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Roundup of Features in Google Maps for iOS: Better Design than Android Version, iPad Version Coming

Looks and works great, no complaints. Apple has a lot of work to do if they want to catch up.
 
Apple Maps has never failed me, except once when I needed public transit directions.

I don't really see this situation occurring again.

So, I can't decide if I want to download this or not.
 
SREO said:
Google Map app requires log in with a Gmail account? Does this mean they're tracing movement? That's a deal-breaker.
Click to expand...

Yes it does. They're going to track you, and when you're away from home they're going to break into your house and steal your telly.
 
panda bear said:
Apple Maps has never failed me, except once when I needed public transit directions.

I don't really see this situation occurring again.

So, I can't decide if I want to download this or not.
Click to expand...


it's 8MB, the size of one song, and might save your ass one day.
 
rmwebs said:
I see your logic there, but it wont happen, for the following reasons:

- Google have a decade lead
- Google own their own satellites which are mapping 24/7/365
- Google own a fleet of UAV style aircraft, which take ariel photos of everything.
- Google have 7,100 people working on Maps. Apple have 100.
- Google have a huge fleet of thousands of cars/vans and bikes doing streetview all over the world.
- Google have an API that lets 3rd party developers to manipulate the maps, and submit new data (which is generally added or fixed within 48 hours)
- Google serves a much larger base of uses, thus more users can report faults, an they get fixed a lot quicker. Most faults seem to be fixed within a day.


Unless Apple is about to put down about a $1bn, or give up and license maps from someone else, it wont happen.
Click to expand...

They already do license maps from someone else. Most of Apple maps data is licensed from TomTom
 
rmwebs said:
I see your logic there, but it wont happen, for the following reasons:

- Google have a decade lead
- Google own their own satellites which are mapping 24/7/365
- Google own a fleet of UAV style aircraft, which take ariel photos of everything.
- Google have 7,100 people working on Maps. Apple have 100.
- Google have a huge fleet of thousands of cars/vans and bikes doing streetview all over the world.
- Google have an API that lets 3rd party developers to manipulate the maps, and submit new data (which is generally added or fixed within 48 hours)
- Google serves a much larger base of uses, thus more users can report faults, an they get fixed a lot quicker. Most faults seem to be fixed within a day.


Unless Apple is about to put down about a $1bn, or give up and license maps from someone else, it wont happen.
Click to expand...
Bang on the money. Here's an interesting article about the effort Google puts in to their maps.

When you combine Google's investment in mapping with their investment in self-drive cars, you reach a very interesting conclusion. As one of the contributors to the article puts it... "I maintain that this (maps) is Google's core asset. In 50 years, Google will be the self-driving car company (powered by this deep map of the world) and, oh, P.S. they still have a search engine somewhere."
 
pgiguere1 said:
I should have said "don't profit directly from making Maps". You could say it increases sales of new iPhones because people want them or it strengthens loyalty by offering a new service for free to existing customers, but unlike Google Maps, the app itself doesn't do anything to generate profit.

It's like if you compared a free bundled Mac app like TextEdit to a free (but profit-generating) data-mining web app like Google Docs. Google Docs lets you do much more, but Google are not some kind of saints with the goal of pleasing customers for the hell of it. They must offer some competitive advantages in their free app to compensate for the fact that they spy on you. Otherwise there would be no point for customers to give away their data.
Click to expand...

I must say I find it very funny when people start on about how Google is unethical and how they spy on you, as if there's some guy sitting in Mountain View watching your every move.

The data they collect is things like search terms, location, etc to build a rough profile that says 'ip address 123.456.789.0 likes Fishing, shops at Walmart and works 4 miles away.' this then gets used for advert customization.

At no point does anyone anywhere get your personal info, its used for automated systems to pick from a database of adverts, and show the one most relevant to what it thinks you like and do.

Apple even do this themselves with iAds. It's done everywhere, Google just happen to be the ones that are able to use it to such a great advantage.

You aren't loosing anything by using Google products, its not degrading your life, or experience of the product.
 
petsounds said:
I don't think you really understand Google's business model. Google actually doesn't make much money from Android directly. Google is mainly an advertising company. The more people they have using their products, the more they can monetize their products and monetize YOU.

To wit, did you notice that they encourage you to "sign in" to your Google account in Maps? That's not really for your benefit, it's for theirs. By signing in, they can track EVERY PLACE YOU GO and sync that up with your online profile where they know EVERY PLACE YOU GO. This is what Google is after. Having their apps on the most devices possible is their priority.
Click to expand...
I understand it completely and with their view of privacy combined with no desire to even vet who they give access to your information. There is no way in hell I'm putting their crap on my phone. I'd give AT&T $10 a month for theirs again first.
 
rmwebs said:
There's the problem. Outside the US, nowhere really has any good POI data.

One such example, according to Apple Maps, we have a McDonalds Restaurant in our town center.

It shut 18 years ago.
Click to expand...

From my original comment : I'm happily sticking with Apple maps and rolling my eyes at all the people who got upset about Apple maps that live in the U.S.

I can outline things as well :p

Oh and I'm not saying Apple maps is perfect in the US, all I'm saying is people complain about Apple maps routing them to a wrong location, and acting like Google doesn't have this issue. It clearly does. It took me three searches to get a completely wrong response from Google maps.....

I remember a few years ago Google maps routed me and my friend to a KFC that was closed. **** happens.

The moral of the story? Don't fully trust any mapping application. POI data is not perfect, nor will it ever be. To expect perfection is ludicrous and that's what a lot of people expected when Apple released their mapping app....
 
Thank you apple for ditching google apps, making your own and FORCING googles hand in to having to make it feature parity. If apple hadn't done what they did, iOS users would still be second class.
 
I'm sure Google has also put a lot of their companies weight behind that project if it even outperforms the Android version. So just moving the app over to iOS wasn't enough in this little disput :D

Besides, as already stated by people before, I'm too quite pleased with the overall performance of Apple Maps (German area).
 
The shake-to-report-a-problem function is neat, but I wonder if Google is going to start wondering why so many drivers are reporting mapping errors on the Cross Bronx Expressway.
 
akf2000 said:
it's 8MB, the size of one song, and might save your ass one day.
Click to expand...

Haha, yeah.. I just imagined being stuck needing transit directions again and being like "hold on while I download Google Maps".

I'm downloading it now :)
 
rydewnd2 said:
They already do license maps from someone else. Most of Apple maps data is licensed from TomTom
Click to expand...

He meant license the whole mapping solution (Nokia Maps, Google Maps or Bing Maps), not license a bunch of different datasets from tons of 3rd party and trying to integrate it themselves.
 
panda bear said:
Apple Maps has never failed me, except once when I needed public transit directions.

I don't really see this situation occurring again.

So, I can't decide if I want to download this or not.
Click to expand...

I live in the US (I haven't encountered any Apple map issues) and don't need transit directions so I'll probably stick with Apple maps. I did download the new Google maps app though since it's free and it's great to have options.
 
Google is giving great features to older phones too

Google is killing Apple

First with the fantastic voice search application which runs on all iPhones starting from the 3GS to iPhone 5 unlike Siri which runs only on specific devices. Second with turn by turn directions on the iPhone 4.

Google has done more than Apple to make iOS users happy this year. Lets hope iOS 7 delivers else what Eric Schmidt is saying might be right that Android will overtake iOS.
 
rmwebs said:
It's actually pretty funny how screwed up this whole situation has become, and it boiled down to an arrogant Apple thinking launching their own service would be a walk in the park.
Click to expand...
I believe the huge economic success of Apple these last years is really bad for us, users. Apple in the late 90s and early 2000s didn't have its target in winning a war for becoming the #1 company in the world. Its target was just creating excellent products that would be successful. Now that goal is lost. Their target is defeating Google and Samsung. They no longer care about excellence of their products. It's just becoming the #1 in money. Too-Microsoft-ish for my taste. I chose Apple because they were exactly opposite to what they're now.
 
petsounds said:
I don't think you really understand Google's business model. Google actually doesn't make much money from Android directly. Google is mainly an advertising company. The more people they have using their products, the more they can monetize their products and monetize YOU.

To wit, did you notice that they encourage you to "sign in" to your Google account in Maps? That's not really for your benefit, it's for theirs. By signing in, they can track EVERY PLACE YOU GO and sync that up with your online profile where they know EVERY PLACE YOU GO. This is what Google is after. Having their apps on the most devices possible is their priority.
Click to expand...

For what its worth, Google do make a bit of cash from Android. If a manufacturer wants the Google Apps package (known as 'GAPPS') they have to pay a licensing fee to Google.

Then you've got the 30% developer fee on the Google Play store.
 
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