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Apple's Split with Google Over iOS Maps Driven by Turn-by-Turn Navigation Dispute

Rocketman said:
I wonder if Google intentionally gave Android (Samsung/HTC/etc.) a competitive advantage with turn by turn it had no intention of releasing to Apple.
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I think it is quite obvious that this is exactly what they were trying to do.
 
blockhed said:
This is the best explanation yet for how Apple got in to this mess. It seems like a good reason for Apple to break ties with Google, and I have faith that very soon... weeks or months, Apple's map app will be very good, even superior to what Google offers. Thanks for the article
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Try, years. Map systems are not built overnight.
 
Good-bye Google!

Over the last year or so, I started transitioning more and more away from Google. This is just another nail in the coffin so to speak...

I like the new Apple maps. It's not perfect, but it will get you to where you are going. I've used it multiple times now, and only had one major error to correct so far.

The other errors are mostly POI's not always on target. I simply report a map problem and re-position the POI. That takes about 30 seconds... If everyone were to do this - the Apple maps app would be up to date in no time at all.

I think Apple made the right decision by bring out their own maps. They simply could not allow Google to call the shots on iOS.

I want less Google and more Apple in my life!

Long live iOS!
 
All this fuss over turn by turn navigation...something I will NEVER use. I currently do this crazy thing called looking at the damn map and then remembering the route highlighted 😱 insane I know.
 
iScott428 said:
All this fuss over turn by turn navigation...something I will NEVER use. I currently do this crazy thing called looking at the damn map and then remembering the route highlighted 😱 insane I know.
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That is fine as long as you don't make a wrong turn.
 
david510c said:
Apple could've kept both Google maps and added its own as an option. Just like how you can choose your own default search provider.

Same goes with the Lightening adaptor. They could've kept both and slowly phase out the 30 pins. Instead of screwing over every 30 pin accessory owner and Kickstart developers. Kind of like how MBP have both USB and firewire. Remember how awful it was to only have USB on MBP? Those MBP have the worst resale value of all MBP.
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Im sure we’ll have both apps, and I agree, we should be allowed to set the default as long as Google’s version is able to handle all the same OS-level functionality. (For instance, if mapping and Passbook are integrated, then any app you can choose as the OS default must support that communication and stay up-to-date promptly with related OS advances. For default browser, an equivalent requirement might be the ability to connect to the App Store for app links. That kind of basic thing. Let us choose, as long as the 3rd-party app doesn’t break or constrain any part of the OS or other apps!)

But I'm REALLY glad my iPhone 5 won’t have BOTH a 10-year old dock connector AND a modern, future-proof Lightning connector, making the device bulkier to avoid some fraction of people needing an adapter during the transition time...
 
I really don''t get the uproar over maps / directions. We use the MapQuest app and it's worked just fine. I really couldn't care less about Google / Appe maps. It's not like I was going without before.
 
lkrupp said:
As has become the new normal when it comes to Apple, the knee jerk ranting and raving gets up a head of steam only to be followed by more rational thinking and reporting. The fact that MacRumors is completely infested with Apple hating trolls and bullheaded nerds who think they know everything just adds to the hysteria.
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Amazes me how people think Apple wouldn't think through such a large decision. Like some Joe Schmo just decided, "Hey, it would be fun to remove the Google Maps for an Apple-based map solution," and Forstall just ran with it. 🙄
 
Where in rural bumfuk England are people using Apple Maps and getting the wrong directions?

It's been far superior where I live compared to Google Maps.
 
Cynicalone said:
The question is when do they dump Google as the default search engine for iOS.
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I guess you mean Apple Search. 😱

But the map thing makes sense--and I remember reading it last week somewhere--maybe TUAW--really no other option for Apple and my thinking is better sooner than later--it will get better.
 
david510c said:
Same goes with the Lightening adaptor. They could've kept both and slowly phase out the 30 pins.
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Did you miss the part where they replaced the 30 pin connector on the iPhone 5 because it wouldn't fit anymore? It was either that or make a bigger device than they ultimately did.
 
ClearBox said:
Good-bye Google!

Over the last year or so, I started transitioning more and more away from Google. This is just another nail in the coffin so to speak...

I like the new Apple maps. It's not perfect, but it will get you to where you are going. I've used it multiple times now, and only had one major error to correct so far.

The other errors are mostly POI's not always on target. I simply report a map problem and re-position the POI. That takes about 30 seconds... If everyone were to do this - the Apple maps app would be up to date in no time at all.

I think Apple made the right decision by bring out their own maps. They simply could not allow Google to call the shots on iOS.

I want less Google and more Apple in my life!

Long live iOS!
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LOLOLOLOLOL!!!

So you've used it "multiple times" over the last week and ONLY had 1 major problem and a bunch of minor ones?

Yep, great product there.

keep drinking the Flavor-Aid
 
Kaibelf said:
Yawn. The app that was on it before was made and maintained by Apple. Exactly why should they put out a NEW app and also maintain one as a portal to their direct competitor and undermine their own product? Also, without crowdsourcing, exactly (and be exact) how is the accuracy supposed to be improved and what would another year without that data have actually changed? 🙄
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One thing you need to understand about all this is that it isn't ultimately about Apple or Google. It's about their customers. The people that actually buy their phones and use their services.

See, why should I care that the new Maps app benefits Apple in the long run? I bought one of their phones to have, amongst other reasons, access to a good set of maps. Now I don't. No matter how much good it does Apple 2-3 years from now, the product I bought currently no longer does the job it once did.

That's why I don't care about Apple or Google in this situation. They can bicker, whine, moan, and groan about not getting to play with the ball at recess all they want. The only thing I care about is having a product that works.

The whole maps situation is purely idiotic, and their customers are suffering because of their stupidity.
 
All apple had to do was meet the demands of Google and everyone would have a maps app on Par with Google Maps for Android? Why are people still defending apple, they just basically said "Screw our users"
 
izyreal said:
If they had chosen to follow the path you suggest (Both Apple and Google maps available) then many users would simply choose to use Google maps. In the short term this seems like a better solution because 'Map Gate' would have been avoided. Unfortunately, Apple needs its customer base to actually use its maps app if they ever want to catch up to the functionality of Google maps. By cutting off Google maps, Apple ensures that they receive the data they need to make a 1st rate maps app.
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So here's the thing: Google are on multiple platforms through Android and Browsers, that alone means Google has a larger base updating their maps - let's just say if all iPhone users would update Apple Maps, they would still be outmatched 10:1 by people ACTUALLY updating Google Maps.

In large parts of the world, the iPhone isn't something within reach for that many people, but they can get online and they do use Google and their services - this is why the weirdest places in Africa are stating to pop up. Updating Google Maps is also helped by a very easy and straightforward tool and a very large and local admin hierarchy.

If Google Maps were to arrive and 50% of iPhone users switched to that - well then those 50% will use and update Google Maps and not Apple Maps - that will still sit there getting a little better yes, but at an alarmingly slow rate. The fact? that Apple only did this over turn-by-turn is so much worse because doing this the right way requires a way to activate your large user base - starting by pissing them off is plain dumb. Apple needs to reach out to more users on the web to gain an advantage - they need this to run on OSX and they need to come out with tools and innovations to make this useful and give people an incentive to make editions and updates - this is how crowd-sourcing works and Apple doesn't know **** about it apparently.

It seems Google have just launched a service that helps you navigate inside buildings (Nokia have announced the same some months ago), this is what Apple are facing - fierce competition at a very fast pace. This is also why people saying that this thing will be up to date in a short while are clueless. I really wish this was what would happen - but Apple burned their users this time and it doesn't look like they know how to get out of this mess.
 
MacNut said:
Is chrome baked into the OS like Safari is? Makes using any other browser pointless. I want to get away for Safari not be forced into it with every function of the iPhone.
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That's not what you said before. You said Apple "locked google out." That's not the same thing as saying that they did not make Chrome handle hyperlinks and web content in apps.

And seeing as how Chrome uses WebKit, I'd say it was tomAYto toMAHto in any event.
 
nsayer said:
That's not what you said before. You said Apple "locked google out." That's not the same thing as saying that they did not make Chrome handle hyperlinks and web content in apps.

And seeing as how Chrome uses WebKit, I'd say it was tomAYto toMAHto in any event.
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How long did it take Apple to allow other browsers? Apple blocked the competitors for years.
 
Small White Car said:
I think John Gruber laid it out best by showing this as '3 options Apple faced'. When you look at it that way it makes more sense. (Even if you still don't like it.)

It was like a band-aid that Apple needed to pull off. They decided to do it quickly. Very painful, but probably better than dragging it out longer.
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Gruber is a bigger Apple apologist than most of the fanboys on macrumors, and that's saying a lot. So I don't put a lot of stock in what he has to say, because everything he says is spin.

I read the post, and I don't agree with Gruber that Google executives would have to be "stupid" to believe Apple would continue using Google Maps. If Apple was pressing hard for more features on the iOS version of Google Maps, then it was apparent that Apple's own mapping solution wasn't ready. And Google execs knew that.

What Google execs couldn't know is that Apple would release a half-finished mapping solution just to get rid of Google. In Gruber's list, the smart move would've been #1 -- stay with Google Maps for another year while Apple cleans up their Maps as much as possible. No one is going to choose Android over an iPhone just because of turn-by-turn or vector graphics. If Apple truly had another year of Google Maps available to them, Tim Cook made a terrible choice.
 
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