of corrections in my area are made (many of which are the ones I reported in the past week), and after just a few days of this, I'm starting to notice a real improvement in my area.”
Respondents to heyyoudvd’s post indicate that Apple is doing this everywhere – across the United States, Australia, and other areas.
Maps is also available on the desktop now. You can look up directions on your Mac and then send them to your iPhone for voice navigation on the way to your destination. Bookmarks and recent searches are automatically pushed as well, and you can get information on local points of interest like restaurants and hotels.