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Google's Work Toward Standalone iOS Maps App Complicated by Integration with Google Earth
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I don't get the attitude. I was just pointing out that Google owes nothing to the IOS ecosystem, but they still contribute to it. Can you say the same thing about Apple?
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Not saying they don't want a presence in IOS. But they have their own schedule to keep that doesn't revolve around Apple's whim.
For the area I travel in regularly, I find Apple maps to be superior to Google maps. The imagery is sharper, the roads are more accurate, and the driving directions are better. I'm not saying across the board it's better, but there are areas where Google is definitely not on top of things and Apple is ahead.
In my experience Google was not always quick to fix problems. I had a trout farm from the other side of town, 6 miles away, listed in my back yard for a long time. It was almost a year after I filed a report before it was fixed even though I included URLs to the business's web pages which listed their correct address.
Clearly there's an opportunity to do better, and with the right determination Apple may be able to come out on top. I sympathize with everyone who has lost functionality they lose, but for me Apple maps was an upgrade. I'm very curious to see whether and how the situation improves in the next 6 months.
In my experience Google was not always quick to fix problems. I had a trout farm from the other side of town, 6 miles away, listed in my back yard for a long time. It was almost a year after I filed a report before it was fixed even though I included URLs to the business's web pages which listed their correct address.
Clearly there's an opportunity to do better, and with the right determination Apple may be able to come out on top. I sympathize with everyone who has lost functionality they lose, but for me Apple maps was an upgrade. I'm very curious to see whether and how the situation improves in the next 6 months.
I thought that maybe Apple maps was just bad outside the US and in rural areas, but they're not that good in cities either. Their map details is worst, and their point of interests is not as numerous. The SF Bay Area map looks pretty good by itself, but compare it with the IOS 5 version powered by Google, and you see missing details, and missing POI.
Which is a very good point. I for one am glad they do because they didn't have to and it means i get the best of both worlds (both companies offer good stuff). If it was vice versa and it was an Apple app I liked but I wanted to use my Android phone, I'd be SOL (shoot, Jobs only begrudgingly allowed itunes on PC, he was against it <- and from what I understand you can tell cause apparently it's really crappy on the PC. I have a Mac so I don't know myself).
Of course, this is cause Google gets their money by selling info so they have motivation to want their stuff on Apple phones and not worry so much about whether it helps Android or not to do so where as Apple is trying to sell their hardware so it is in their interest that if you want their stuff you have to have their hardware.
Which means I"m not sure Apple will put out a web app for Apple maps. Which in the long run I agree with others is going to only hurt Apple maps if you truly want to see them get better.
I'm in Southern California and the Apple Map is pretty good here. Street view would be nice, and 3D mapping of my area would be nice, but otherwise it's pretty great. 3D view of downtown Los Angeles is pretty amazing. It does suck battery life to go into 3D mode though, so it's mostly a novelty. But I never noticed the number of helipads downtown before. Crazy!
Sure. iOS users actually utilize Google's search engine more than Android users. All the more data for Google to mine and profit off of.
This is why Google is still working on its own standalone iOS mapping app. It doesn't want to give up the advertising revenue that it would represent. It's a company, like any other, and does whatever its directors believe will maximize Google's profit, which is, after all, the job that they are entrusted with.
In the end, as it is with the Apple/Samsung love/hate relationship, it's nothing personal, it's just business (Jobs' "thermonuclear" comments about Android were the exception, not the rule, and may have reflected somewhat impaired judgment as a result of his illness).
Google Earth and Google Maps have needed merging for YEARS AND YEARS. If Google has not long been working in this direction and only just now has to start the merge process, I have absolutely zero sympathy for them.
Don't get me wrong: I love both products and have desperately wanted them to be one for a long time. Why did it take Apple to finally force them to do it??
Don't get me wrong: I love both products and have desperately wanted them to be one for a long time. Why did it take Apple to finally force them to do it??
I'm not sure "owes" is the right word, but Google makes quite a bit from iOS users. In that sense, they do have a vested interest in providing services for iOS. Apple doesn't have the same business concern for Android users.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/mar/29/google-earns-more-iphone-android
Bottom line: Apple and its users are separate. Also, most customers aren't going to break contracts and switch platforms because of this, so Google risks alienating users unless they address the need.
Seems easy to believe to me.
I wonder if Google will ever manage to merge the Google Talk and Google Plus Messages apps.
Yes, Google gets paid for being present on IOS, but they help to make the IOS ecosystem better by being present. I can't say the same thing for Apple and other platforms besides their own.
And Google makes money off of their services independent of locking people to their platform. That's what great about Google. Not likewise with Apple.
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It's all fun and games until you end up out in the woods.
...and a fat trucker in overalls is giving you bambi eyes.
...then you hear dueling banjos playing from somewhere.
All I wanted to do was find the nearest Subway. THANKS APPLE MAPS! NOT ONLY DID I NOT GET MY SANDWICH, BUT NOW SOME FAT TRUCKER WANTS ME TO RETURN HIS PHONECALLS!
You're comparing apples and oranges (Apples and Googles?).
Google is a company whose fundamental business model involves monetizing people's personal data. Putting their apps on iOS isn't being done due to some altruistic motivation, it's being done to keep as many users as possible using Google's offerings rather than a competitors. Given their business model, it makes economic sense they'd want to have as comprehensive a data set as they can practically manage.
I am sure they knew it was coming. They just expected Apple to use the last year they had on that contract to improve their app before kicking Google to the curb. Apple surprised Google and probably themselfs rushing a not ready app to the market ..
Same feature set? Download MapQuest if you want that. Better feature set AND turn by turn spoken directions on iPhone 3GS for that matter.
At least the new Apple maps has turn by turn, sometimes spoken, and a 3D angle view. Mapquest doesn't have the angled view but neither did google on iOS.
correct, maybe not the ecosystem directly, but Google does get alot from IOS users. Every time an IOS user searches on Google maps, the Google mapping solution gets better. Since the IOS user base is large, collectively they contribute alot, as well ad revenue they generate.
All of which doesn't matter from the consumer's point of view. From the consumer's point of view, they get great Google services on a bunch of different platforms, for free. It doesn't matter that Google can make money off of that. And just to clarify. That personal data (data that you put out from using Google services) is kept as Google's secret sauce for advertisement, and you don't have to worry about it leaking to third parties.
Rubbish. Gruber is simply playing naive. We all know both Google & Apple are playing games with each other here, to the detriment of their customers. He's also guilty of doing this to divert attention away from the principle stupidity of Apple foisting its half baked maps on us when in a post earlier this year he, himself stated:
"Here’s the thing. Apple’s homegrown mapping data has to be great."
Apple 'contributed' (not by their choice of course, but still) to the creation of practically the entire Android OS and it's ecosystem. If you deny this then definitely you'll never get anything.
Here goes:
WebKit is open and Apple is a prime contributor. HTML5 is open and Apple contributes. Apple contributed also in the video h.264 codec that almost everyones uses.
Apple doesn't revolve around Google's whim either, that's why they didn't wait for them to update their YouTube and Maps.
Man!!! I have Android devices myself but I'm not blind to all this!
Many cities do not have the cornucopia of transit apps that NYC has. Some has none. In my area, I could find only two. One of them was awful, sometimes directing me to walk into dead end streets without any bus stops to wait for a bus. The only one that works is HopStop. It is of accetable quality, but its interface is a bit clunky and it could be more reliable in finding the best bus to take.
Besides, you had those NYC transit apps already, it is not like Apple was blocking them before. You kept what you already have, while many users lost the only option they had. It does not sound like a good trade.
Um...all those contributions are things that directly benefit their own platform. And the new youtube app is Google's and thats why its great. The new maps app, not so much.
I actually avoid Google services because they are not free, I have to look at advertising, and I am being tracked and data mined. My payment is privacy. I prefer to be the customer when I use services.
I am glad iOS has a google free maps app. I am sure it will be up to speed in time. Mapping is no simple thing. Meanwhile, life goes in. I lived a solid 20 years without a map-app, I can surely survive with what I have now until Maps improves. And I will gladly suffer the mild inconvenience for the privacy.
I only use google search on my iphone and occasionally on my laptop. I have 2 gmail accounts, but will probably transition off of those next year when I switch jobs, as that will be the easiest time.
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