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Apple to Continue Using Google Maps in iOS 5?

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Apr 12, 2001
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Close on the heels of claims of revamped notifications and widgets in iOS 5, 9to5Google now reports that Apple will continue relying on Google's mapping service for iOS 5, noting that any efforts to sever geolocation ties with Google by moving things entirely in-house have not yet resulted in a finished product.
Now, sources have told 9to5Google that although Apple is working to improve the iOS Maps application, iOS 5 will not bring an Apple developed maps service and Google Maps is still in. Besides Apple's purchase of both Placebase and Poly9, some speculated that Apple is building their own maps service to either compete with Google or step away from their input into iOS.
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Apple has given several indications that it is looking to make major improvements to the Maps application included in iOS and also revealed that it is building a crowd-sourced traffic database from iOS devices with an eye to rolling out a traffic service presumably linked to a turn-by-turn GPS mapping offering.

Article Link: Apple to Continue Using Google Maps in iOS 5?
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/05/27/apple-to-continue-using-google-maps-in-ios-5/
The article should be more clear about the fact that Apple has always made the map app on the iPhone. This story is about where the map data will be coming from. Instead of from Google it may eventually come from an Apple-run service.

The distinction is important because it means that improvements to the maps app in iOS 5 have nothing to do with this rumor. They may update it or they may not but that doesn't depend on where they get the data from.

I, for one, sure hope the app gets some new features this year even if it's not their super-big overhaul project.
 
What's wrong with Google Maps? I think it's perfect, I just wish it had Turn By Turn GPS.
 
baryon said:
What's wrong with Google Maps? I think it's perfect, I just wish it had Turn By Turn GPS.
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The data itself is good, but have a look at the Android version of the client. The iPhone version now looks extremely feature-poor in comparison.
 
baryon said:
What's wrong with Google Maps? I think it's perfect, I just wish it had Turn By Turn GPS.
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Just off the top of my head:

1) The ability to add multiple destinations and have it tell me the most efficient way to run my errands.

2) The abilty to turn off local-road traffic. I usually only want to see the freeway situation and all the extra color is just a distraction

3) Turn by turn directions would be great, yeah

4) The ability to search for a thing down the road, like "What's the next Burger King within 5 miles of my route?" which is a very different question than "What's the closest Burger King?"

Those are just 4 things and I didn't even take time to think about the question.
 
Small White Car said:
The article should be more clear about the fact that Apple has always made the map app on the iPhone. This story is about where the map data will be coming from. Instead of from Google it may eventually come from an Apple-run service
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Really ?
Do you know how much effort Google is putting into Google Maps, worldwide, to upgrade it ? All the business places, streetview, mymaps editor, etc.

It's almost impossible for Apple to reach the level of Google Maps.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8G4)

Google maps is fine with me, because I'm able to find just about anything on it location-wise.

I use navigon for turn by turn stuff which really works well and even if apple were to put their own map service into iOS I would use navigon for access to all USA mapdata without the need to download information on the go. Having all the map data already on board is huge for me.
 
All of the Apple default apps like stocks, weather, maps, and Youtube pretty much suck. If Apple were smart they'd just not include the apps on the phone but have them available in the app store so the applications can be updated without relying on waiting for the OS to be updated.
 
We dont NEED a new maps app...it works just fine.

Replacing Google Maps just because Steve's in a bad mood is pathetic. Apple doesn't do maps, Google have done it for a long time. Google has licensing agreements with all the major players, Apple does not.

I really cant see their alternative. Its Google, Bing or Yahoo...those are your options.

If its that big a deal, dont ship it with a maps app and let us download whichever one we individually want from the AppStore.
 
thetexan said:
All of the Apple default apps like stocks, weather, maps, and Youtube pretty much suck. If Apple were smart they'd just not include the apps on the phone but have them available in the app store so the applications can be updated without relying on waiting for the OS to be updated.
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I like your idea of releasing native app updates individually, but you know apple, they like the fanfare of new iOS updates.
 
Small White Car said:
Just off the top of my head:


4) The ability to search for a thing down the road, like "What's the next Burger King within 5 miles of my route?" which is a very different question than "What's the closest Burger King?"
Click to expand...

I didn't even know it could do that. That's awesome.
 
Small White Car said:
Just off the top of my head:

1) The ability to add multiple destinations and have it tell me the most efficient way to run my errands.

2) The abilty to turn off local-road traffic. I usually only want to see the freeway situation and all the extra color is just a distraction

3) Turn by turn directions would be great, yeah

4) The ability to search for a thing down the road, like "What's the next Burger King within 5 miles of my route?" which is a very different question than "What's the closest Burger King?"

Those are just 4 things and I didn't even take time to think about the question.
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So it needs updating...not replacing. Apple would end up replacing it with an App that does the exact same thing. They need Google to pull the map data, without that its useless. Apple dont have the resources or knowhow to build their own mapping system...its more than a bit of 'magical' programming.
 
rmwebs said:
So it needs updating...not replacing. Apple would end up replacing it with an App that does the exact same thing. They need Google to pull the map data, without that its useless. Apple dont have the resources or knowhow to build their own mapping system...its more than a bit of 'magical' programming.
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Google is not allowing updating... all they allow Apple is to use the bare bones service...
 
My 'most wanted' update to Maps is better control over caching.

This would be particularly useful for travelling abroad, when I want to switch off data roaming to avoid crazy charges, or even just knowing I can have a map available locally, even if the signal is poor/non-existent.
 
jonnysods said:
That's a pity. This app hasn't seen much update action for a while....
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The app is Apple’s work (pulling data from Google’s back end). So they can keep improving it (as they have in the past) even if they stay with Google.

And I hope they do stay with Google for now, because the app works great as is! The transit features are awesome, and it’s all quick and easy and detailed—and accurate. Maybe I’m just lucky in the cities where I go! (And for voice guidance, I love the Navigon MyRegion app anyway.)

Now, in the end Apple may need to move on—they don’t want Google to have power over a key app. But that’s someday. No need to rush the change.
 
AppleDroid said:
Because sometimes Google Maps is horribly inaccurate?
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Care to share an alternative that offers a better service yet the same features, license and API as Google Maps? :rolleyes:

jav6454 said:
Google is not allowing updating... all they allow Apple is to use the bare bones service...
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Eh?! :confused: Did you even read my post?

The Maps app (created by Apple) just needs an update to add a few extra features, all of which already exist in the Google Maps API. It has nothing to do with Google allowing XZY, as far as they are concerned they dont care what parts of the API are used, so long as its Google Maps in use.
 
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Google Maps is quite okay on the iPhone, in my opinion. The only thing I'd like to see is smooth zooming (something similar to Android). The empty grey squares when you zoom in, filling in randomly, are just ugly.
 
AppleDroid said:
Because sometimes Google Maps is horribly inaccurate?
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I am finding that as well. It seems, any more, many of the maps are 5-10 years old and my car has more up-to-date information.

I have started migrating back to MapQuest. The maps are much higher quality and they are consistently accurate.
 
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