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Apple to Continue Using Google Maps in iOS 5?
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Wow, sorry for repeating what the rumor said. I guess that means it's my idea now? You know I didn't write the darn thing, right?
You're also aware, I'm sure, that Google has gotten their map data from multiple sources in the past, right? Early on the web version and the mobile versions were coming from different companies. I believe they've unified them now, but that story should convince you that it's not impossible for other companies to play at this game.
Maps are not some magical secret business. They're just a bunch of image files.
The dirty secret in the industry is that everyone is generating their maps from central sources, like Navteq. If Apple licensed from the same sources they have the same accuracy as everyone else.
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No default turn by turn app in 2011 on a premium device is a disgrace.
No default turn by turn app in 2011 on a premium device is a disgrace.
I live in a rural area and I must say, you sir need to pay attention to the road more and stop relying on gadgetry to help you if you are taken miles off track because of some map app.
Agreed. I avoid Maps like the plague. It never fails to route me through Toll roads, which is highly annoying!
Yeah, I guess those would make sense. I have an iPod Touch so it's very rare that I need maps to work and that it works simultaneously, as there is hardly such a thing as Free WiFi. What I would like therefore is the ability to save an entire city or area in memory so that I don't need WiFi to download map data. It can still locate me based on nearby WiFi signals without having to connect to them.
Can you back that up? From what I understand Google wants other vendors to use their services, that's what their business model is. It would be petty and a bad business choice for them to not allow their other services. Besides the missing features of the iOS maps application are available on the mobile version of the maps.google.com, so your point is moot.
I prefer and use the maps web application, it's better and has a prettier icon.
Instead of reinventing the wheel and building their own data source, Apple should concentrate on making the Maps app better. Use Google as a source, they have all the infrastructure down and built, just give us a better front-end to it.
No offense intended, but if you just wish it had Turn by Turn GPS then you don't think it's perfect.
Others have effectively pointed out the shortcomings in the current Maps app. My personal wishes for additions include the following:
- Multiple route options including finding routes without tolls!
- A "Find nearest gas" / "Find cheapest gas" utility
Yes, hence my post, I suggest you read it again.
I said that Apple should remove THEIR apps from the firmware and allow Google to write its own and put them on the App Store.
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Would this force app developers to stop using Google Maps in their applications? A lot of the related mapping services (directions, business listings, etc.) are bound by license to Google Maps tiles.
Would this force app developers to stop using Google Maps in their applications? A lot of the related mapping services (directions, business listings, etc.) are bound by license to Google Maps tiles.
Damn.
I guess their own maps arent ready.
Aww
if only Apple could replace all the other company's logos with an Apple logo, then things would be much better.
Just buy Navigon
Hahaha.
But really, Apple is sitting on a pile of money right now.
As Microsoft has demonstrated with the acquisition of Skype, now is the time for the giants to flex a little muscle.
Companies who save and never take chances loose.
We will all benefit from a little outside of the box thinking. I guess I'm trying to say....."think different" with the solutions.
BTW : yes I realize Navigon licence their maps, just saying...... Navtech or whatever.... BUY IT !!
Hahaha.
But really, Apple is sitting on a pile of money right now.
As Microsoft has demonstrated with the acquisition of Skype, now is the time for the giants to flex a little muscle.
Companies who save and never take chances loose.
We will all benefit from a little outside of the box thinking. I guess I'm trying to say....."think different" with the solutions.
BTW : yes I realize Navigon licence their maps, just saying...... Navtech or whatever.... BUY IT !!
Instantly showing you multiple routes to pick from would be great, including the info such as distance and time of each route, and toll routes should be either highlighted and there should be an option to avoid them.
Adding transit routes would be nice too.
3D view of the map.
Night/Day mode.
There are lots of things absent from Apple's maps app.
I get the two companies are really overlapping and have become competitors over time and less on the partnership end, but why not just use the stock Google maps from Android and port it over with turn by turn already in there? Let your competitor do all the heavy lifting for you?
I despise the maps app on IOS. Anything would be an improvement.
I think Google would now, but it "duplicates features already in IOS" and would be rejected by Apple.
And Maps is not updated once a year. They haven't changed a thing in it for years except adding the button for walking directions, that it likes to get stuck on and then you're driving down the road and it's telling you to walk... through a yard.
If Apple really wants to make an improvement with maps and location services, start with a dedicated GPS chip that isn't dependent on your wireless carrier's network. So that when you are looking at a map, the dot that is supposed to be where you are isn't a mile away... and when out in the country, it still can update where you are. I know people get touchy when you say it's not "real gps" and want to be too literal, but it's not real GPS!
Quote: Originally Posted by MacAaron View Post If Apple where to get rid of Google Maps then Google would probably come out with a Google Map App for the iPhone anyway I think Google would now said:
Uh, it does have a real GPS chip. It's slower to get a reading on you that way (so you have to be patient to get it to get a reading), but it does have one. The reason they also use the cellphone towers is it is quicker that way to actually get a reading where you are (That's why it's "assisted" GPS). It also can give you a better reading of where you are when you are indoors and the phone is shielded from the sky (real GPS needs good access to the sky). But it can actually tell you where you are using real GPS too. So letting the GPS assist itself to also use cellphone towers means it works better than a GPS when you have cellphone coverage (faster and you can be indoors even).
And yes, I've tested it. It tracked me on a walk out near Mt. Rainier where I don't get cellphone coverage and don't you even try to claim it must be wi-fi (Ha! Wi-fi in the middle of a national forest...). Wasn't perfect (but it was in a bag on a rainy day in a forest so with real GPS you can't expect it to always get coverage in those kind of conditions), but it tracked us decently enough. And I know cause I saw the phone saying no cellphone connection (in fact it popped up a warning about how that will eat battery) and looked at my map and waited until it told me it had a lock on me to start it tracking me. Enough that I know that it does actually have *real* GPS cause there is no other way it could have tracked us at all (I'm actually surprised it was able to track at all from within my bag. I thought you had to have a clear line to the sky for the GPS to track, apparently you can have some blockage but the connection is easily broken so you can't have much).
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They're not just maps. Google has an unparalleled database of business locations to put on those maps and the streetview images. Nobody else has those, and Apple can't ever replace them because the main source for them is by owning the biggest search engine in the world means companies are eager to submit details to you that they would never be so keen on for a smaller service.
I will be overjoyed if Apple's rumoured maps never happen and iOS sticks with Google, and hopefully improves (along with all the other stock apps) to be a bit less embarrassingly old.
Phazer