Apple Maps vehicles will begin surveying Croatia and Portugal for the first time in a few weeks from now, according to Apple's updated list of locations.
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In Croatia, the Apple Maps vehicles will be in Split-Dalmatia County and Šibenik-Knin County beginning November 20. The vehicles will begin surveying the Alentejo region of Portugal starting December 4.
Since 2015, Apple has been driving vehicles around the world to collect data for Apple Maps. The vehicles have surveyed over 35 states in the United States, in addition to parts of France, Ireland, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.
Apple said it will blur faces and license plates on collected images prior to publication, suggesting that it could be working on adding a Street View feature to Apple Maps, similar to what Google Maps has offered for several years.
When Apple's fleet of vans first hit the streets, speculation arose about the vehicles serving as the basis of an Apple Car. But those rumors quieted down after the vans were later labeled with Apple Maps decals.
Some industry observers still believe the vans are at least partially related to Apple's autonomous driving project, but the evidence is inconclusive.
Top Rated Comments
Yes, Google maps is certainly more thorough in some areas, but it is no reason for Apple to give up. Try to think of the bigger picture as it relates to future autonomous driving, etc. It will continue to evolve and get better.
In Toronto, Apple Maps has been far more reliable for me than Google for years. But in New York, Apple Maps is often terrible.
Google has burned me plenty of times and has sent me around the city on some weird route making me late. Maps isn’t a perfect science and neither Google nor Apple get it right in all markets and 100% of the time. Your perspective depends on which city you use maps in.
Overall the look and feel is better than google maps. I haven’t even installed it on my iPhone X. The only thing that’s missing is bicycle directions w/ routes!
And: by their very nature, maps must be continually updated, so any advantage a player has may be erased in the long run by throwing enough resources at the problem.