Apple Maps stinks, iOS 6 leaks data: Should I get the iPhone 5?
The Web app version will create a little Google Maps icon you can put on your home screen. So it can be accessed like a native app, but unfortunately, it doesn't act like the real Google Maps app. What this means is that certain features will be missing and even the features that are there may not behave like the native app.My CNET Reviews colleague Scott Steinposted a story on one such feature yesterday. Previously, Google Street View couldn't be accessed via the Google Maps Web app on the iPhone. That feature has now been added. But it still doesn't behave like the native Google Maps App. Here's a list of some of the limitations from Scott's piece:Yes, you can move down city streets virtually for a little stroll...but it's choppy.It's easy to look around, but Street View images are distorted.You can't zoom in.You can't just drop a pin. There is no question that that Apple's move to use its own maps app instead of Google's has been a disappointment to many people. The biggest problem is missing or inaccurate data. Apple Maps uses location information from Yelp, which is less reliable than Google's own database. In Scott's review of the iPhone 5 he noted that searching for a coffee shop only turned up a Starbucks and not a different coffee shop across the street. Another big loss is integrated transit information that you could get in Google Maps. There are third party apps you can use for this information, such as HopStop and Embark (both are also free.) But CNET's Kent German and Josh Lowensohn note in their FAQ regarding the maps flap that using a third party app for transit means switching back and forth between the transit information and the Apple Maps app, which offers a map of the area. This makes it more difficult for people who need directions to and from transit stops. By contrast, transit information was integrated into Google Maps, which meant no switching back and forth.The other big complaint about Apple Maps is that some of the information and location of things is simply wrong. Whether this is a problem for you will depend on where you live. Kent and Josh noted in their FAQ that CNET didn't see any major issues in either New York City or San Francisco. This makes sense, given these cities are two of the most well-mapped places on the plant. So depending on where you live, this could be really irksome. The Apple Map problems are particularly bad outside the U.S.But that doesn't mean that Apple Maps is worthless. There are some very useful things have been added to the app that iPhone users didn't have previously. The most important is turn-by-turn directions. Previously, iPhone users had to rely on third-party apps for this features. Kent and Josh note in their FAQ that some of these apps are free, but the better ones cost money. Meanwhile, Google Android users get this feature for free on every Android handset. (I must admit it's always been one of my favorite things about a Google Android phone.)Related stories Finally, the iPhone we've always wanted (iPhone 5 Review) Apple Maps in iOS 6: What you need to know (FAQ) Google Maps with Street View on iOS: What it can and can't do Another newly added feature in iOS 6 for iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, and the new iPad, users is 3D views. And there is also a flyover feature that lets you feel like you're zooming over a city in a low-flying airplane. These features may not necessarily be that useful, but they do look cool. You can also see reviews of points of interest directly on your map, which can be useful if you're looking for a nearby restaurant. (Of course, you can't be sure if the app is really giving you all the nearby options and if they're actually in the place that the app says they are.)Apple has finally recognized that this is a significant problem. And the company's CEO Tim Cook issued an apology to customers and promised the Apple Maps app will get better. In the meantime, he suggested that iOS 6 users use a third party app to augment Apple Maps.He suggested using Bing, MapQuest, or Waze maps apps. And he even said that users should check out the Google Maps Web App, and a mapping Web app from Nokia. The Nokia version works very much like Google. It's accessed through the Safari browser, but you can download a little icon to put on your home screen for easy access. Again, because these Web apps operate through the browser performance can be less than optimal.There are also other third party alternatives. CNET's car tech editor Wayne Cunningham has put together a list of five free or mostly free navigation and mapping apps. . Now to answer your final question: should you go with another device, such as the Samsung Galaxy S3, because the iPhone 5 lacks Google Maps? First, let me say that the Samsung Galaxy S3 is a great choice regardless of the maps issue. So if you like the bigger screen and the look and feel of the handset and the Android software, go for it. But I probably would not make the mapping feature alone my sole basis for not buying the iPhone 5 and instead buying the Samsung Galaxy S3. I asked Scott Stein this question too and here's what he had to say:"If I really needed a solid mapping and navigation solution, because I needed it for my job. Like let's say I was a UPS driver or something, then I would go with an Android phone," he said. "Otherwise, I think Apple Maps is fine. The things it's missing are annoying. But I think they're going get to better. Or I think Google will offer a Google Maps app for the iPhone."I tend to agree with Scott. It's clear that Apple Maps has some problems. And it is not as good or as accurate as Google Maps. But Apple has a heck of a lot of money. And they have a lot of smart people working for the company. So I think they will invest rather quickly in making improvements. I also think that there is a good possibility that Apple and Google could reach an agreement. And even though I don't think that Apple will integrate Google Maps into the software out of the box, Google could submit an app to the Apple App store, which users could download either for free or for a fee.Kent and Josh noted in their FAQ that the fact that the YouTube app has recently gotten approval for the iTunes App Store is a good sign that Google Maps may follow a similar path. YouTube had also been integrated in the Apple iOS software since the first iPhone, but it was removed from iOS. (YouTube is owned by Google.)That said,Apple's customer satisfaction has taken a bit of a hit after the upgrade to iOS 6. The mobile customer research firm On Device recently conducted a poll of nearly 16,000 iPhone owners in the U.S. The survey found that owner satisfaction dropped slightly compared with previous surveys conducted after software updates to iOS 4 and iOS5 were launched. Although the drop is small, OnDevice noted it's the first time they've seen any drop in customer satisfaction after the release of a software update for Apple mobile products.Still, the map issues don't seem to have dampened enthusiasm for people buying the iPhone 5. Sales are solid and some people are still waiting three and four weeks for their devices. My advice to you is to buy the iPhone 5 if you like everything else about the device. The maps issue will either be worked out or improved by Apple or there will eventually be a Google Maps app available for download. In the meantime, there are third party alternatives and work-arounds available. While this is not ideal, it's workable. But if there are other things bothering you about the iPhone 5, or you simply like Android and the Galaxy S3 better, then I say buy the Galaxy S3. The bottom line is that you will probably be happy with either one. They are both fantastic smartphones.How can I conserve data and protect against overages from data leaks?Dear Maggie,I switched to Verizon from AT&T for the iPhone 5. This means I had to get one of those Family Share plans. I think I will be fine with the 1GB data I am getting, so long as I use Wi-Fi. But I am worried about the "data leakage" issues that I've read about. I don't want to go over my data usage! Has Verizon really fixed this issue? And what can I do to protect myself if this happens again?Thanks, GraceDear Grace, Apple fixed the problem in a software update for iOS6. And Verizon issued a statement earlier this week stating that customers who experienced this issue would not be charged for these data overages.AnchorFree"Under certain circumstances, iPhone 5 may use Verizon cellular data while the phone is connected to a Wi-Fi network," said Verizon's Torod Neptune in a statement. "Apple has a fix that is being delivered to Verizon customers right on their iPhone 5. Verizon Wireless customers will not be charged for any unwarranted cellular data usage."You should download the software update and then check your usage to make sure you don't see something out of the ordinary.. While you can't prevent a software glitch like this from happening again, you can download an app that will compress the data that do you use. This won't fix the problem of wrongly being charged for data usage. But an app that compresses data should help you stay within your data cap. Apps, such as AnchorFree's HotSpot Shield, can help subscribers reduce their data usage to half. This means that if you typically use 4GB of data, you would likely use about 2GB of data. The amount of data each consumer saves can vary. It depends on what you do online. Right now, HotSpot Shield and other apps like it, such as Onavo only compress text and images. They do not yet compress video or audio, which can be the biggest data hogs.That said, uploading pictures to Flikr or Facebook or viewing pictures on Instagram or any other social media site can gobble up a lot of data. Checking Twitter constantly or receiving updates from other apps can also be data intensive. All of this data can add up. Apps like HotSpot Shield and Onavo can compress this traffic and help you reduce data usage. David Gorodyansky, CEO AnchorFree, said that when his app and others are able to compress video and audio, they will be able to reduce data usage even more."Now you can use about two times as much data and we're only compressing images and text," he said. "I think you could see a 300 percent improved if we could compress video."This could save wireless subscribers a lot of money on their data plans. If a subscriber watches a lot of streaming video, he can blow through a monthly data plan within the first week of the month. Nailing down the video compression problem will help alleviate this problem.AnchorFree and Onavo aren't the only companies offering a data compression app. XVision's DataMan and Webrich Software's My Data Usage Pro are similar solutions.These apps all work in a similar way. And they provide you with details about your data usage. With HotSpot Shield you can get live usage information. And you can see which apps are using the most data. Onavo also allows you to set alerts so that if a certain app is hogging your data, you will get a message warning you.HotSpot Shield also provides another feature as part of the app: secure Web browsing. Through its mobile VPN, it provides a temporary IP address and encrypts data so that users can browse safely on unsecured networks. This protects passwords, financial information and all other personal or sensitive data while using a public Wi-Fi hotspot. The company has offered secure Web browsing on laptops and desktop computers for years. More than 70 million computers use its software today.The iOS mobile version of the software has been out for almost a year, and the Android version came out in May. Since then, the company says that it's been downloaded more than 1 million times on iOS and Google Android devices.The bottom line here is that if you are on a capped data service, you should definitely download one of these free apps so that you can preserve and save as much data as you possibly. And if by chance there is another data leakage and if Verizon doesn't catch it, hopefully your data usage will still be below your cap since your data will be compressed. I'll keep an eye out for when any of these apps add video compression to their capabilities. When that happens, it will be a huge benefit to all data customers.Ask Maggie is an advice column that answers readers' wireless and broadband questions. The column now appears twice a week on CNET offering readers a double dosage of Ask Maggie's advice. If you have a question, I'd love to hear from you. Please send me an e-mail at maggie dot reardon at cbs dot com. And please put "Ask Maggie" in the subject header. You can also follow me on Facebook on my Ask Maggie page.
Keep your iPad data safe
Keep your iPad data safe
From this screen you can also prevent apps from using location services, block changes to account settings, filter music and videos with explicit content, allow or block movies and TV shows by rating (G, PG, R, etc.), age-restrict apps, and disable the ability to add friends and play multiplayer games.Use passwords rather than four-digit passcodesThe iPad's numeric passcodes are not difficult to crack, in part because the onscreen keypad for entering them always appears in the same area. A person wanting entry can simply look for the smudge marks to figure out which four numbers are used and then enter them in their 24 possible sequences. Keeping your screen clean and using the same number twice can slow down the would-be interloper, but a better way is to enable text passwords. Choose the Passcode Lock option under General in the iPad Settings, make sure Simple Passcode is Off, select Turn Passcode On, and enter a password twice. You may want to change the time after which a passcode will be required from the default 15 minutes, but as the iPad warns, shorter times are more secure.Locate your iPad and lock or wipe it remotelyApple's free Find My iPhone app won't ship your lost iPad, iPhone, or iPod back to you via overnight delivery, but it can increase the odds of recovery by letting you locate the device and send a message to the person who "found" it. The app also takes some of the pain out of losing the device by letting you lock it or wipe its data remotely.You need a free MobileMe account to use the service. After the Find My iPhone app is installed on the device, sign into your account at me.com from any PC and select Find My iPhone to pinpoint your iPad's location on Google Maps. Click it to view options to display a message or play a sound, lock the device with a passcode, or wipe its data.Apple's Find My iPhone app lets you locate your iPad, send it a message, play a sound, lock it with a passcode, or wipe it via the free MobileMe service.screenshot by Dennis O'Reilly/CNETOf course, the first thing a thief will do to thwart Find My iPhone is to disable location services on the iPad. To prevent this, open the iPad Settings, choose General > Restrictions > Location, and select Don't Allow Changes. (Note that this option is available only if you have enabled restrictions on the device.)Last resort in guarding against brute-force access attemptsThere's no self-destruct switch on an iPad, but the closest thing to it is the option to erase the data on the device after 10 failed passcode attempts. To enable this feature, open the Passcode Lock options in the General section of the Settings app and set Erase Data to On. This setting is available only if passcodes are enabled.You may consider this a high price to pay to protect your data, but you can minimize the damage by having a recent backup available. iTunes creates a backup each time you sync your iPad. Apple's support site lists the information on the iPad that's backed up automatically and where the backup is stored.To restore a backup, right-click or Control-click the device in iTunes' left pane and choose Restore from Backup. You can also encrypt your backup or set up your device as it was when it was new. To delete a backup, click Edit > Preferences (Windows) or iTunes > Preferences (Mac), choose Devices, select the device, and click Delete Backup.Bonus tip: Clear private data from Safari. Wiping your tracks from Safari is as easy as opening the iPad Settings, choosing Safari in the left pane, and selecting Clear History, Clear Cookies, and Clear Cache. You may also want to set AutoFill to Off and/or select Clear All in the AutoFill settings.
From this screen you can also prevent apps from using location services, block changes to account settings, filter music and videos with explicit content, allow or block movies and TV shows by rating (G, PG, R, etc.), age-restrict apps, and disable the ability to add friends and play multiplayer games.Use passwords rather than four-digit passcodesThe iPad's numeric passcodes are not difficult to crack, in part because the onscreen keypad for entering them always appears in the same area. A person wanting entry can simply look for the smudge marks to figure out which four numbers are used and then enter them in their 24 possible sequences. Keeping your screen clean and using the same number twice can slow down the would-be interloper, but a better way is to enable text passwords. Choose the Passcode Lock option under General in the iPad Settings, make sure Simple Passcode is Off, select Turn Passcode On, and enter a password twice. You may want to change the time after which a passcode will be required from the default 15 minutes, but as the iPad warns, shorter times are more secure.Locate your iPad and lock or wipe it remotelyApple's free Find My iPhone app won't ship your lost iPad, iPhone, or iPod back to you via overnight delivery, but it can increase the odds of recovery by letting you locate the device and send a message to the person who "found" it. The app also takes some of the pain out of losing the device by letting you lock it or wipe its data remotely.You need a free MobileMe account to use the service. After the Find My iPhone app is installed on the device, sign into your account at me.com from any PC and select Find My iPhone to pinpoint your iPad's location on Google Maps. Click it to view options to display a message or play a sound, lock the device with a passcode, or wipe its data.Apple's Find My iPhone app lets you locate your iPad, send it a message, play a sound, lock it with a passcode, or wipe it via the free MobileMe service.screenshot by Dennis O'Reilly/CNETOf course, the first thing a thief will do to thwart Find My iPhone is to disable location services on the iPad. To prevent this, open the iPad Settings, choose General > Restrictions > Location, and select Don't Allow Changes. (Note that this option is available only if you have enabled restrictions on the device.)Last resort in guarding against brute-force access attemptsThere's no self-destruct switch on an iPad, but the closest thing to it is the option to erase the data on the device after 10 failed passcode attempts. To enable this feature, open the Passcode Lock options in the General section of the Settings app and set Erase Data to On. This setting is available only if passcodes are enabled.You may consider this a high price to pay to protect your data, but you can minimize the damage by having a recent backup available. iTunes creates a backup each time you sync your iPad. Apple's support site lists the information on the iPad that's backed up automatically and where the backup is stored.To restore a backup, right-click or Control-click the device in iTunes' left pane and choose Restore from Backup. You can also encrypt your backup or set up your device as it was when it was new. To delete a backup, click Edit > Preferences (Windows) or iTunes > Preferences (Mac), choose Devices, select the device, and click Delete Backup.Bonus tip: Clear private data from Safari. Wiping your tracks from Safari is as easy as opening the iPad Settings, choosing Safari in the left pane, and selecting Clear History, Clear Cookies, and Clear Cache. You may also want to set AutoFill to Off and/or select Clear All in the AutoFill settings.
Apple unveils new iMacs, updated apps
Apple unveils new iMacs, updated apps
But there's more to come. Stay tuned; Jobs is just getting warmed up and he's starting to talk about applications.Update at 10:35 a.m.: Apple's second announcement involved iLife, the company's suite of multimedia applications. Apple is skipping right over iLife '07 to release iLife '08, Jobs said, calling the latest version "the biggest jump in iLife since we introduced it."Jobs first walked attendees through iPhoto, the picture management application. The primary enhancement to iPhoto '08 is a new feature that sorts by events--it automatically sorts photos by date and can preview the photos in an event without opening the folder. Events can be "merged" or "split" as needed.The new iPhoto '08 is designed to work alongside some new .Mac services also unveiled Tuesday. The .Mac Web Gallery can take photos directly from iPhoto and publish them to a Web page. It also syncs up with the iPhone so iPhone users can share their galleries or individual photos.The Web gallery also incorporates the skimming feature from iPhoto '08, letting users preview photos in a given event or album without having to open the entire gallery.Update at 10:53 a.m.: Apple will be releasing a completely new version of the iMovie application with the new iLife suite. Jobs said the new software came out of an Apple engineer's realization that he couldn't make a short 5-minute movie in less than half an hour using either iMovie or Final Cut Pro, Apple's high-end video editing application.The new iMovie allows you to drag and drop movie clips from your library of videos into a new movie template. You can pick how long each individual clip will run, set transitions between scenes and upload those videos to your iTunes, the new .Mac Video Gallery or YouTube right from the menu selections.These nine ports--audio, USB, FireWire, Ethernet and video--are on the back of the iMac's monitor (on the lower right corner if you're facing the screen).AppleJobs created a very short movie in just a few minutes--of course, he probably practiced first--in a demonstration for attendees. The application can process high-definition video from multiple sources.Update at 11:13 a.m.: Jobs unveiled new editions of iWeb, iDVD and GarageBand, the remainder of the iLife suite. The iWeb and iDVD applications received minor updates, but one interesting one involved allowing iWeb users to sign up for Google's AdSense program in the Web site creation process.Jobs also demonstrated a new feature in GarageBand called Magic GarageBand, which essentially lets you create a backing band for your own performance. There are several different themes, such as rock, blues, jazz and latin.But Jobs then plunged into the new version of iWork, Apple's productivity suite. Keynote, the presentation application, comes with several new themes and better support for manipulating photos to serve as background for a slide. Pages, the word processing application, also received updated templates.But the big part of the new iWork suite is a spreadsheet application called Numbers. Numbers is designed to work with Keynote and Pages, allowing people to drop in pictures, graphs and photos alongside spreadsheet tables. You can also import and export with Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet.iWork '08 costs $79 and is available today.
But there's more to come. Stay tuned; Jobs is just getting warmed up and he's starting to talk about applications.Update at 10:35 a.m.: Apple's second announcement involved iLife, the company's suite of multimedia applications. Apple is skipping right over iLife '07 to release iLife '08, Jobs said, calling the latest version "the biggest jump in iLife since we introduced it."Jobs first walked attendees through iPhoto, the picture management application. The primary enhancement to iPhoto '08 is a new feature that sorts by events--it automatically sorts photos by date and can preview the photos in an event without opening the folder. Events can be "merged" or "split" as needed.The new iPhoto '08 is designed to work alongside some new .Mac services also unveiled Tuesday. The .Mac Web Gallery can take photos directly from iPhoto and publish them to a Web page. It also syncs up with the iPhone so iPhone users can share their galleries or individual photos.The Web gallery also incorporates the skimming feature from iPhoto '08, letting users preview photos in a given event or album without having to open the entire gallery.Update at 10:53 a.m.: Apple will be releasing a completely new version of the iMovie application with the new iLife suite. Jobs said the new software came out of an Apple engineer's realization that he couldn't make a short 5-minute movie in less than half an hour using either iMovie or Final Cut Pro, Apple's high-end video editing application.The new iMovie allows you to drag and drop movie clips from your library of videos into a new movie template. You can pick how long each individual clip will run, set transitions between scenes and upload those videos to your iTunes, the new .Mac Video Gallery or YouTube right from the menu selections.These nine ports--audio, USB, FireWire, Ethernet and video--are on the back of the iMac's monitor (on the lower right corner if you're facing the screen).AppleJobs created a very short movie in just a few minutes--of course, he probably practiced first--in a demonstration for attendees. The application can process high-definition video from multiple sources.Update at 11:13 a.m.: Jobs unveiled new editions of iWeb, iDVD and GarageBand, the remainder of the iLife suite. The iWeb and iDVD applications received minor updates, but one interesting one involved allowing iWeb users to sign up for Google's AdSense program in the Web site creation process.Jobs also demonstrated a new feature in GarageBand called Magic GarageBand, which essentially lets you create a backing band for your own performance. There are several different themes, such as rock, blues, jazz and latin.But Jobs then plunged into the new version of iWork, Apple's productivity suite. Keynote, the presentation application, comes with several new themes and better support for manipulating photos to serve as background for a slide. Pages, the word processing application, also received updated templates.But the big part of the new iWork suite is a spreadsheet application called Numbers. Numbers is designed to work with Keynote and Pages, allowing people to drop in pictures, graphs and photos alongside spreadsheet tables. You can also import and export with Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet.iWork '08 costs $79 and is available today.
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