Google Maps for iPhone

http://daringfireball.net/2012/12/google_maps_iphone

by rkrishnakumar • 14 years ago

38 61 14 years ago

kirinan• 14 years ago

I don't have an issue with signing in with my Google Creds because I get direct benefit. It saves all my searches, and can quickly pull up previous searches (unsure if the App does this already). and can auto fill the fields. When typing on a virtual keyboard (which cripples me compared to a slide out), things that allow me to reduce typing make me happy.

untog6• 14 years ago

It does seem a little hypocritical when the entire iPhone requires you to sign in with an Apple account. You think they're not tracking search data in the Maps app?

czhiddy• 14 years ago

How so? You can use the phone just fine without an Apple account - you just won't be able to download any apps. Bookmarks in Maps works without having to sign into anything.

toksaitov• 14 years ago

Google wins, Apple wins, users win (not right after the release of iOS 6, but still). In general, the decision to remove the old Maps app was good.

chucknelson• 14 years ago

Agreed. The only losers here are the sub-par map app developers who will now see much fewer downloads.

mikeryan• 14 years ago

Between this and the turn by turn introduced by Apple, it might have completely killed the turn by turn directions mobile app market on iOS. Even quality (as opposed to sub-par) are going to have a hard time competing against free.

baddox• 14 years ago

And everything could have been avoided by Apple choosing to wait a few months (or, more realistically, by working with Google starting much earlier) to make sure a Google Maps app was on the market when iOS 6 was released.

sigzero• 14 years ago

Since you really have no idea what the negotiation breakdowns were you really have no idea if any of what you stated was true.

admiralpumpkin• 14 years ago

Your implication is that Google was surprised by what happened and so wasn't prepared with their own app. This strikes me as implausible. Apple's purchases of mapping companies was well publicized, as was it's slow break-up with Google. So if we're allocating blame for Google not being ready, I'm going to go ahead and lay that at Google's feet.

If we're talking about blame for Apple Maps being sub-par, obviously that's Apple's fault.

FireBeyond• 14 years ago

Leave it to Gruber to try to spin this pro-Apple: "This iOS 6 mapping saga has been a source of tremendous controversy, but here we are three months after iOS 6 was released and iPhone users now have a better Google Maps experience than they did when Google was providing the back-end data for the built-in Maps app. It all worked out."

Almost like Apple planned it that way is the implication.

Except the reality is that his last sentence should end ", no thanks to Apple".

"I consider Apple’s new Maps the better-designed app, but this new Google Maps is very good. And Google’s advantage in search accuracy goes without saying."

You can almost hear him gritting his teeth as he types this, not quite able to give up Apple just yet. "Apple wins (for me) in design, but everything else is Google. But I can't bring myself to explicitly say 'this is the better app'."

pohl• 14 years ago

Almost like Apple planned it that way is the implication.

That may be what you infer, but I don't agree that it's what he implies.

Osmium• 14 years ago

>Leave it to Gruber to try to spin this pro-Apple: "This iOS 6 mapping saga has been a source of tremendous controversy, but here we are three months after iOS 6 was released and iPhone users now have a better Google Maps experience than they did when Google was providing the back-end data for the built-in Maps app. It all worked out."

But it's true. In iOS 5 I had Google Maps but no vector tiles, no turn-by-turn or voice navigation, and Apple tried to get Google to work with them on that but (regardless of whose fault it was) negotiations failed. Now, here we are, and as an iPhone user I now have a Google Maps that not only has those features but is arguably, currently, better than the Android version(!)

Furthermore, there's now been an explosion of map apps on the app store: Nokia's Here, Waze, etc. Competition is good. In iOS 5, there weren't viable alternatives (or they weren't advertised?), but now I have four good map apps on my phone. And when one of them fails, and it will (even Google, which was useless for me when I visited Japan recently) I now have several alternatives. As a user, for me, it's a win win.

untog6• 14 years ago

and Apple tried to get Google to work with them on that but (regardless of whose fault it was) negotiations failed

But that's then letting Apple off the hook. Obviously we don't know the details of the negotiation but the facts are that Apple left a deal on the table, and gave their users a significantly sub-par experience as a result. That blow has been considerably softened by Google releasing their own app, but treating "negotiations failed" as some sort of "it's no-one's fault" result is letting everyone involved get away with a negative result.

jonknee6• 14 years ago

> But it's true. In iOS 5 I had Google Maps but no vector tiles, no turn-by-turn or voice navigation, and Apple tried to get Google to work with them on that but (regardless of whose fault it was) negotiations failed. Now, here we are, and as an iPhone user I now have a Google Maps that not only has those features but is arguably, currently, better than the Android version(!)

The lack of innovation was exclusively Apple's fault. They neglected to update its Google Maps powered app and decided to enter into war with Google at the detriment to Apple customers. If Steve Jobs hadn't gone nuclear on Google, the Maps debacle would never have happened.

> Furthermore, there's now been an explosion of map apps on the app store: Nokia's Here, Waze, etc. Competition is good. In iOS 5, there weren't viable alternatives (or they weren't advertised?), but now I have four good map apps on my phone. And when one of them fails, and it will (even Google, which was useless for me when I visited Japan recently) I now have several alternatives. As a user, for me, it's a win win.

Waze was released in 2009. Nokia's Here is new, but most of the others that are popular in the store have been around quite some time. They "exploded" because Apple shafted its user base, it wasn't because of innovation.

doe88• 14 years ago

> Except the reality is that his last sentence should end ", no thanks to Apple".

Maybe Apple should have taken more time to make the transition. But the result is Apple is the master of its own destiny, Google is the master of its own destiny and it seems to work out for the better right now. Both apps have features the formerly co-owned app had not. Long term it's healthier I think.

justizin3• 14 years ago

Also note that everyone who has complained about Apple Maps either purchased an iPhone 5 essentially on release day, making them an early adopter (the 4 and 4S are still for sale) or is an early adopter by way of voluntarily upgrading.

Let's not overdramatize. And the iOS Maps experience based on Google's data was really terrible while iOS 6 was in development and when it was released.

There's also nothing wrong with Apple Maps that wasn't wrong with Google Maps literally years after it was launched.

Steko9• 14 years ago

"Except the reality is that his last sentence should end ", no thanks to Apple"."

If Apple doesn't build it's own Maps, we still have the old shittier maps app though right?

Gruber in May:

"This is a high-pressure switch for Apple. Regressions will not be acceptable. The purported whiz-bang 3D view stuff might be great, but users are going to have pitchforks and torches in hand if practical stuff like driving and walking directions are less accurate than they were with Google’s data."

Can you almost hear him grit his teeth while he ... accurately predicts the mapping fiasco before the beta had even been released?

thezilch2• 14 years ago

No, you still can't easily highlight-open / link addresses to open in Google Maps, for example. Among other things, Apple is responsible for the old, shitty map, and they are responsible for not getting Google more native integration and having NIH syndrome. Plainly, "thanks to Apple," iOS6 Maps is a failure, and it is a huge misstep for one of (of two) the world's flagship mobile-OS.

jonknee6• 14 years ago

> If Apple doesn't build it's own Maps, we still have the old shittier maps app though right?

Apple was unwilling to negotiate with Google because they are upset over Android. Apple could certainly have improved its existing Maps app if they were willing to play ball with Google. They weren't and now they look even more ridiculous because every iOS user can plainly see that Apple is worse at mapping than Google.

w1ntermute3• 14 years ago

> You can almost hear him gritting his teeth as he types this, not quite able to give up Apple just yet. "Apple wins (for me) in design, but everything else is Google. But I can't bring myself to explicitly say 'this is the better app'."

Well, "design" is a subjective thing, so Apple fanbois can always say that Apple has better design. Other, more impartial people[0] say that it's better designed than Apple Maps.

But can you blame Gruber? Spreading Apple propaganda is how he puts food on the table. By being an Apple shill, he gets fed insider info from his Apple sources. And the only reason anyone pays attention to him is because of those sources.

0: http://www.theverge.com/2012/12/12/3760770/google-maps-iphon...

zyb09• 14 years ago

heh also claiming while this app is good, Android's version is of course not. Because it's not Google-y, like Google's iOS apps. It's too sterile - Android must be made by some kind of subsidiary, that has nothing to do with the Google, that makes these iOS apps. Because in reality I hate Android and everything that surrounds it, but I have to admit the Google Maps app is quite good actually, so my Cognitive dissonance came up with this totally rational explanation.

discordance• 14 years ago

Gruber was referring to this being a win for the user, not Apple. I think it's pretty well established that this has been a giant clusterf for apple.

jonknee6• 14 years ago

> ... here we are three months after iOS 6 was released and iPhone users now have a better Google Maps experience than they did when Google was providing the back-end data for the built-in Maps app. It all worked out.

Gruber's feats of mental gymnastics are second to none.

untog6• 14 years ago

Agreed. He talks as if the old Maps app was some kind of immovable object. Obviously, we'll never know the details of the negotiation, but it could have worked out considerably better by upgrading the old Maps app to the current Google Maps app.

Of course, there are many reasons why that might not the case, but the suggestion that somehow everything has worked out the best it could have possibly done is laughable.

reidmain10• 14 years ago

I'm not sure upgrading was possible. The old maps app was actually made entirely by Apple while this new one is made entirely by Google. I can't imagine Apple would give a third-party a system level app. Just look at YouTube.

The same reasons why Apple wouldn't package Google Maps with iOS are the same reasons Google wouldn't package iTunes with Android. You don't want to concede ground to your competition. Now if they want to fight for it that is a entirely different story.

Steko9• 14 years ago

I don't use nav apps daily like many do but it seems to be a given that most heavy users will move to Google Maps as their permanent solution. This can only bring more and more focus onto iOS's most glaring weakness: the lack of contracts/intents/services. If the next version of iOS doesn't have it I think you will see jailbreaking go mainstream.

reidmain10• 14 years ago

Jailbreaking will never go mainstream. It has never been easy and/or safe enough for that. Just like how a small percentage of Android users root their phones.

However "remote controllers" in iOS 6 are definitely the precursor to the Android intents. It will be interesting to see if they make it into iOS 7 as a public API.

Steko9• 14 years ago

"Jailbreaking will never go mainstream"

My understanding is that it's already mainstream for carriers to jailbreak phones for customers in many countries.

taylodl• 14 years ago

Permanent solution? That's hard to say. No one should expect Apple to rest on their laurels for Maps though - they can't afford to admit defeat. They must continue to strive to make their Maps app as-good-as or even better than Google Maps. It'll be interesting to see what Apple does next.

Google Maps for iPhone

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