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ldominguez1986

macrumors member
Feb 9, 2012
81
0
Philadelphia
Or Maps back fired really bad on Apple and they had no choice but to let Google make an app. I bet there would be no Google maps in iOS if maps was successful. And I guess getting rid of the YouTube app was done for these reasons as well?
 

JAT

macrumors 603
Dec 31, 2001
6,473
124
Mpls, MN
Except I'm much older than 14 and have been a marketing/PR professional for over 20 years. I think I know a little more about marketing, PR and recognizing "spin" when I see it. OR rather - poor logic of a blogger/reporter who is either creating a sensationalist piece for link bait or who genuinely is ill-informed.

Why not all of the above?

----------

Strat-e-gery....

Fun game.
 

RicoRich196

macrumors regular
Apr 28, 2011
102
39
This is a money issue, Google makes a boatload of money maps by filling it with ads/sponsored links now imagine how Apple feels about that being a native thing had they gone with native GMaps. They weren't seeing their cut. Oh and customer data.
 

zippyioa

macrumors newbie
Dec 13, 2012
1
0
If you Apple fans like Google Maps on iOS so much, you should see what Google can do when they control the whole phone ;-)

As for those wanting to be able to set Google Maps as the default navigation app rather than that sub standard offering Apple felt fit to release... all you do is:

1. Click on an address in your contacts list and you should see available navigation apps pop up.

2. Simply choose the app you want as default and click "always" (not "Just Once"). This will set your default navigation app from now on.

Simple! Oh wait, that's how you do it on an Android phone..... surely Apple didn't miss that out of their feature packed OS as well?
 

0098386

Suspended
Jan 18, 2005
21,574
2,908
Except Google really didn't get that slammed, Apple was hardly glorified, and everything did, in fact, work out in the end...

Other way around ;)
Apple were slammed, had to publicly apologise, ask users for help and patience.
Google were glorified. Nobody could wait to get their app on iOS again.

----------

We live in a very rural County north of Atlanta. I like Apple maps a lot. It has always put me right on The location that I needed to go. We have never had any problems with it.

Nice to know Apple puts a very rural location in its own county above vast cities in the rest of the world.
 

Analog Kid

macrumors G3
Mar 4, 2003
8,854
11,368
Other way around ;)
Ah, so you're making the assumption Apple was the "bully" in this case, rather than the company using their mapping service to try and hollow out their competitor?

I guess I missed the ticket sales for the Apple/Google negotiations, because given the number of people who seem to know what happened in that room, there must have been stadium seating and a halftime show.
 

everything-i

macrumors 6502a
Jun 20, 2012
827
2
London, UK
To insinuate that this was the planned outcome is ridiculous. Apple wanted to deliver their own mapping solution because they didn't want to be reliant on Google and didn't want either Google branding on a bundled app or latitude forced on them. The fact that now Google maps is back and is actually a bit nicer than on their own platform is just a coincidence and a happy one at that.
 

Eric E. Schmidt

macrumors member
Nov 14, 2012
77
0
Calif
Except I'm much older than 14 and have been a marketing/PR professional for over 20 years. I think I know a little more about marketing, PR and recognizing "spin" when I see it. OR rather - poor logic of a blogger/reporter who is either creating a sensationalist piece for link bait or who genuinely is ill-informed.

still, you fail to spot humour.
 

Beautyspin

macrumors 6502a
Dec 14, 2012
800
1,078
Oh Really!

WRONG.

Apple could have denied their app. In fact, when the whole thing started all the bloggers were tripping over themselves to be the first to say Apple was going to deny their app anyway. And perhaps you haven't seen the map section on iOS where Apple shows you all the different mapping options we have on iOS, including Google Maps. Even if they didn't deny the app, they didn't have to promote it!

Second, Goggle didn't get what they wanted! Now you have to opt into Google eco system. I'll be using my native maps so no biggie to me. Sell yourselves all day long if you want. Google could have built this app a year ago, and they would be the native maps on iOS and you never would have heard of Apple maps, but thats not what they did! Oh no, they had to try to strong arm negotiate and they got clowned.

I'm business savvy biased. I certainly don't think Apple meant to stumble with their maps (although the extent of that stumbling is up for interpretation, unless you are a fandroid of course) but you can't argue with the results. Turn by turn on iOS via Google or Apple. Enjoy your Google maps!

And they got a couple of VPs kicked out just to make Google believe so that it will fall in the trap.
And they got Cook to apologize in public which Apple never does irrespective of the mistake.
And they had to approve Google Maps without a whimper and google gets to brand it as google maps.

Machiavellian plan indeed. Must be a case for business schools - How to fool an opponent by making one selves a total fool....:D
 

QCassidy352

macrumors G5
Mar 20, 2003
12,028
6,036
Bay Area
Highly doubt it was drawn up this way, but yeh, at the end of the day iOS users end up a lot better off for it all happening.
 

Beeplance

macrumors 68000
Jul 29, 2012
1,564
500
Oh wait, so this is all an elaborate scheme by Apple to "trick" Google into releasing an app with TBT?

Really can't see as a plot by Apple.:confused:
 

jephrey

macrumors regular
Dec 19, 2005
214
84
Regardless of whether it was planned (and I agree that it would be dumb to think that it was) the outcome has become a win-win-? with the consumer and google getting wins and Apple getting a ? At this point, the only thing against apple is like the article suggests - they get a little egg on their face but they get from Google what they wanted from the get-go. Technically, it could morph into a win-win-win.
 

notjustjay

macrumors 603
Sep 19, 2003
6,056
167
Canada, eh?
Oh wait, so this is all an elaborate scheme by Apple to "trick" Google into releasing an app with TBT?

Really can't see as a plot by Apple.:confused:

Oh yes. Apple never, ever makes mistakes. Steve Jobs was the most brilliant person who ever walked the planet.

Remember when the iPhone was originally released and the plan was NOT to have third-party apps at all? Yeah, that was all a huge ploy. Generate some backlash, build up demand. And boy did it ever work!

And the iPhone 4 antennagate? Well, everyone flocked to buy the 4S, right? Yup. Clever ploy!

And the original iMac round puck mouse? That was... that was... uh... so brilliant that I can't even comprehend the reasoning. What a master that man was. *bow*
 

whooleytoo

macrumors 604
Aug 2, 2002
6,607
716
Cork, Ireland.
Other way around ;)
Apple were slammed, had to publicly apologise, ask users for help and patience.
Google were glorified. Nobody could wait to get their app on iOS again.

Precisely. I doubt that Google Maps is perfect either, but in the PR battle Google just beat the snot out of Apple on this one.

Google look like they have the better mapping solution, and are keen to get it into users' hands. Apple look like they have a buggy maps solution, and are pushing it onto end-users for business/political reasons. Even if that's not a fair assessment, that's how it seems to be playing out in the media.
 

Mhkobe

macrumors regular
Jun 25, 2009
140
0
I think that the users did win in the end, but I also think that Apple thought/wanted Apple Maps to be insanely great.
 

tzeshan

macrumors regular
Dec 12, 2009
205
3
I think this is the result of why we teach kids to do the right thing. Apple did the right thing to kick Google Maps out of iOS 6. A sequence of events happened. So you can not deny Google Maps app is a consequence.
 

milo

macrumors 604
Sep 23, 2003
6,891
522
Did apple intend for it to work out this way? No way, if that was their intention they would have saved themselves a ton of trouble by just removing the app from the standard install and letting Google release what they wanted via the app store.

But is the end result pretty darn good for users? Absolutely. And it will be even better once Apple's own maps improve and hopefully catch up to Google. Competition is good.

And I don't really think how it plays out in the press matters at all, the only threat to apple is that bad mapping would hurt iPhone sales. Google just did apple a huge favor and probably eliminated any risk to Apple's sales.
 

TDLucas

macrumors newbie
Dec 14, 2012
1
0
I know everyone has been having fun talking about how awful Apple Maps is, but I wonder how many of you actually have used it and given it a chance. I'm guessing many of you are just jumping on the band wagon.

Several people have said that they have had no problems with Apple Maps. I know that there are some issues, but I have not had any problems myself. I've used Apple Maps in California, Oregon, Texas, Tennessee, and New York without ever having issues finding the what I was looking for or getting good, direct directions.

I never liked the Maps app with google data. Had many problems finding stuff accurately. Ended up giving up on it and moving on to the Waze app and the Mapquest app. Both work great. Directions on MapQuest are better than in Waze, but the ability to see user submitted information about traffic and road hazards in Waze is great.

I still usually use Waze for long distance driving, but I use Apple Maps for getting around locally. Apple maps, in my estimation, has a great interface and does a great job for everything I have asked it to do. I'll check out Google Maps to see how it works, but I doubt I'll switch to it.
 

Drag'nGT

macrumors 68000
Sep 20, 2008
1,781
80
I am a hard headed fanboy. I will use the Google Maps app when the built in app fails me. It is rare for me (so far) to find something missing entirely in the native maps app. But I like the idea that I'm cutting ties to Google. I'm getting close to ditching their search as well. Bing has returned better search results for me from time to time.
 

osofast240sx

macrumors 68030
Mar 25, 2011
2,539
16
Never had a problem with the TbT on my wife's iPhone 5. I installed the GM on my iPhone 4 yesterday and deleted my tele nav app. I loving the voice TbT on google but it is not as accurate as my tele nav. While driving on 34 street to the Empire State Building google gps showed me driving on 33 street. That's a whole city block off. The GPS also showed me driving through buildings. Good thing I knew we're I was going, I hope this app does not bite me in the ass when I really need it.
 

theluggage

macrumors 604
Jul 29, 2011
7,486
7,335
WRONG.
Apple could have denied their app.

Yes, if he'd wanted to make the PR disaster even worse than it already was. Can you not imagine the furore had they denied it? Since they'd already approved other maps and navigation apps it would have been blatant discrimination against Google. Might even have been lawsuit territory.

And perhaps you haven't seen the map section on iOS where Apple shows you all the different mapping options we have on iOS, including Google Maps. Even if they didn't deny the app, they didn't have to promote it!

Yes, they did. Think.

The iPhone 5 had just been launched, and mapping/GPS is a pretty important feature for many smartphone users. Apple had to reassure buyers that they could get decent maps on their iPhone 5 straight away, or it could have decimated sales. Taking a hard "you'll use our maps and like them or you'll eat them for breakfast" line would only have made it worse.

Sure, if you're a 'glass half full' person it did emphasise the choice of App

Apple Maps had already received so much bad press that even if they could fix it within weeks, it was going to take much, much longer to shake off the rep (heck, people are still making cracks about Macs only having one mouse button).

As for the 'this whole debacle has given us more choice' issue, Google have done pretty well in pulling a maps app out of thin air in 3 months - especially one that is clearly more than a half-baked clone of the Android version or a thin wrapper on the website. Now, Google have a lot of resources so I wouldn't bet against them doing this, but I do wonder how long this has really been on the drawing board for...

Personally, I was all set to get an iPhone 5 until I upgraded my iPad to iOS 6, opened Maps, hit 'Satellite' and saw a black-and-white cloudbank where my house used to be. That's fixed now, but the question in my mind was "What's Apple going to wreck next in order to spite the competition? Gmail/contact/calendar sync? Dropbox/Google Drive?

Eagerly awaiting (a) the iPad version of Google Maps and (b) maybe an updated Android version for my phone.
 

CausticPuppy

macrumors 68000
May 1, 2012
1,536
68
Hmmm. If this REALLY was Apple's strategy, then Apple would allow Google Maps to be the default mapping app.

But they haven't.
 
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