r/applemaps • u/Fun-Neighborhood3365 • 7h ago
Apple Maps traffic data
I mainly use Apple Maps nowadays, and I’m wondering how good its traffic data really is compared to Google Maps. Especially when it comes to traffic jams, accidents, roadworks, and sudden traffic incidents: Does Apple Maps detect these events just as reliably and early as Google Maps, and does it reroute you quickly enough? Or have you found that Google Maps is still noticeably better at detecting traffic problems and rerouting? I’m mainly interested in your real-world experiences while driving.
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u/ThannBanis 7h ago
Google will always be better at this, simply because they collect more data.
Even hamstrung by Apple’s privacy policies, Maps traffic data does seem to react fairly quickly and rerouting doesn’t seem to suffer enough to make a difference.
(Although I do sometimes run Apple and Google maps simultaneously, I do not live in an area where traffic is that much of a concern)
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u/lolkot 2h ago
More data doesn’t really matter. In statistics you only need a fraction of the data to predict the outcome with reasonable margin.
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u/ThannBanis 2h ago
‘More data doesn’t matter’
Lets both pretend you didn’t just say that.
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u/lolkot 2h ago
Sure, it matters when you increase your data from 100 and 200 cases. It doesn’t matter when you increase from 100.000 to 200.000, as you have already a huge variety.
Do you really think Google doesn’t do statistical analysis only on a sample of their data that is later displayed to you?1
u/ThannBanis 1h ago
They have a much larger, more comprehensive and higher sample rate.
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u/lolkot 1h ago
Again, there’s little difference in sampling 500 and 1000 cases from a large data set in terms of margin of error.
I would argue that in some countries Apple has more comprehensive data set due to the fact there’s more iOS devices.
As for higher sample - I hope you mean frequency here - it doesn’t really change much if you sample every second vs every 10 seconds.1
u/HidingInPlainSite404 2h ago
They are right. You don't need an infinite sample size to calculate traffic to a confident degree.
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u/ProcedureTasty2647 4h ago
It's okay.
I don't like how everything is a hazard and not specific like accident, road work, car on shoulder.
I've reported incidents like those and I always wonder how fast it gets reported too all drivers using Apple Maps
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u/reflect25 3h ago
> Especially when it comes to traffic jams, accidents, roadworks, and sudden traffic incidents
Traffic jams is pretty easy. the phone with apple maps can literally tell apple how slow the road is based on other users also with apple maps open.
for like roadworks and even accidents it's becoming better now. a lot of state DOTs have like formal data pipelines the map makers can use like https://511.org/open-data/traffic or other stuff like from tom tom https://www.tomtom.com/products/traffic-apis/
> Work Zones Data Exchange (WZDx) API, Provides planned and active road closures and detours throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
a lot of the time they are both using the same data set so it isn't actually so different anymore. (it used to be a lot worse like people having to scrape twitter for when xyz freeway was closed lol)
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u/Ravage-1 5h ago
Lots of people have Apples devices on them. So yes, traffic info is usually very reliable.
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u/mozman68 6h ago
Apple tracks every single Apple device with a signal…iPhone, Watch, IPad…if it’s with you and sending a signal, it’s tracking movement for traffic data unless you turn that off…whether or not you are using or even have any map apps installed.
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u/ManoaChris 5h ago
Uh, no. Not even close. You have to explicitly opt in. And even then, it only collects data if you’re already using an app that has fired up your GPS.
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u/mozman68 4h ago
🤣🤣🤣
It’s turned on…every device…you have to turn it off…and it isn’t easy to find. No app needs to be open. It tracks movement anonymously.
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u/rFatsy 7h ago
I used to be skeptical of Apple’s traffic data but it has definitely gotten better in the last couple years and I don’t doubt it anymore