People are sharing how navigation looks on Apple Maps vs Google Maps and say there's 'no competition' over which is best

After the latest updates, people are sharing screenshots and videos of the new versions of Google Maps and Apple Maps, and it’s like watching your favorite team against its sworn rival.

This has always been a bit of a race, but competition has become even fiercer with AI.

Now, both navigation apps are making progress at a much faster rate.

But there’s an elephant in the room we must address.

Apple has really caught up

Things must be really bad when a company openly tells you you’re better off with a product made by competition.

Believe it or not that’s what happened with Apple Maps.

In the early days, well over 10 years ago, Apple transparently told its users to use ‘other navigation apps.’

They used corporate speak to say it, but they did say it.

In an open letter, now deleted by still available using the Wayback Machine website, Tim Cook basically acknowledged that Maps wasn’t ready yet.

“While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app,” Tim Cook wrote in that letter.

Well, that was then, and this is now.

And now, things are much, much better.

Apple Maps vs Google Maps at navigation

It’s not even a competition pic.twitter.com/fFpbKD5jCo

— Apple Design (@TheAppleDesign) August 29, 2026

People are saying Apple Maps is now better

While it is true that Apple Maps is now significantly more competitive and some people believe it’s better than Google Maps, we should point something out.

Because the thing is, a post praising Apple Maps that recently went viral was shared to X by an account named Apple Design.

Well, now. With the best will in the world, a content creator who goes by ‘Apple Design’ is unlikely to say Google is best.

That’d be like browsing an Instagram page dedicated to Ferrari and expecting them to praise Lamborghini.

People in the comments, as you can imagine, weighed in on the debate.

Some users agreed with the Apple Design creator, with one person sharing a screengrab of a Google Earth/Google Maps image that was hilarious because it featured a cow… whose face had been blurred.

When you browse Google Earth, people’s faces are blurred for obvious privacy reasons, so the fact the app either mistook a cow for a person and thought the cow’s face still needed to be blurred is indeed a little bit funny.

However, despite the Apple-biased context, some people still think that Google is better.

“Apple looks nice but Google gets me there quicker,” one user said.

“I’m sorry but Google Maps is the best outside of US, it’s not even close and I really want Apple Maps to be better, but it’s simply not there map-wise,” another one echoed.

Well, this just goes to show the debate will never ever end.