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

[JAT]

iOS Google Search/Voice search isn't the best example since that got delayed in approval purgatory for a full 2 months (it was submitted the week before it was announced on the 8th August).

You mean, the latest update? Since the app has been there for years.

5+ years of Google Maps iOS and no Turn-By-Turn... We were probably never going to get it because Google favored Android, which I do not blame them for at all...

I know this is not what people want to hear, but it seems like over 5 years you could have saved up enough to purchase TomTom or Garmin for $35-60. And considering Google's has only been nearly as good as these for the last year or so, you would have had 4 great years.

This is a perfect example of why the walled garden is a bad concept.

Um, unnamed employees of a competitor/partner make opinionated accusations about actions that can't even have happened yet? Ok. A bit of a stretch for that to be a valid example....of anything.

 

[barkomatic]

Why does everyone keep spreading this false statement... Apple Maps has the locations of subway stations. The misconception is that they only show up at a certain zoom level. I guess Apple did this in effort to look clean and simple from out far. Skeuomorphic at its finest with design over functionality. Hoping that newer iOS iterations restore ease of use rather then simplistic design elements.

It is you who are spreading falsity. Subway stations are almost completely absent at any zoom level in Apple maps. You occasionally get a small icon that represents a bus or train, but it provides no information as to the line. More often, they are absent entirely. Instead, Apple links you to cheesy third party apps that provide that info in a very unhelpful manner.

 

[theBB]

Actually, Maps+ was on the App Store back in the days before iOS 6 and was a MapKit application. It was automatically switched to Apple Maps with iOS 6 and only after the developper switched from Map Kit to Google Map tiles did Google Maps come back to it.

So basically, it was approved before being a "Google Maps" app.

So the argument is Apple is keeping it in the store, because it cannot disapprove it now??? There are tons of apps with approvals rescinded later. There is also Mapquest app, but sure go with the story that Google is not releasing its app, because it does not think it will get approved.

 

[John.B]

It's just a sad fact that Apple can't simply TELL Google whether or not they'll approve the app before wasting resources to make something that may or may not ever get released.

What makes you think some programmer in the Googleplex would be informed on top-level Google/Apple discussions over a possible Google Maps app? You're actually buying this crap?

 

[wutang01]

I will say Apple has every right to avoid their users using Google Maps.
But that doesn't mean a Google Maps app would be blocked. With that mentality, Maps+ would be taken off by now.

 

[ls1dreams]

Over a Mapping program? Really?

I honestly don't know what area you live in, but I've used Apple's Maps app in the area that I currently reside and I have found ZERO errors. I know that certain parts of the world there might be some errors here and there, but I think the whole thing is blown way out of proportion unless you know differently. But how often do you rely on Maps vs all of the other things you do with your phone?

Apple would have to do a LOT more than one or two apps that WILL be fixed over time to move to another platform.

I don't know if you are going to be that much happier in the long run. Android Customer Satisfaction ratings are much lower than Apple's, so I don't know what to tell you.

I know a lot of people exaggerate about leaving companies, but this isn't one for me.

I have a TERRIBLE sense of direction, and outside of email/podcasts/general safari use, GPS and maps is at the very top of my use case list.

My main complaints with it so far:
- Seems to render much slower than google maps
- Public transport maps don't work as well (buses, metro)
- Vertical street names don't appear until you're at one of the most zoomed in states (this maddens me)
- Way more taps/swipes to get directions to places. ("Directions to here" button is under the fold after tapping on a place)
- No easy way to switch between walking / driving / public transport with out re-running the search entirely
- Turn by turn directions are really confusing to me

I'm still getting used to the new maps, but these are my thoughts so far.

 

[k995]

It would be the ultimate defeat. Apple admitting basicly it has a inferior product and can only compete by banning a google maps app.

I doubt they would do it, too much negative publicity, delay: yes in the hopes the apple maps app gets any better .

 

[FooMan2011]

Really?

I say screw Apple, find a way to make it happen. Cydia, anyone?

 

[gotluck]

Um, unnamed employees of a competitor/partner make opinionated accusations about actions that can't even have happened yet? Ok. A bit of a stretch for that to be a valid example....of anything.

You know what I meant... If google wants to make an iOS version of their maps, I should be able to install it. I don't care what Apple thinks about it.

 

[sazivad]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you can't [access Street View] on the Web version of Google Maps.

With all due respect, you're wrong.

 

[ixodes]

While no surprise it's very disappointing, to lose Google Maps.

At some point in the future perhaps Apple Maps will be ready for prime time, but based on my experience with them thus far, they've got a very long ways to go.

The convenience, and the way that Google Maps & iOS 5 work together suits my preferences far better than what Apple has concocted in iOS 6.

In fact it's one of the major reason I returned to using my iPhone 4S, as opposed to my iP5. Hopefully next years iPhone will bring a better experience.

 

[BiggAW]

If this is the case, am I stuck on 5.0.1 forever or switching back to Android? Or will someone put out an untethered JB for 6.0.1 and figure out how to put the old Google Maps on it?

 

[a0me]

If this is true and Apple maps hasn't improved by the time I buy my next phone, I'll be purchasing something that allows google maps. Outside of calls, texts and email, the map is by far my most used app, and Apple maps is very nearly completely useless.

I've been waiting for Google Maps to be allowed back to iOS to buy an iPhone 5. My iPhone 4 works well but I'd really like to upgrade (Maps+, while better than Apple Maps, isn't really a replacement for Google Maps as it lacks compass support and public transit navigation).

 

[MagnusVonMagnum]

What makes you think some programmer in the Googleplex would be informed on top-level Google/Apple discussions over a possible Google Maps app? You're actually buying this crap?

It IS a fact that any normal application maker has to make their application FIRST and then PRAY that Apple 'approves' it to be on their App store. It can be a HUGE investment for an individual or company to make apps that are more complicated than something that makes your phone or iPad far when you shake it. Writing software on a wind (not a fart) and a prayer is a lousy situation to be in and it's never an issue on an actual Mac, Windows or Linux based computer. It shouldn't be an issue on a tablet computer either.

My argument about hardware versus software is akin to Sony making a television and then telling everyone they can only show movies made by Sony/Columbia pictures on it and they have software to enforce that. Yes, you can hack the TV to show other movies, but your warranty is then void. People would never put up with that with a TV, but they seem to think it's normal for tablet computers and smart phones. Why is that? Is it because those computers are SO different or is it because consumers are gullible and easily brainwashed into worshiping companies like Apple and power control freaks like the now deceased and apparently not so mighty Jobs?

If/when consumers start voting with their wallets instead of just taking it up the wazoo, this practice might just stop. Better yet, let government do something useful for once and stand up for people's right to choose to use their general purpose hardware devices to run whatever software they want rather than what a company wants to force them to use.

Except your argument is flawed. In reference to the emoji app removal.

Just for starters, this thread isn't about Emoji apps, so you might want to take that argument to the appropriate thread. The idea in general that Apple can't revoke approval is nonsense and the idea that they can approve an app but then not approve updates to that app is also flawed so your point is MOOT.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but please try to refrain from posting inaccurate or false statements on public forums.

As opposed to posting nonsensical arguments on the same forum that ignore the general premise and focus on one specific app instead and thus imply the same false information you claim to relish but obviously haven't thought about? (or worse yet are purposely pushing false data onto the Net in which case follow your own advice)

 

[DerekRod]

If Apple approved the Youtube app I dont see why the wouldnt approve GMaps

 

[Ashin]

I wonder what Steve Jobs would have done...

My guess is he certainly wouldn't have handled it this way... taking cheap swipes towards Google at the expense of customers' satisfaction.

The new Apple is becoming really cheap and slimy. At least Steve would have waited for the new maps to be ready before pulling Google maps out of iOS

 

[stillill]

Not having turn-by-turn directions was one of the chief reasons Apple got rid of Google Maps. Google refused to provide the same functionality as in its Android app. Google was using its market power to damage Apple. Now the haters say Apple has no right to respond in kind.

I'd say that Apple is now using its market power to damage its own users' experience, and they are failing to 'damage Google' as I think you're suggesting. Upsetting their customers can't be good for Apple. Only Google are winning out of this.

I've been happy with Apple phones for 3 or 4 years, and iMacs etc. Now I'm actively looking at Android, JUST TO GET GOOGLE MAPS. That's it. Just Google Maps. I don't understand how Apple do not see this. I want to leave their mobile platform because they have damaged my ability to navigate with their hardware. Maybe I'll find Android to be crap. Maybe not, maybe I'll like it. And I'll only have looked because Apple caused me grief by killing a useable application, and not replacing it adequately.

I just want to find my way around London ffs, not turn-by-turn, not voice navigation - just tell me where I am, and how to get where I want to go on foot or public transport, in a city - isn't that the way the majority of people live and travel?

Apple Maps does not provide that. It might be great for GPS from Beachbutt, Idaho to Spotsville, Nebraska in a Chevy Impala, but I have yet to successfully navigate anywhere in London, on foot, or for it to provide valid streetnames, or be in the slightest bit useable.

But wow 3D looks amazing....when you're on wifi.... at home...

 

[bluespark]

If this is true and Apple maps hasn't improved by the time I buy my next phone, I'll be purchasing something that allows google maps. Outside of calls, texts and email, the map is by far my most used app, and Apple maps is very nearly completely useless.

I agree, but there's no way Apple doesn't approve Google Maps.

 

[brdeveloper]

I would allow Nokia Maps in the AppStore instead of Google Maps. Nokia Maps is way better than Google for offline navigation and getting directions without data connection. I never use street view when I'm walking around and even if I needed, its performance over 3g would be impractical.

 

[Dainin]

- Way more taps/swipes to get directions to places. ("Directions to here" button is under the fold after tapping on a place)

I agree with a lot of your post, but to get directions to a poi just click the little green car icon next to the name floating above the pin. You don't need to peel back to the settings to get directions.

 

[AIP5]

I don't think Apple will deny approval. Why would Apple do so? They have approved Google search, which competes with Siri, Gmail, Chrome, etc. Apple has never denied approval of Google apps mimicking features Apple already offers. Why do so now?

*(Not sure if your post is sarcastic or not)*

Someone probably already mentioned this, but were you around for when Apple denied Google Voice, citing that it mimicked iPhone features too closely and it would cause user confusion?

 

[roxxette]

*(Not sure if your post is sarcastic or not)*

Someone probably already mentioned this, but were you around for when Apple denied Google Voice, citing that it mimicked iPhone features too closely and it would cause user confusion?

 

[JAT]

You know what I meant... If google wants to make an iOS version of their maps, I should be able to install it. I don't care what Apple thinks about it.

You also don't KNOW what Apple thinks about it, yet you post as if you do.

 

[brymck]

I'm not the kind to quickly leave a company, but this would 100% convince me to switch to Android.

My contract just ended, so it would be the perfect excuse to leave.

It's one thing to lock us in your ecosystem Apple, it's another to provide ****** products and no alternatives. If we're going to be limited, you better fix your crappy maps.

I currently think Apple is at least 5 years behind Google in this regard though.

Absolutely. Maps is completely unusable in Japan, and I'm yet to see a single of my "corrections" fixed. I work in central Tokyo, so these are not podunk general stores but things like the location of the most important transfer point on the Tokyo Metro (see the Yaesu Chūō Exit of Tokyo Station). Not that Apple Maps can route you there by transit anyway.

By contrast, Google provides not only the correct location and outline but sometimes the floor layouts of each floor of station interiors and routes like a boss.

What people don't seem to get is that people in different locations are having different experiences. I bet if I still lived in the Bay, commuted mostly by car and didn't care about train schedules because BART was unreliable anyway, I'd be fine. But here in Japan, I get around by train and travel most weekends. It's bad enough that there's no transit routing, but station pins are in the wrong location, many station names are misspelled ("futaebashimae" near Tokyo Station should be "Nijūbashimae"), there are no exit markings, station outlines are only visible at extreme zoom levels, etc. Webapps are slow to load, slow to respond, force refresh, etc. Pathetic.

I have another year left on my contract. As of now, I'm just not upgrading to the 5, but if Apple continues to offer an unacceptably awful mapping experience here, I'll be a very reluctant switcher. It's basic functionality to me in the same way phone calls are.

 

[iZac]

Apple near enough will HAVE to accept it. Not only are there a dozen other maps apps currently, but imagine the ******-storm of bad PR if Google state that Apple denied their own Maps App. The press would lynch them!