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It was about turn-by-turn directions. Google had them, Apple wanted them, and Google knew that keeping it exclusive to Google Maps was a big competitive advanta
by wlesieutre 8y ago
It was about turn-by-turn directions. Google had them, Apple wanted them, and Google knew that keeping it exclusive to Google Maps was a big competitive advantage.
https://daringfireball.net/2012/09/timing_of_apples_map_switch https://daringfireball.net/2012/09/timing_of_apples_map_swit...
I've read other more recent accounts that also claim Google wanted to collect more location data from iOS users in order to license their scalable vector map tiles to Apple, but couldn't find the link.
- wlesieutre 8y agoHere's an article with a bit more detail https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/11/apple-maps-google-iphone-users https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/11/apple-map...
- mcny 8y agoThanks to you and the grand parent comment. This shows the power of defaults, right? It makes sense in this light that Google is willing to pay a billion plus dollars to Apple every year to be the default search. I'm still amazed by these big numbers though because I just can't wrap my head around them.