Another big differentiator for Apple Maps is privacy, although that’s not necessarily new. Google also offers a relatively new augmented-reality feature in Maps Apple Maps doesn’t have a comparable feature.īut Google also serves up ads-which it calls “promoted pins”-in its Maps app. But Google’s years-long lead has paved the way for it to apply its impressive machine learning technology to Google Maps, to the point where algorithms now automatically create new addresses in the app. Google, like Apple, uses a combo of licensed data, user-contributed data, and its own collected data to build out its maps. Apple Maps is used by “hundreds of millions” of people in around 200 countries, the company says. He added that Apple will “bring this new map to the rest of the world starting with Europe” sometime in 2020. In a prepared statement Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue said that the completion of the US map and delivery of the new features are “important steps” in creating what he referred to as the best and most private maps in the world. Apple Maps now relies on the company's own underlying framework for domestic navigation. With this latest update, Apple is no longer licensing TomTom data for the US, the company confirmed. Since its Maps app launched in 2012, Apple has relied on licensed data from navigation technology companies, including TomTom, to fill in the gaps where it hadn't yet captured its own data. The more interesting aspect of the Apple Maps overhaul is what happened under the hood. Despite the fanfare, the Maps app won't look dramatically different most of these new features were available previously, and the update means they’re coming to more regions in the US.

Apple yesterday touted a “new” version of Apple Maps, one that includes faster navigation, more detailed roads, real-time transit updates, lists of favorite places, and access to Look Around, street-level 3-D imagery that’s similar to Google’s Street View.

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