Apple Maps vehicles to expand Canadian recon this summer

Apple on Monday announced that Apple Maps vehicles will do deeper scouting and imaging in Canada this summer, laying the groundwork for first-party data and enhanced details.

Fleets will begin driving all 10 provinces between May and November, Apple said. This excludes the territories of Nunavut, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories, likely because of their low populations and the difficult terrain between cities and villages.

Apple's notices in regional newspapers say that the company is "capturing road details, signage and landmarks," and planning to publish the data "in a future product update." It's also reportedly "working closely with local regulators" to assuage privacy concerns.

The effort marks the continuation of a years-long campaign to build up first-party map coverage. When Apple abandoned Google Maps integration with 2012's iOS 6, it turned to a hodgepodge of third-party sources that often resulted in missing or mislabeled landmarks. Since 2015 vehicles have been scanning the U.S. along with Croatia, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the U.K.

Only the U.S. has seen first-party maps go live. There the company is also deploying foot teams, presumably to help with pedestrian and cycling directions. That's becoming especially important with the rise of personal electric vehicles like scooters and skateboards.

18 Comments

dougd 292 comments · 12 Years

About 5 years ago

Does anyone use Apple Maps? I use Google Maps exclusively. I don't get why Apple thinks they need their own mapping service

DAalseth 3035 comments · 6 Years

dougd said:

Does anyone use Apple Maps? I use Google Maps exclusively. I don't get why Apple thinks they need their own mapping service

I find I use it intermittently. If I have an appointment with an address, iOS brings up Apple Maps, which is fine. But I agree, Apple shouldn't be duplicating Google's driving. The data is there, just share it. Make a deal and save a bunch of time and effort and greenhouse gasses.

22july2013 3725 comments · 11 Years

DAalseth said:

dougd said:

Does anyone use Apple Maps? I use Google Maps exclusively. I don't get why Apple thinks they need their own mapping service

I find I use it intermittently. If I have an appointment with an address, iOS brings up Apple Maps, which is fine. But I agree, Apple shouldn't be duplicating Google's driving. The data is there, just share it. Make a deal and save a bunch of time and effort and greenhouse gasses.

And Apple shouldn't re-invent the word processor, we should all be using Microsoft Word, because the duplication of time and effort is bad for the environment and greenhouse gasses. We should eliminate all competition in the name of greenhouse gasses. Let's get rid of all economic competitors, all capitalist ideas, all political parties, all in the name of reducing greenhouse gasses.

trpettis 1 comment · 5 Years

Of course people use Apple Maps!! I try not to use anything Google. Apple software is not monitoring your every click.

Latko 398 comments · 7 Years

22july2013 said:

DAalseth said:

dougd said:

Does anyone use Apple Maps? I use Google Maps exclusively. I don't get why Apple thinks they need their own mapping service

I find I use it intermittently. If I have an appointment with an address, iOS brings up Apple Maps, which is fine. But I agree, Apple shouldn't be duplicating Google's driving. The data is there, just share it. Make a deal and save a bunch of time and effort and greenhouse gasses.

And Apple shouldn't re-invent the word processor, we should all be using Microsoft Word, because the duplication of time and effort is bad for the environment and greenhouse gasses. We should eliminate all competition in the name of greenhouse gasses. Let's get rid of all economic competitors, all capitalist ideas, all political parties, all in the name of reducing greenhouse gasses.

Greenhouse gasses tend to become less intrusive than Apple stubbornly continuing it’s below-average services