Within this trip, with some help from Google and Apple, I became determined to keep caffeinated and maybe find somewhere else to eat besides McDonald's and truck stops.
We had two iPhones and 2 Android phones between us, allowing me to evaluate Google Maps on the iPhone and Android and Apple's own mapping app with the iPhone. There isn't any Apple app on Android. These apps all have turn-by-turn voice navigation and can nag you with new directions if you make an incorrect turn or make an effort to turn off-course.
I tested out of the Google and Apple mapping apps before, but centered on how their walking and public-transportation functions worked in New york. I needed to discover where did they performed for driving and not in the comfort of any major metropolitan area.
But mainly, I want to to see how Google Maps fared compared to Apple's Maps, which kicked Google Maps over iPhone in September. That meant Google had no mapping app on the iPhone until it released a replacement in December. Google Maps with voice navigation has been on Android phones since 2009. I additionally wanted to find out if the Android and iPhone versions necessary the same features. (Spoiler alert: They don't really).
We embark from Big apple with his easily bored 3-year-old daughter strapped from the back seat. I energized the phones and set courses for my parents' home in Haslett, Mich. (just outside Lansing, for those too lazy to Google it).
Both versions of Google Maps and the Apple software essentially gave me exactly the same directions and time estimate - approximately 10 hours, though we had arrived planning on 12 with stops.
We usually relax at the Panera Bread bakery about an hour into Pennsylvania, but our daughter was napping and that we weren't really hungry. So we threw ourselves at the mercy of Google and Apple and hoped that they would find us something in the hour or two.
When we wound throughout the hills, with my better half driving, I watched the small blue arrows on my phones move across the state and checked out all the features each mapping program offered.
The Android version of Google Maps has got the most toys as well as the most breathtaking graphics. The bars and cleaners visible on its street maps of recent York get replaced with the names of rivers and small-town roads from the distance.
By comparison, both iPhone apps seem simplistic, which isn't too surprising as being the Android app a start of several years. Apple's fancy 3-D graphics largely burn away when you get out of your city.
The Android version allows me to pick out "layers" for my map showing particular things like traffic and nearby businesses.
The restaurant layer proved beneficial when my daughter started getting cranky and we was required to make an unplanned stop.
