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I'm curious what Apple has to actually gain by doing Maps? Is it just about not wanting to share user information with Google as a selling point for their devi

by donatj 7y ago

I'm curious what Apple has to actually gain by doing Maps? Is it just about not wanting to share user information with Google as a selling point for their devices? Competition for Google Maps is absolutely a good thing to spur innovation. At this point, I'm still using Google Maps because they still seem far more usable and feature filled. I'd love to see a viable alternative.

tinus_hn 7y ago
Maps is a required feature of smartphones. If Apple does not have Apple Maps Google has leverage over Apple. The reason Apple started Apple Maps was that Google refused to allow turn by turn navigation and vector maps on iPhone and required location data from iPhone users. Only when Apple Maps was introduced did Google release these features and they lost access to most location data.
matwood 7y ago
> I'm curious what Apple has to actually gain by doing Maps? The same reason Google started making hardware for Android. A company should try to control its core competencies[1]. The intersection of software and hardware is a core competency for Apple. At the application level, navigation is a critical piece of that software. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_competency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_competency
cmroanirgo 7y ago
Everytime I see an article on HN about Apple Maps, I get hopeful that there's an announcement buried that they're releasing an Android version... I agree that Apple (& Bing/MS) is vital... But in order for the goog to be toppled, there needs to be apps on all platforms. It seems ludicrous they want to redistrict their map and messaging to iOS only, but there's a real opportunity for Apple to spread out into competing platforms.
- savoytruffle 7y ago
  There is Apple MapKit to embed into websites https://developer.apple.com/maps/web/ https://developer.apple.com/maps/web/
  - cmroanirgo 7y ago
    I'm already using that for a couple of projects. It's not the same though. (PS: It's got a great trucking api)

by donatj 7y ago

tinus_hn 7y ago

Maps is a required feature of smartphones. If Apple does not have Apple Maps Google has leverage over Apple. The reason Apple started Apple Maps was that Google refused to allow turn by turn navigation and vector maps on iPhone and required location data from iPhone users. Only when Apple Maps was introduced did Google release these features and they lost access to most location data.

matwood 7y ago

> I'm curious what Apple has to actually gain by doing Maps? The same reason Google started making hardware for Android. A company should try to control its core competencies[1]. The intersection of software and hardware is a core competency for Apple. At the application level, navigation is a critical piece of that software. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_competency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_competency

cmroanirgo 7y ago

Everytime I see an article on HN about Apple Maps, I get hopeful that there's an announcement buried that they're releasing an Android version... I agree that Apple (& Bing/MS) is vital... But in order for the goog to be toppled, there needs to be apps on all platforms. It seems ludicrous they want to redistrict their map and messaging to iOS only, but there's a real opportunity for Apple to spread out into competing platforms.

savoytruffle 7y ago
There is Apple MapKit to embed into websites https://developer.apple.com/maps/web/ https://developer.apple.com/maps/web/
- cmroanirgo 7y ago
  I'm already using that for a couple of projects. It's not the same though. (PS: It's got a great trucking api)