Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Google Employees Suggest Apple Approval of Google Maps App 'Unlikely'

This is unfortunate if true! The google maps app on my pre-iOS 6 iPhone worked perfectly, after the update the apple map app is horrible. It shows my home almost 1/4 mile off (and in the ocean by the way!). I have 2 other map apps (google maps shortcut & GPS Drive) and they show my house in the correct location. The problem is Apple's map app.

Apple had made a few big time mistakes in the past year and if they don't change they will end up like Apple of 1995!
 
wutang01 said:
I will say Apple has every right to avoid their users using Google Maps.
Click to expand...

I don't like this line of thought at all.

"It's Apple's platform, they can do what they want".

Wrong. When it's in my hand, it's mine. I want to be able to use the apps and programs I like using. I don't want to be forced into using one app over another due to some petty corporate political dispute.

To me, as long as the app works, is high quality, doesn't sport any glaring security holes, or offer up secret links to snuff film sites, I see no reason why Apple should block an app from the store.
 
This does seem like a calculated move by somebody at Google. They are trying to use the crowd to "pressure" Apple not to reject their app.
 
Joesmith13245 said:
The statement made by Google was strategic. It was meant to provide visibility into the development and approval of their app. They are using the media as leverage to get their app approved.
Click to expand...

Finally someone with smarts.

This is exactly how the word works people. Media scrutiny (on Apple), tends to make companies and people more honest.
 
JAT said:
You also don't KNOW what Apple thinks about it, yet you post as if you do.
Click to expand...

I don't know what apple thinks... I don't care what apple thinks. Whatever they think is completely irrelevant.

I want google maps on my iphone and any other future iOS device I may buy (if google chooses to make an app, it sounds like they are in the process at least).
 
iOS 5

Hence the reason I refuse to upgrade my iPhone 4 to iOS 6. I lose more from the update than I gain. Way to go Apple!

d52.jpg
 
2 questions.

1. If google is prodding the media to get apple to acquiesce, why? What is google's motive? Why do they care whether they're on iOS devices? Do the maps generate revenue? Are they just keen to get the crowd sourced content from maps users?

2. I wonder why no one has mentioned a law suit from iOS device owners over maps and youtube.

Google maps, and YouTube, were extremely high profile apps that helped sway millions of people toward buying iOS devices. These were not optional apps; they were baked into the devices and their presence was touted at every turn. They were as much a feature of the phone as itunes, the ipod app, and even multitouch. YouTube and maps helped the iPhone achieve cult status.

For me, youtube and google maps were cornerstones of the entire iphone/ipad experience. And they were always there. Feeling confident that the iPhone and iPad would continue to meet my needs with each new device, I continued to invest in the hardware, and the software, becoming more and more intricately tied to the iOS ecosystem with each new device.

And now they're gone. If Apple removed the iPod app, or closed the App Store and went back to web apps, there would be riots. Why is removing google maps or youtube any different?

It's like joining an expensive gym because they have 2 pieces of rare state of the art equipment. You love the gym so much, you move to be closer to it, and sign a 5 year contract with them. Then the gym decides to sell the 2 pieces of equipment you love and replace them with their own crappy house-brand equipment, because they got into some petty fight with the company that makes the originals.

If Microsoft can be put on trial for forcing people to use Internet Explorer, why can't Apple be put on trial for not allowing people to use apps that were advertised as being part of the package when they bought into the ecosystem?
 
Last edited:
mcdj said:
2 questions.

1. If google is prodding the media to get apple to acquiesce, why? What is google's motive? Why do they care whether they're on iOS devices? Do the maps generate revenue? Are they just keen to get the crowd sourced content from maps users?

2. I wonder why no one has mentioned a law suit from iOS device owners over maps and youtube.
Click to expand...

1. I would personally take the sources of the article referred to in the OP with a grain of salt. That said, Google cares whether they are on iOS devices because it allows them to have iOS users as a target audience for their ads and it also allows them to retrieve data from iOS users that allow both better ad placement (the maps do generate revenue) and to improve their apps and services. While Android is Google's OS, the company itself could be said to be platform agnostic as for them the more viable platforms they cover and the more users they reach the better.

2. On what grounds would such a lawsuit be made? When you purchased your iPhone or iPad was there some agreement between you and Apple where they stated that they would continue to provide Google Maps and YouTube for an indefinite amount of time? Did they violate said agreement? No and no. Apple has as much right as any other company to change it's software as it sees fit and if you don't agree with the changes they make you can either buy a device from a different manufacturer or simply (as is possible in this particular case) stick to iOS 5 for the time being.
 
Evoken said:
2. On what grounds would such a lawsuit be made? When you purchased your iPhone or iPad was there some agreement between you and Apple where they stated that they would continue to provide Google Maps and YouTube for an indefinite amount of time? Did they violate said agreement? No and no. Apple has as much right as any other company to change it's software as it sees fit and if you don't agree with the changes they make you can either buy a device from a different manufacturer or simply (as is possible in this particular case) stick to iOS 5 for the time being.
Click to expand...

IANL, but there are laws that protect consumers against bait and switch schemes in retail stores. I don't think this is so far removed from that. There is no contract involved in a bait and switch scheme.

If you bought an iPhone 4S on the basis of advertised bundled software and that software was removed after you purchased it, and after the return period was over, I'm sure a decent lawyer could make a case out of it.
 
mcdj said:
2 questions.

1. If google is prodding the media to get apple to acquiesce, why? What is google's motive? Why do they care whether they're on iOS devices? Do the maps generate revenue? Are they just keen to get the crowd sourced content from maps users?

2. I wonder why no one has mentioned a law suit from iOS device owners over maps and youtube.

Google maps, and YouTube, were extremely high profile apps that helped sway millions of people toward buying iOS devices. These were not optional apps; they were baked into the devices and their presence was touted at every turn. They were as much a feature of the phone as itunes, the ipod app, and even multitouch. YouTube and maps helped the iPhone achieve cult status.

For me, youtube and google maps were cornerstones of the entire iphone/ipad experience. And they were always there. Feeling confident that the iPhone and iPad would continue to meet my needs with each new device, I continued to invest in the hardware, and the software, becoming more and more intricately tied to the iOS ecosystem with each new device.

And now they're gone. If Apple removed the iPod app, or closed the App Store and went back to web apps, there would be riots. Why is removing google maps or youtube any different?

It's like joining an expensive gym because they have 2 pieces of rare state of the art equipment. You love the gym so much, you move to be closer to it, and sign a 5 year contract with them. Then the gym decides to sell the 2 pieces of equipment you love and replace them with their own crappy house-brand equipment, because they got into some petty fight with the company that makes the originals.

If Microsoft can be put on trial for forcing people to use Internet Explorer, why can't Apple be put on trial for not allowing people to use apps that were advertised as being part of the package when they bought into the ecosystem?
Click to expand...
2. I'm sure that the EULA of iOS has covered that...:(
 
mcdj said:
If you bought an iPhone 4S on the basis of advertised bundled software and that software was removed after you purchased it, and after the return period was over, I'm sure a decent lawyer could make a case out of it.
Click to expand...

I am no lawyer either but I get where you are coming from with this. I can imagine that for a lot of people, updating to iOS 6 came in as a shock when they found themselves with no YouTube app and the Google Maps app replaced by an Apple Maps app that had next to no information for the country they live in. The update actually mades their iPhone 4/4S less functional for them.

That Apple didn't even provide the old Google Maps app as an optional download in the App Store (despite having a whole year left in the contract) only makes things worse.
 
haruhiko said:
2. I'm sure that the EULA of iOS has covered that...:(
Click to expand...

A EULA can try to cover many things, and Apple's does. But no EULA is bulletproof. If the phone doesn't do what it was advertised as doing, a EULA will not hold water. If you could get the trial to court, I'd bet a jury would award the plaintiffs.
 
Apple not approving Google's Maps on iOS is not not likely.

It's far to complicated than a Apple hating Google (which is a fact). Denying access to your 400 million users' platform to your main competitor would be kind of an issue FTC wise. It would also anger a lot of iOS power-users (me included) that would seriously consider switching platform.
 
Don't understand why Google need to put their apps on iphone. The more Google moves away from Apple and does their own thing can only be good in my opinion.

Android can hold it's own now.
 
Apple is acting like a dolt. They've let money & power go to their head, knowing they can do anything they like. Operating nearly consequence free it's all very arrogant.

iPhone 5 without Google maps & saddled with bug ridden iOS 6, makes for what has been in my personal experience, an inferior phone as compared to my iPhone 4S.

With some luck, perhaps the recent reorganization will work to the consumers benefit, getting Apple back on track with it's quality & consumer focus.
 
Dont so salty guys, IF google go public in the future saying that apple sent then back to the trailer THEN insults and mass histeria can apply.
 
Evoken said:
I can imagine that for a lot of people, updating to iOS 6 came in as a shock when they found themselves with no YouTube app
Click to expand...

Indeed! That was terrifying!! I still now days get nightmares from it.

Seriously now... there is a YouTube app in the appstore far far better then the one that was integraded in the previous iOS's. And for me Apple maps is working better then google maps.
 
Please Google, do whatever you can to release the iOS 6 maps app.

And, if Apple doesn't approve it, just put their unfair AppStore policy in evidence by publishing the app in another page (sure, users won't be able to use it unless they hack their devices, but even if the app is unusable outside the AppStore, the world will know who has a bad store policy and who is the culprit for not having Google Maps on iOS 6).
 
rendevouspoo said:
Google is the immature children in all this mess? :confused: Apple is the one that isn't letting their customer decide what they want to use. Apple's also the company that has been using immature tactics in the courtroom to back others into a wall. And a HUGE lol to think a map service will be better than Gmaps in the next 5 years.
Click to expand...

I never said Google is the immature children. And who's talking about what's going on in the courts? All I'm saying is that Apple wanted navigation for their phone, Google didn't provide. And a HUGE lol to think that I said anywhere that Apple will provide a map service than Gmaps.

Gmaps is great for the map, but for navigation Sygic and Waze win hands down.
 
Anticompetitive

Surely if Apple did that it could be deemed anticompetitive by the courts. I'm not an attorney but would like to hear from any antitrust attorney on this forum.
 
Apple Maps is near worthless in my country (can't find numerous businesses).

I'd rather have Google Maps.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back