Google Has Not Yet Submitted a Google Maps App to Apple [Update]

[a0me]

Originally Posted by realeric

I would never give my personal location data to Google. They will sell it to advertisers.

So what? Do you think that Apple, Microsoft or any other company is different?
By posting to this forum you've already given info about you that both your ISP, MacRumors and their partners happily share with advertisers.

[xxgilxx]

Meh! We can always fall back to analog methods like using paper maps, asking gas station staff and/or junkies roaming the streets for directions ( nostalgic sigh)...

[SpyderBite]

Originally Posted by Macist

Oh hell. So some iOS6 users could be without mapping for months?

There. Fixed that for ya.

Maps work fine for me and all of my co-workers who also have iPhones/iOS 6. So, it works fine where I am located and in 3 other cities I've traveled to on business since iOS 6 was released.

Frustrating when people insist on speaking on behalf of everybody with blanket statements in order to make their exaggerated point.

[a0me]

Originally Posted by doelcm82

At "free" you'd get half the users, maybe. I have the google search app, though I rarely use it.

Of those users who would download it for free, many wouldn't buy it for $2.99 or even $.99. They'd say,

• "How dare Google charge for something I can get for free using the web app! It's just Greed."
• "I don't want Apple to get 30% of that money!"
• "All the apps on my iPhone are free. I'm not breaking a perfect streak for this."
• "Come to think of it, I don't use Maps that much, and Apple's version is getting better."

I'd buy a working mapping app for $10 or even $50.
Between a piece of cr@p for free (Apple Maps) and a paid working app, I wouldn't hesitate a second.

[tatonka]

Originally Posted by entropys

Quite so.
Anyway, realistically I find it hard to see how Apple could fix the missing info without first making the app available. It needs millions of people using it to improve it.

Actually I think most of the problems stem from very bad search algorithms rather than bad data (or a bad combination of both). There is a lot that could have been done before launching the app to avoid this disastrous start, ie go look for better data vendors, money should really not be an issue and make the local searches work.

----

That said .. Google should have a strong incentive to fight for the iOS userbase when it comes to maps. They have previously put out dedicated apps for many of their services and I would expect them to continue doing so. They want to be your number one search engine to harvest your data and send you advertisements in return .. it is what they do best.

[kamalsutra]

Get Nokia Maps...they're the best...Even Steve Jobs use them to find his way to his maker...

[brymck]

So seriously, what is it going to take to convince the people who think there are no problems that they're just wrong? Your maps in your city might be fine. Mine aren't.

Here in Japan, we lost rail transit (which almost everyone takes in cities), station layouts, station exits... heck, around half the stations are in the wrong place! We lost bus transit as well. There are no good routing app recommendations, for what that's worth. We lost building names, which is essential because Japan has few street names and addresses are often based on order of registration rather than location. We lost Street View, which is sometimes necessary in a maze of urban alleys where GPS isn't always reliable.

Many POIs are wrong; most are mislabeled in some way at least. Store names are haphazardly romanized. Addresses aren't romanized correctly. Search translation is poor. We don't get Yelp (the local analogue is Tabelog). We don't have flyover. We don't need turn by turn as all cars have very good navigation systems already.

And the QA is abysmal. When Maps was released, Narita Airport was considered the location of Daio Paper. Until a decade or so ago, Japan had a different latitude and longitude coordinate system, so some legacy systems still use that. Obviously Apple didn't correct this, because a ton of locations have duplicates or triplicates several hundred meters away.

This is not because Japan is uncharted territory. It's been mapped and remapped by many companies, and Apple chose not to purchase that data. It chose to go with West-focused TomTom, which doesn't even tout its services in Japan. Zenrin or Yahoo! Japan are much better choices locally.

And yes, I have used the app, unlike some conspiracy theorists and sycophants here want to claim. And I'm willing to be patient. But as is, the app is a very long way off from being even usable in a country that has several different alternatives.

[Superken7]

Originally Posted by entropys

For those waiting for a google maps app: why? It can't because you rely on it to find your way to the exclusion of all other options. It might be OK while you have a network. But as soon as the network drops out you get no more maps.

If I was relying on a turn by turn app, I would (and did) get a proper navigation app where the maps are already on your phone. Like tomtom,navigon etc.

LOL, you obviously haven't used the Android version of Google maps, or haven't been paying attention that it can offline entire areas and will automatically prefetch all the navigation data in case you lose your connection while navigating. The Apple version of google maps was a joke, and perhaps that's what you are judging.

[chr1s60]

I'm guessing Google leaked this own rumor themselves in order to make Apple look even worse and in an attempt to gain the spotlight. I personally think the Maps application needs work, but isn't nearly as horrible as many make it out to be, especially in these forums.

[andyyardley]

Originally Posted by entropys

For those waiting for a google maps app: why? It can't because you rely on it to find your way to the exclusion of all other options. It might be OK while you have a network. But as soon as the network drops out you get no more maps.

If I was relying on a turn by turn app, I would (and did) get a proper navigation app where the maps are already on your phone. Like tomtom,navigon etc.

I live in London, don't have a car and i'm not from around here. I use the Maps app on my phone all the time to find shops and companies i'm visiting all on foot. I never use turn by turn as thats not really needed for walking. For me the iPhone is a map device with a phone.

As it currently stands the new maps app doesn't know where anything is (even the Stratford Apple shop is apparently in the middle of the Olympic Stadium) so it's totally useless for me.

Luckily as an iOS dev I knew about this mess months ago and haven't updated my primary devices aside from test ones. But it also means I can't put my sim card into the iPhone 5 and use it on a day to day basis until it works at least as good as the original maps app. And that includes street view which is really useful for identifying in advance exactly which building you need and on which side of the road!

[Nightarchaon]

Originally Posted by DavidTheExpert

Lol, it sounds like Google is just screwing themselves deeper and deeper into the ground. Every minute they waste during all this Maps hooplah is more lost customers.

Actually if i was google i would pull all my apps from apple, and make them Android/Windows 8 Phone only, let apple do without, in fact, id go so far as to make YouTube videos and google mail, difficult and clunky to access on iOS devices

[a0me]

Originally Posted by tangerineyum

I'm interested to know how apple maps is not usable to anyone. I deliver pizza for a living. and I use apple maps. No, i dont use turn by turn. All i need is the general area for my delivery and im off. And Apple maps seems to do that well enough.

Luckily for you you don't need to deliver pizzas in Japan. With Apple Maps you'd be out of business by the end of the week.

[chr1s60]

Originally Posted by a0me

Luckily for you you don't need to deliver pizzas in Japan. With Apple Maps you'd be out of business by the end of the week.

I certainly would, I don't understand anything on either of those

[a0me]

Originally Posted by brymck

So seriously, what is it going to take to convince the people who think there are no problems that they're just wrong? Your maps in your city might be fine. Mine aren't.

Here in Japan, we lost rail transit (which almost everyone takes in cities), station layouts, station exits... heck, around half the stations are in the wrong place! We lost bus transit as well. There are no good routing app recommendations, for what that's worth. We lost building names, which is essential because Japan has few street names and addresses are often based on order of registration rather than location. We lost Street View, which is sometimes necessary in a maze of urban alleys where GPS isn't always reliable.

Many POIs are wrong; most are mislabeled in some way at least. Store names are haphazardly romanized. Addresses aren't romanized correctly. Search translation is poor. We don't get Yelp (the local analogue is Tabelog). We don't have flyover. We don't need turn by turn as all cars have very good navigation systems already.

And the QA is abysmal. When Maps was released, Narita Airport was considered the location of Daio Paper. Until a decade or so ago, Japan had a different latitude and longitude coordinate system, so some legacy systems still use that. Obviously Apple didn't correct this, because a ton of locations have duplicates or triplicates several hundred meters away.

This is not because Japan is uncharted territory. It's been mapped and remapped by many companies, and Apple chose not to purchase that data. It chose to go with West-focused TomTom, which doesn't even tout its services in Japan. Zenrin or Yahoo! Japan are much better choices locally.

And yes, I have used the app, unlike some conspiracy theorists and sycophants here want to claim. And I'm willing to be patient. But as is, the app is a very long way off from being even usable in a country that has several different alternatives.

Just to add to the list, some locations show up in Korean or in Chinese for no apparent reason. It'd be something like having a map of San Francisco with a couple of landmarks in Arabic language or Russian.

[opq]

I live in Canada and the maps here have been pretty good in general though I do miss seeing more street labels from a zoomed out view.

The street i live on has changed for at least 3 years, along with a new on ramp to the nearby freeway. Reported them to Apple on Day 1 of iOS launch but no changes yet. To be fair Google updated my street albeit incorrectly, though their maps team replied and fixed it in a few days...

Seriously, POIs only from Yelp? No wonder most of what I see are restaurants, useless..

[Neodym]

Originally Posted by justindocanto

Think of it this way... If people start jumping ship on iOS because the maps sucks, Google might win a few extra Android sales. They really have no reason to make an maps app for iOS. What benefit would they have?

They earn money on advertisement (among others). Each additional user - no matter which platform - gives them more weight in the market. It's all about influence and (commercial) power...

[Bernaka]

Originally Posted by daviesap

Apple are beginning to look really stupid over this.

Their maps are embarassingly bad - if they were on an Android phone they would be a laughing stock.

Really - Duncaster?

It reeks of arrogance

U from Dunny? lol

[opq]

Originally Posted by Neodym

They earn money on advertisement (among others). Each additional user - no matter which platform - gives them more weight in the market. It's all about influence and (commercial) power...

Yeah, Google wants to know EVERYONEs whereabouts on the web. Of course, having a population where they can harvest all data related to their phone is even better (Android), but for other platforms, at least they are searching with Google and mapping with Google and emailing with Gmail.. Still a lot of rich tracking information..

[ikkejick]

Seems like I'm going to use my HTC HD2 (with android) as a navigation system once my iPhone 5 comes in

It's better to have best of both worlds. Both operating systems/companies have it's strengths and weaknesses..

[opq]

I should also add, wasn't Schmidt himself stripped of CEOship? Amazing he's still with Google even after their founders wanted the job back...

[nexsta]

Now this is a good reason to jailbreak.

[G4DP]

Good on them for not doing so. It's time someone made Apple feel uncomfortable for a while. They created this stupid mess, let the deal with it. Why should another company come an bail them out.

You reap what you sow. This is Karma of the most perfect order.

[Veinticinco]

Originally Posted by a0me

Just to add to the list, some locations show up in Korean or in Chinese for no apparent reason. It'd be something like having a map of San Francisco with a couple of landmarks in Arabic language or Russian.

Image

That is hilarious. Embarrassing but hilarious nonetheless.

[Gruber]

Originally Posted by realeric

I would never give my personal location data to Google. They will sell it to advertisers.

Actually, no. I happen to know advertisers that would love to buy that data from Google, but Google keeps the ad business to its own. Google does not sell user data.

[CplBadboy]

Lets hope its sooner rather than later. As usual, its the customer that suffers because Apple cant man up and say they have messed up and they keep quiet about the whole scenario.
Just release GMaps back onto the App store. I bet when they have the event in October, Tim Cook will come out blazing telling us all how customers just love the new flyover feature in Apple maps, they are just GOOOORGEOUS, they dont work for **** but our customers love them! Thankfully adding the Google Maps bookmark to the homescreen is a real life saver.