by The horrible new 3D map App in Apple iOS 6 is still getting a lot of negative play weeks after the operating system update. While my experience isn’t as horrible as some, I can still report some tremendous disparity in the disappointing mapping results. For example, let’s take a look at a slice of my Jersey City neighborhood.
The buildings look like a bomb went off and burned everything up and down the block and warped — without the woofing! — every apartment building rooftop as far as the eye can see! I don’t know why solid lines become wavy edges in iOS 6 maps, but they do, and they make a neighborhood look like an ashen junker.
Moving a little bit North and West up the street in my neighborhood, larger landmarks fare a little bit better than the regular homes and apartment houses, but there’s still an off-putting artificiality in the trees and the other greenery that looks plunked and picked instead of being part of the natural landscape.
Now, let’s take a prejudicial trip across the Hudson river — about a mile or so East — and see how urban New York City compares to urban Jersey City when it comes to lapping up the 3D Apple mapping.
Hmm… the buildings suddenly don’t bend or bulge. The rooftops are straight and neat. You actually get a 3D effect without getting seasick looking at the images. You can pick out fine details of passenger cars and train cars.
Let’s pull our way South and a little bit more East to land in the center of New York City’s Washington Square Park and the NYU surrounding area.
Wowser! What a difference a few blocks makes when it comes to creating beautiful 3D maps in Apple iOS 6! The trees are crisp. The buildings look photo-real and totally non-bendy. You feel like you’re actually in the middle of the universe in the center of the world. Can you count the paving stones around the fountain in the middle of the image?
Do you think Apple are being selective and prejudicial in how quickly they are updating and beautifying their maps in iOS 6? Or are some areas of the country just forsaken enough to remain looking burned-out and scruffy on your iPhone?
They’re probably going where the money is — that is, where the majority of the complaining originates, so goes the fixing!
Money makes prettier pictures!
I upgraded to iOS 6 on my 3rd-gen iPad. Ugh. It lags, is choppy, and there’s pixelation where there was none before. Even the font, as I’m typing this, is smaller and harder to read. What a mess.
I’ve noticed the same thing! It’s an odd disappointment!