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Comment by smackfu | Hacker News Reader

>For me, Maps gives me eerily accurate drivetime estimates whereas Google's times are utterly useless.

Fascinating. Apple Maps is always wrong for me, with the estimated time of arrival constantly changing as I drive, while Google (and Waze) are spot on.

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Well of course the ETA changes while you are driving, that seems obvious. It's an estimate, it depends on current conditions, it can't be correct from the start.

For instance, just now I pulled up directions to the place I drove on Sunday. Apple Maps gives three routes, ranging from 35-40 minutes. Google Maps gives three routes, ranging from 29-33 minutes. In my experience, it will take closer to the time Google says, so if I'm using Apple Maps, the ETA will start out at 35 minute from now, and by the time I get there, it will be 5 minutes sooner. The only "current condition" it is depending on is that I'm driving faster over the route than it expects.

The estimate also depends on current traffic conditions.

I won't debate the accuracy of either case since it can only be an anecdotal and unproductive conversation. You were disputing the value changing over time, not it being inaccurate. Google does seem to give more optimistic estimates in general.

It's heavily dependent on the city you're in as far as I can tell. Google Maps is awful in Madison, but I've had better results with it in Atlanta.

As people often say, it might have something to where you're using these services. E.g. in York, UK both Apple and Google Maps work perfectly fine.

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