Battle of The Maps, Round 3: Aesthetics

Apologies for this post being late. Round 4 is still on for its scheduled date!
Click here to check out a summary of the fight so far!

Maps are a completely graphics-based idea, with the entire idea centering around a movable picture of the ground and roadways on it. Having those pictures look nice is an important part of enjoying using a map app. Round 3 evaluates each map apps' beauty. FIGHT!

 

The "standard" view of each map app (both shown above) does not look very much like the ground its portraying. That's called satellite view (both shown below), and it's pretty consistent between the 2 apps. Standard, however, is not. Google Maps shows streets in yellow; Apple Maps shows them in white. Most roads are neither completely yellow nor completely white, but it seems to be that the white roads look a little less odd. Yellow is much easier to see, but more out-of-place. To each their own on this one.

A big feature that was pushed within Apple Maps was "flyover" views, or 3D models of buildings appearing on maps. Google quickly added this concept into their maps as well. The difference? Apple Maps allows viewing of these models from any angle and orientation, whereas Google Maps only shows them from above. And Google Maps only shows 3D models in the standard map view. In satellite, all the buildings in Google Maps are flat.

In Apple Maps, however, each building is detailed in satellite view as well, and the view is still as adjustable. 3D popup buildings may not be incredibly useful for navigating, but they sure are something cool to play around with and explore.

Both Google's and Apple's 3D building models are only available in large cities at the moment.

Apple and Google have very different design styles. Apple aims for a fluid, realistic view while Google is more matte and simplistic. Both have their positives and negatives, which are shown in their different maps apps' user interfaces. Each app has a single small menu for settings. Apple Maps' paper curls up from the bottom corner (left below), and Google Maps' slides over from a small tab in the bottom corner (right below).

 

Apple's background is their signature denim-like texture, and Google's is plain gray. All of Apple's buttons are shaded and rounded, while Google's doesn't even seem to have buttons until tapping one. Again, to each their own preference of style.

Google goes for functionality without any extra polishes, while Apple focuses more on the fluidity and beauty of their maps. The Aesthetics round goes to...