Design Details of Google Maps for iOS

http://sachagreif.com/design-details-of-google-maps-for-ios/

by sgdesign • 14 years ago

91 17 14 years ago

ctruman• 14 years ago

great analysis of the app

timdorr• 14 years ago

> After Apple’s heavy-handed realism and Microsoft’s harsh minimalism, it’s nice to see that Google are also beginning to find their voice.

This is what I'm finding to be most exciting. Gone are the days of Google's barely-there, browser default-ish "designs" for their web apps. There's a visual language the company has started to adapt that isn't half-assed and actually has a lot of thought put into it.

It's the same reason I appreciate Metro from Microsoft. I don't necessarily like Metro, but the consistency not just within singular products, but across their entire product portfolio is something that makes their alternative to Google or Apple seem appealing.

Apple's had a consistent design language for years and that's why we've all gravitated towards them to some extent. I've been a fan of Google for the functionality for years, but now I can finally say I appreciate their product design just as much.

markdown• 14 years ago

> Gone are the days of Google's barely-there, browser default-ish "designs" for their web apps. There's a visual language the company has started to adapt that isn't half-assed and actually has a lot of thought put into it.

I wish they'd move more of their properties over to the new design though. Case in point: https://www.google.com/a/foo.com

gdubs2• 14 years ago

Agreed, though the newest Lion releases have had some really nice and subtle treatments in certain places. Definitely excited to see where Ive will take Apple's UI.

nodata• 14 years ago

Can you give us some examples?

jinushaun2• 14 years ago

Google's design is Metro done right, IMO. It's clean, modern and minimal without being ugly and uninspired. I feel like there is an art director over seeing all implementations of the design, instead of a hosgepodge of PM-lead design-by-spec implementations.

RyanZAG• 14 years ago

"After Apple’s heavy-handed realism and Microsoft’s harsh minimalism, it’s nice to see that Google are also beginning to find their voice."

This seems very true with the Holo look on Android as well - Google is going very heavy with the 'roadsign' style (flat, colors for emphasis, icons convey meaning, text looks similar to government forms, etc). I'm guessing there is a design name for this type of look?

On the surface you might confuse the Metro style with Holo in that they both use similar design elements - but while Metro tries to go towards 'digital minimalism', Holo/iOS maps seems to go more towards 'paper minimalism', as used by official forms and the like.

Also as a note: Apple did originally use the vertical transition in a lot of their apps - it was part of the original iOS design guides, etc. You can use it easily in any app with the popup screen call.

oboizt• 14 years ago

kind of like Bauhaus style? I think that's where Metro was inspired from too

louischatriot• 14 years ago

I especially like frustration detection. Such a great way to react at the right time and stop a user's anger at the right time. I wonder if this could be possible on computers too, by using an ambient movement sensor or simply the webcam?

tldr version of the article: http://tldr.io/tldrs/50c993061bfffa6a5e000730

mmahemoff• 14 years ago

The Side Menu seems to be a pattern borrowed from Android, which is now being used in a lot of iOS apps, e.g. Facebook and Path.

mtgx• 14 years ago

Downloaded the just released Google Currents 2.0 app yesterday, and I really like that side menu. So much better than a physical menu button or even a software menu button on the app.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.and....

netcan• 14 years ago

Just a step back for perspective comment:

"I don’t have a car, so the lack of public transportation in Apple’s Maps app pretty much makes it useless to me"

Apple’s Maps app is still a searchable, zoomable easy to use map of the whole world that knows where you are! A few years ago this would have been the most comprehensive, user friendly anyone had ever seen. We are all characters in a Louise CK bit. 5 minutes between discovering some incredible futuristic technology that we didn't know was possible to feeling like we deserve it and getting angry at the incompetence when it doesn't work perfectly.

sgdesign• 14 years ago

Umm, all the fancy 3D in the world won't really help me if my maps app can't tell me how to get from point A to point B.

This is not a case of "it doesn't work perfectly", it's a case of "it doesn't work at all" (for my use case, at least).

Terretta• 14 years ago

GP said nothing about 3D. I took zoomable to mean vector.

Also, I have used both (iOS 6 Apple Maps, iOS 5 Google Maps) side by side heavily in Rome (urban) and Sabine Hills (countryside), and found Apple Maps far faster to navigate, easier to find my place and food POIs as a pedestrian, and noted the vaunted iOS 5 Maps had no transit knowledge whatsoever, neither busses, nor trams, not even metro. (I preferred Navigon over either of them for driving.)

Similar comparisons hold true in Manhattan (except of course it does support transit as long as you're not underground), rural western North Carolina, and SoCal. Seems evident the “Apple Maps are Useless!” meme is overblown.

iPhone owners were missing turn by turn for driving ("point a to point b"), and iOS 6 maps provided that. It had to be done.

jinushaun2• 14 years ago

The tiles are often wrong or lack sufficient detail. So no, you can simply use Apple Maps as a replacement for paper maps. It's bad in the suburbs and really bad in rural areas.

Then there is also the issue of bad searches, which is quite common from my experience, where dots are in the wrong place or POI data is outdated.

jug6ernaut• 14 years ago

Should we also compare iOS to what Android was "A few years ago"? Just food for thought...

Ill be the first one to say my distaste for iOS/iPhone, but the point is here that these products must be compared to what the are competing against. Sure the iOS Maps app is beautiful in its own right, but compared to Google Maps it appears to be inferior(i am going of reports and downloads, as i have no used ether iOS Maps or iOS Google Maps).

Design Details of Google Maps for iOS

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