Apple planning default navigation app setting in iOS 18 for EU users

https://9to5mac.com/2024/03/07/apple-planning-default-navigation-app-setting-in-ios-18-for-eu-users/

by laktak • 2 years ago

33 54 2 years ago

magnio• 2 years ago

Apple also plans to introduce a new default control for users in Settings for navigation apps. Apple aims to make this solution available by March 2025.
Apple will also add the ability to delete Safari from the iPhone in an update to iOS before the end of the year.

Man, sincerely wish Apple would make these changes available elsewhere. My whole family complains about how they cannot make Google Maps the default on iOS.

hellweaver666• 2 years ago

What I don't get is why they don't just roll it out everywhere? Surely it's more hassle for them to maintain multiple versions of iOS with different features for different markets?

Yeri2• 2 years ago

More hassle, but that hassle is covered by extra $$$ from forcing people in their ecosystem.

basisword4• 2 years ago

I think that illustrates how important they think being default is and how much they have to lose.

rahoulb• 2 years ago

So they can whine about how regulation interferes with their ability to innovate

tety• 2 years ago

Probably more about Safari than Maps

If they limit the market they disincentivize google and mozilla from investing in native iOS versions of their browsers

shiroiushi4• 2 years ago

If you care about choice, iOS isn't the OS for you.

asadotzler• 2 years ago

Wishing for Apple to do something is misplaced. Wish for and vote for a government where you live that's as concerned with your software choices as the EU and EC and European courts are for their citizens.

hsbauauvhabzb4• 2 years ago

How about the rest of us? I’ve uninstalled Apple Maps and have google maps install, if I click an address it prompts me to install Apple Maps again.

I have no idea how this is somehow different from the Microsoft IE antitrust case of the 90’s, but I truly hate decisions made by apple (and Microsoft, for that matter) in the name of ‘doing business’.

_ZeD_• 2 years ago

>> How about the rest of us?

you can ask for an European citizenship.

Or you can ask your government to protect its citizen from monopolies

simse• 2 years ago

Citizenship is not enough, you have to live in the EU.

hsbauauvhabzb4• 2 years ago

I don’t think either option is actionable. I live in Australia, with a population so negligible and ignorant of privacy that even if someone in government somehow did give a shit, even major entities like Apple might find it more economical to just pull out entirely.

And ‘just asking’ for citizenship is a little bit of a stretch, as is relocating to Europe.

kmlx• 2 years ago

Or you can ask your government to protect its citizen from monopolies

that’s one take. i got a different one:

the ship has already sailed almost two decades ago. that’s when these kinds of solutions should have been implemented.

today euro politicians decided to micromanage US tech companies because they don’t have any themselves. they’ll use the fine money to promote truly innovative companies such as France Telecom.

meanwhile in the real world i just got an email from one of my european clients to not use anything other than safari and to not install any 3rd party app stores or apps due to security concerns.

laserlight• 2 years ago

An HN comment explains the difference [0]:

The key nuance that triggered the government lawsuit was anti-competitive actions such as using obscure/undocumented Windows API functions to cripple Netscape and forcing computer manufacturers to avoid other software when licensing DOS/Windows. All of that is in the long document: https://www.justice.gov/atr/us-v-microsoft-courts-findings-f...

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28256669

realusername2• 2 years ago

I can make the exact same argument for iOS, anything non-Apple which is still permitted is crippled and their Apple equivalent are using undocumented private APIs.

hsbauauvhabzb4• 2 years ago

Is this suggesting that when I open a link, google maps could open it, but doesn’t due to developers being unaware of a documented API?

lloydatkinson• 2 years ago

Off topic, recently on holiday I needed to lookup an address. Google Maps and Apple Maps had very different results. One had the location about half a mile away across the city and the other was right where I was standing.

Apple Maps was the correct one.

This is not an experience I’d have expected in 2024 for a large city in a Western country. With Googles apparent embrace of enshitification as a goal instead of a warning, perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised anymore.

withinboredom6• 2 years ago

If you look up “paper cities” google also has “paper public transportation” and it will give me a route from my house starting at a bus stop that doesn’t exist on a bus that doesn’t exist. It’s super annoying when inviting people over because I have to explain that they shouldn’t use Google maps because it will give impossible directions.

shiroiushi4• 2 years ago

It depends on where you are; Google Maps is indispensable in some cities, and apparently somewhat useless in other locales. Here in Tokyo, it's a must-have app, and basically everyone uses it because it's so useful. Good luck trying to navigate the public transit system with some other navigation app, or find some very particular restaurant you want to eat at. Of course, one of Google's big locations for Maps development is here in Tokyo, so that might have something to do with why it works so well.

jim180• 2 years ago

My wife actually uses Google Maps a lot for restaurants and places to go when we are traveling outside our country, but not for navigation. I find that funny, since this is a Maps app after all.

As for navigations it's either Apple Maps or Waze, depending on the country.

Yeri2• 2 years ago

In a lot of cities (think Asia, Europe) GMaps is still significantly better.

Especially for walking and in less common places.

In Ghent, Belgium, Apple Maps wanted to let me walk a ~20min detour and follow car streets whereas GMaps correctly allowed me to walk on pedestrian-only roads.

pompino• 2 years ago

Not usually a supporter of Google, but personally I'd cut them some slack for this. I do hold them responsible for not being able to go a few clicks without some google tech shoving a shitty ad in my face.

basisword4• 2 years ago

Apple Maps would be my preference too. UI is much better, map design much better, turn by turn is better etc. The only area it stumbles is business listings. For Google I can see lots of reviews, opening hours that are accurate even on holidays, how busy the location is, photos etc. Apple Maps doesn't even come close in this regard and sadly it's the main reason I use a mapping app. Apple should have started building this out from the start - integrating with Yelp which was a mistake (it was DOA even back then for countries outside the US).

shiroiushi4• 2 years ago

That's one of the main values of Google Maps: it's not just a navigation app, it's a business directory. I don't need to know how to get to a set of GPS coordinates; I need to find an Italian restaurant, or a veterinarian, or whatever. Only then do I care about how I go there.

ben_w2• 2 years ago

Google Maps has been weird lately.

Not too long ago, I was looking for a shop which, it turned out, was at the next junction of a very short street. Like, I could've seen it but for a signpost and restaurant outdoor furniture blocking my view.

Google Maps recommended I walked to that junction, turned left, walked halfway to the next junction, got on the underground, took the underground to the next stop, got off the underground, and then walked back.

KolenCh• 2 years ago

Well, not long ago I was searching for National Car Rental / Enterprise near the London Heathrow airport. As I was in a hurry, I chose the first one that looks right and start driving. And somehow I arrived in one of the terminal drop off/pick up zone and hence I need to pay £5 for that mistake. And then when I eventually got the right one, that’s another 15 min drive…

choppaface• 2 years ago

Remember when "Apple Maps Bad" was catastrophic? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVq1wgIN62E

Then Uber happened, in particular greyballing.

Then FTX happened.

Then ...

It's not just about pressing a bad product on people, it's about the greed leading the campaign in the first place.

yami• 2 years ago

Wish they would also allow 3rd party phone apps. Recording a call isn’t possible on an iPhone unless your willing to use paid, very hacky solutions.

grishka2• 2 years ago

Why not skip this case-by-case approach and just introduce something similar to Android's intent system? As in, any app could say it can handle "geo:" URIs, and the user would get to choose which app opens them. Same for all other URI schemes and common actions. It has somehow worked on Android for 15 years and hell didn't break loose.

meibo• 2 years ago

Because then you couldn't funnel every basic functionality of a modern smartphone into your own apps by force, making it so annoying to actually use alternatives that in most scenarios, you won't bother to.

3D30497420• 2 years ago

I think the issue is less a technical one and more that Apple doesn't want to cede control. I'm guessing the fact they're saying this will take a year to launch is more about how little they want to do it than the actual amount of effort.

grishka2• 2 years ago

Apple doesn't want to cede control

But they will have to, sooner or later. It's not like the EU is going to give up with its initiatives that aim precisely to reduce this kind of post-device-sale control by device manufacturers. Why not just bite the bullet? This kind of arrogant behavior can't be good for Apple's own reputation either. You want people to use your services? Provide better services than your competition then!

Apple planning default navigation app setting in iOS 18 for EU users

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