Why can't we see route directions on Apple's Maps app in India?
Apple used google data when it entered in phone market, later on it started with its own data, which does not have certain capabilities in india, right no what we have is standard features & satellite mode all other features like Directions, 3D mode, turn by turn navigation is not available in india, Good news is with the focus now shifting to indian market, the have set up a maps development center in india last year, we should have all features on Apple maps very soon, may be even by this year, lets wait and watch! For now we can use google maps.YOu can check feature availability for all regions on the below link iOS - Feature Availability
Why is the map of India shown on Google Maps different from what it actually is?
Because, that is the reality. What each country calls as their map is a figment of imagination. A lot of major countries claim lands that they don't control. China claims Arunachal Pradesh and Pakistan claims the whole of Kashmir (except areas controlled or claimed by China). India claims both.The question really is what parts of those regions these countries control. Can China control Arunachal Pradesh? No. Can India control Aksai Chin? No. Can Pakistan control Indian part of Jammu & Kashmir? No. When these three countries have nuclear weapons, is there any reasonable way to change borders from here on? No.Then why do these countries show it in their map? To please the hardcore nationalists at their home.Indian leaders however are already clearer in accepting the current map as the reality. The problem is that China and Pakistan are not arguably accepting the reality now. From what I have read, Indian leaders would be open to giving up its claim for Pakistan's Kashmir in return for Pakistan giving up its claim of India's J&K. In the same way, Indian leaders would be open to India giving up Aksai Chin while having China give up claim over Arunachal.This is why India doesn't protest much about maps without PoK and Aksai Chin. As long as the maps show Arunachal and Jammu Kashmir firmly as parts of India, that is one India desires. Because, that is the reality. The rest is mere fiction.
Why are Google Maps not accurate in India?
Two main reasons:Nobody has high accuracy maps of most of India, not even Indian governmental bodies.Google invests the most in its maps, in areas where it’s most profitable.To unpack these a bit:Even in most major cities in India, the local government does not have good quality maps. Google does collect some of its own map data, but its starting point is always to buy in existing map data to start from. Where India does have existing maps, they’re often old; both out-of-date, and surveyed before GPS surveying became cheap, so inaccurate (or at least, not conformal to the GPS system). OpenStreetMap (OSM) has far better quality maps of many parts of India than Google does, because OSM uses large numbers of volunteers on the ground (crowd-sourcing) rather than relying on bought data and paid surveyors.Secondly, India isn’t (yet) the colossal avalanche of revenue that many western countries are for Google, so like any business, it deploys resources where they will bring the most financial return. It’s much more interested in mapping hiking trails in California than high streets in India… for now.A third and more minor reason is that (in its maps and many of its other properties) Google is very western-focussed. It expects streets to have names and highways to have official numbers. India is very different, with vast numbers of roads that have no official name, and are just described by local people in terms of their relationships (eg “the third street on the left when you go downhill from the temple”). (Or so I’ve read, from people who have done mapping in India.) This is a problem for Google and to some extent for all world map databases. Again, OSM is doing better in many less-westernized countries because it relies mostly on local volunteers who know and understand their local area, rather than contractors being directed from the USA.Mapping India is a very big task. Unless Google devotes astonishing resources to it, I suspect OSM will continue to lead the way in India and its region.
Smartphones: Can I use GPS without enabling internet on my phone?
If your phone has a GPS chip, you should be able to use it. It may get a faster fix if it can use internet or cell data for assistance (AGPS), but it doesn't need it.The accuracy of a GPS fix has nothing to do with the OS; it's determined by the hardware in the phone - the receiver and antenna, shoe-horned into something primarily designed for a different function. Most phones are not as good as most dedicated GPS sets, or Bluetooth GPS you can use with a phone.Some applications require an internet connection to get maps, such as older versions of Google Maps. Some have a cache mode where you can pre-load maps over wifi, e.g. using OpenStreetMap data.Some phones do not have a GPS chip, but can still show your location based on wifi identification and cell tower data (e.g. Google Maps). Sometimes people call that GPS but it's not - GPS specifically means the US satellite system. Non-GPS locations may be wrong by kilometres, away from urban centres. One showed my boat sailing up a street some miles inland.Accuracy is hard to measure. It depends on conditions - trees and tall buildings create echoes. The GPS chip has a measure of accuracy (dilution of precision), which may appear on a phone app, or not. If you can retrace your steps many times, and get the same trace, then you have real accuracy.This is a wooded area near Squamish. The yellow trace is my phone (Nokia E71).Red is a tablet (Nokia N810), purple another tablet (Asus ME173X). Ideally, those traces should overlap - I was either carrying both devices at the same time, or walked the same trail hours or days later.This is the same area using a Garmin GLO bluetooth set, as logged by the tablet.The GLO is clearly much more accurate than the phone.On an open road away from obstacles, I might expect 20m accuracy from the phone and 5m from the GLO.