Apple Maps for iOS 6 review

So, Apple Maps. Garnering a lot of press and a lot of anti-apple ammo, maps was the rather large hiccup of the iPhone 5 release. The premise made sense- take the advantage of owning one of the biggest and most useful apps away from one of their biggest competitors- Google. If they had the brainpower, they could build their own version. And they did, built using Dutch navigation equipment and Tom Tom’s Data.

And it works. Just not… perfectly. Yet. Soon after the release the internet was flooded with screenshots showing the inaccuracy of the application, from wrong destination information to odd looking buildings, roadways etc. Stating that your destination was in the ocean 10 miles out is not very good for a maps application. Unfortunatley the more humerous the inaccuracy, the worse it was for Apple- and anyone relying on the app to get them somewhere…

So. The app itself is not quite fully formed. It does, however, work very well for a lot of people. Here at iPhone Antidote we have used it extensively- across two countries, in the city and in the middle of nowhere, and have only come across one inaccuracy. Don’t get us wrong- there are  apparently lots out there, we just haven’t happened across a lot of them.

Disregarding the flaws for a moment-  the features of Maps are great- turn by turn directions, voice intergration, flyover and vector based maps. The 3D looks brilliant, vibrant and lifelike, and it’s really fun to play with- the pivoting action of being able to rotate the point of view and zoom out so you can play with the whole globe is stupidly fun. A lot of people find the interface a lot simpler to use and more pleasing to the eye.

It’s definitely something that holds promise, which, yeah, is not really what you want with a cornerstone feature of a new operating system. You want that shit dialed in.
So, Good Guy Apple organizes a press release where they tell their own customers that they made a mistake in releasing their maps too early, that they were sorry, and advised them to go to their competitors- please. They showed remarkable customer service by admitting their mistake and doing the right thing for their customers.

Apple have told their customers that they are improving maps and that the problems like buildings or roadways looking a bit funny will be fixed by user feedback, so an increasingly perfected system. Until that point is reached, we suggest using Apple maps until you run into a problem, then using Google maps as a backup. To do this- go to google maps in safari, and you will be prompted to ‘save as an app for your mobile’ by touching the arrow on the bottom and choosing the option to add to homescreen.

Happy travelling.

App of the day – Rat Builder ( Game ) Free.

Careful kids, as innocent as this looks, this game app is very, very addictive. Prepare for one worded conversations and impatience with the world around you for distracting you and making you stuff up that one vital box landing.

An incredibly simple idea. A box swings on the end of a rope and you must tell it when to drop so that it will stack perfectly onto the box waiting below. Then comes another differently sized box. And another. The speed of the swinging rope increases as you move up the levels, gaining points. There are a few tricks ( seen as dropping icons that you must touch, making sure you catch them otherwise you will let a box go when you’re not ready- catastrophe!). Four bad landings and you’re out, and so sad. So you try again. And again, and again, and again…

App of the day – iTranslate Voice

iTranslate Voice

Fervent wannabe linguists rejoice- iTranslate is the best translator app since people realized that lazy people want to speak other languages too. Simply speak your chosen phrase or word into your iPhone, it senses when you stop speaking and not only spells out the phrase in your chosen language but speaks it too.

After lots of trialling by iPhone Antidote, with both American and Australian accents, it understands most sentences and phrases -even obscure- first go, and the translations seem startlingly accurate ( trialled with Slovak, Thai and Spanish).

You can even use it to learn if you’re smart and committed, but for the intended use, translating, the major ( but understandable) problem is that you do need to be connected to the internet to make it work. You would have to have a rather large data roaming plan to use it whilst travelling, but for emergencies, or the chance to ask questions or have a conversation with someone in another language whilst sitting in a wifi-connected hostel, hotel or cafe is unbelievable. On sale now for $0.99

Go on, design an app. I dare you.

A few years ago, if you wanted to skip the 9-5 rat race, sick of working your way up the ranks of middle management, always being at someone else’s ( your boss’s) mercy, you had the chance, if you had the balls and the smarts, to start your own business. It was very, very hard work, and extremely risky. Geniuses very rarely start their own businesses because they understand the risks involved. Both financial and emotional.

A lot of people who wanted to, never took the plunge, and a lot of people did, with one great idea. And they lost.
With the introduction of the iPhone however, under the guidance of Steve Jobs’ own creative smarts, we were introduced into a whole new business world. Apps. The first time in a long time a whole new and increasingly lucrative business market opened up.

You could take an idea, and you could run. Anyone can do it. Make millions. Think of the apps you use the most, or the ones you like the most- Instagram, Draw Something, Words with Friends, Angry Birds. Simple ideas. Some of them are not even executed very well but they made millions.

Here’s the thing- If you want to be your own boss now, you can design an app. Scratch that. DESIGN AN APP. Brainstorm with your friends. Think of anything and everything that someone could have use for or do for fun on their iPhone. Have an iPhone app designing night, hell, make it a drinking game. Just give it a try. You could make millions. There are companies out there that will give you a lot of money for a good idea, if not buy your app outright.

But…. but I don’t know how to do computer… stuff? I hear you say.
Well, hire someone dummy. Use one of the many freelancing websites out there (freelancer.com, elance.com, etc) .  Spend a small amount ( upwards of $300 depending on the idea) and people will do it for you. All you need is one great idea, a little bit of start up money, a little faith, and no guts at all. Easy, peasy. ( note, nine out of the top ten best selling apps of all time are games. Just so you know.)

iPhones, making millionaires out of anyone with a spark.