6 ms·

Just add maps.google.com to your home screen. I was doing that even before the new iOS. It's better than the new Maps app or the old one. Bicycle directions! A

by Apreche 14y ago

Just add maps.google.com to your home screen. I was doing that even before the new iOS. It's better than the new Maps app or the old one. Bicycle directions! Also, FYI, the previous Maps app did use Google Maps, but the app itself was written by Apple. I once was at a Google event and asked a Googler who works on Maps about it. They have been frustrated for years that they could not update that app when they added new features to Google Maps. I expect within a short time we will see an iOS Google Maps that is on par with the Android app.

chmars 14y ago
I would be very happy about such an app although the new YouTube app made me rather pessimistic. It's for example not available on the iPad and you cannot send links to videos by mail.
spitx 14y ago
This bothers me to no end. One of the major things beside the odd dimensions of the iPhone 5 screen, that prevent me from switching from Android. However the screen is clearly a bigger let-down for most Android users who are used to larger screens. Jobs would never have allowed such an atrocity to occur. The sub-par Gmail integration is another pain point. Roger McNamee expressed the same misgivings on Bloomberg the other day. He said Apple is starting to act like a bad monopolist.
- rimantas 14y ago
  > Jobs would never have allowed such an atrocity to occur iPhone 5 is more likely to be blessed by Jobs than not. I am not sure how long Apple product pipeline is, but I seriously doubt they had iPhone 4S ready for production, but not iPhone 5 in the advanced design stage. On the other hand I don't give a damn about "odd" dimensions. There is nothing odd in them for me.
  - AnthonyMouse 14y ago
    >iPhone 5 is more likely to be blessed by Jobs than not. I am not sure how long Apple product pipeline is, but I seriously doubt they had iPhone 4S ready for production, but not iPhone 5 in the advanced design stage. Yes and no. Jobs may have signed on to the idea of replacing the maps with an in-house solution, but the implementation wouldn't have been finished until shortly before launch. And when it turned out to be as bad as it seems to be then he might very reasonably have reverted to the previous maps app for at least this version of iOS (if not scrapping the idea entirely).
  - spitx 14y ago
    The tall-narrow screen is just a case of classic Apple orthodoxy. There is nothing in the dimensions of the iPhone 5 that make it inherently a better viewing experience over a wider configuration. If Apple had convinced itself to be less parsimonious and obtained larger (width wise) screens at better margins I'm sure they would have made that one of their USPs. Instead they cheap-ed out on the acreage. That screen is dumb and in a sea of larger and similarly fabulous screens (including the upcoming Nokia Lumia 920 which incidentally has some stellar mapping alongside other great features) it just doesn't cut it. Tim Cook and his core team seem to be a bunch of frugal zealots. He bungled the layoffs at the Apple stores too. Upon a backlash he had to hire some of them back. This launch is probably the first one where nearly every detail leaked well ahead of time. The screen, the connector, the no-NFC, the LTE and several other parts. It certainly is all down-hill from here. There is no longer that halo around the Apple experience. Unless of course people want to accessorize their attire with glass-slab jewelry which the iPhone 5 has been likened to. The first-on-iPhone apps are the only draw.
    - philwelch 14y ago
      The narrow-but-tall screen isn't meant for viewing experience; it's meant for holding-in-your-hand experience.
      - vidarh 14y ago
        The iPhone is uncomfortably small to me. I don't think my hands are that abnormally large, but my 4.3" HTC Desire HD is a much better size fit. Even so, my next phone might very well be one with an even larger screen - I use my phone flat in my hand with screen facing me about ten times more than I hold it up in any way that requires a great grip. It's not a coincidence that the top selling Android phones have gradually been ones with larger and larger screens.
      - CamperBob2 14y ago
        The only valid answer to this debate would be for Apple to acknowledge that not everyone has the same size hands, and release two different iPhones. They don't appear to be interested in doing the obvious right thing here.
rmc 14y ago
I expect within a short time we will see an iOS Google Maps that is on par with the Android app. I wonder if Google will do that. Surely they want people to use Android, and "better maps on Android", would be a nice selling point.
- anextio 14y ago
  No. Google want people using their services. They don't care if people are using Android or not - Android is simply a platform upon which they can get users to use their services. That is their only vested interest.
  - kls 14y ago
    Right Android exist because Google feared that people could be locked out of Google services. Google services and access to them, is their first priority.
- ben1040 14y ago
  On the other hand, they are trying to monetize the Android Maps app by including paid local offers and the like. There's nothing stopping them from trying to make money from the iOS user base the same way.
- nicholassmith 14y ago
  Google wants people to use Google, not specifically Android even if it is a handy portal into the world of Google Apps and Services.
- AnthonyMouse 14y ago
  >I wonder if Google will do that. Surely they want people to use Android, and "better maps on Android", would be a nice selling point. The more difficult problem will be getting the app past Apple when it so clearly 'duplicates functionality in iOS.' My understanding is that one of the main drivers behind the change on Apple's part is that they wanted to collect user location data (and deprive Google of it), which doesn't do the job if 95% of the user base switches to the Google app straight away.
- 14y ago
holtr94 14y ago
The only problem with any maps app written by Google is it cannot be the default. Friend texts you an address? It will always open in Apple Maps.
- TheBindingVoid 14y ago
  That's an iOS design flaw, not Google's problem.
  - rmc 14y ago
    Yes, Android's intents are nice for allowing users to change that.
    - Simucal 14y ago
      I've been using my Nexus 7 for several weeks now. I still think Android has a way to go in the UI/UX area but it seems a lot better in Jelly Bean compared to older versions of Android I have tried. However, the number one feature I wish I had on my iPhone is the Android intents system. It is seriously great. I'd love to be able to set the default application for different actions. When I tell my Nexus 7 to play a particular song it will now launch Spotify to play the song I requested. I should be able to do this with Siri. This would be a huge feature for me.
- zyb09 14y ago
  Also every 3rd party app using MapKit is stuck with Apple's maps. Google would need to release a GoogleMapKit iOS-Library for 3rd Party apps. iOS limitations are really showing now, it 's so disappointing to see Apple making things worse (new Maps, new AppStore), without providing proper 3rd party access to core functions and better cross-app communication. Instead of getting baked-in Facebook-Sharing with iOS 6, they should've made that an API, something every service can plug into, like Android's Sharing System. It's a shame, the hardware is so awesome, but the software is going down the drain, it desperately needs to be opened up more. For the record, the iPhone is now the only modern device I know of, that you can't access Google StreetView. No app, not through Safari, you just can't. I think it should be clear that something is wrong, when such an advanced device, can't do something as simple as that.
daleharvey 14y ago
And a word of warning, at least for those outside the US, you are probably still better using cyclestreets.net than googles cycle directions, They sent me down a dual carriageway last weekend (and generally got every part of a 50 miles journey wrong)
- hesselink 14y ago
  For those in the Netherlands, I can recommend the planner by 'de Fietsersbond': http://www.fietsersbond.nl/fietsrouteplanner/ http://www.fietsersbond.nl/fietsrouteplanner/
  - grimborg 14y ago
    Interesting. I use a regular GPS with the maps of OpenFietsMap. It's mostly accurate, and pretty awesome.
- prof_hobart 14y ago
  Don't know what country you're in, but cycling down a dual carriageway is not particulary uncommon where I live.
mgw 14y ago
Google is surely working on a native iOS maps app, but (when) will Apple approve it?
- rmc 14y ago
  Apple aren't completly stupid. I doubt they'd delibrately hobble the iPhone by leaving this as the best maps you can get.
  - hahainternet 14y ago
    They have.
- mbesto 14y ago
  No joke, I would switch to Android in a hear beat if they don't. I am 100% reliant on my map app and therefore am willing to pay for anything with the best experience.
  - adgar 14y ago
    Android's google maps have been better by features than iOS's google maps for a couple years now, since Google could update the Android app. Vector graphics since 2010, local integration (reviews, including zagat now), more advanced directions options, and so on.
  - diptanu 14y ago
    Same here. Used iPhone since the day it was released. But I can't survive without a functional map, buying an Nexus One tonight. Good Bye iPhone :(
    - fpgeek 14y ago
      Might I suggest getting a Galaxy Nexus instead of a Nexus One? The Nexus One is pretty dated at this point...
  - Angostura 14y ago
arrrg 14y ago
maps.google.com regularly crashes Safari on my iPad. I really hope for a native app from Google – and given recent trends, that’s not unlikely. (Google has some great apps on the App Store and they seem to want to cover all bases.) It just might take some time (I’m guessing several months).
twism 14y ago
Why would Apple allow a native iOS maps app by Google, that competes with their core Maps app, in the AppStore?
- dailyrorschach 14y ago
  They already allow turn-by-turn navigation apps, and allow applications for GMail, Chrome (thought they don't get the full baked in system feel). For the most part the duplicated functionality requirements aren't as strict as they were from 2008-2010. I think they'll definitely allow a Maps app from Google if they submit one. I also think that Google very likely wanted more updates and possibly more money for their map data. Apple likely viewed this as something that was always going to be painful but something they needed to just do and get behind them. I also wonder/hope/suspect that they may already be adding more data based on reports of landmarks that weren't appearing, now appearing. This is also a nice point: http://blog.lumatic.com/post/31863865686/ive-been-using-ios-6-for-a-few-months-and http://blog.lumatic.com/post/31863865686/ive-been-using-ios-... Usage data is what improves maps, which they'll now have a lot of. Though I am surprised they haven't picked a better provider then just TomTom, perhaps that's also in the works.
- stephen_g 14y ago
  Why wouldn't they? In the App Store there are all sorts of browsers that compete with Safari (I know that they still have to use the built in WebView, but still), mail apps (including Gmail), that compete with Mail, camera apps that compete with the Camera app, to-do lost apps that compete with Reminders, and even many existing navigation apps, etc. There's no reason it wouldn't be allowed in if Google complies with the guidelines...
  - ChuckMcM 14y ago
    Reasons: Maps is expected to be the key monetization engine in mobile, sharing mobile ads with Google is anathema. Maps 'replicates substantially similar content' in IOS. This one has been used quite a few times. Apple can be pretty arbitrary about apps as we've seen but by and large from a business perspective its one of their core capabilities they will want to own. Of course I could be completely wrong here, we'll see as this plays out of course.

by Apreche 14y ago

chmars 14y ago

I would be very happy about such an app although the new YouTube app made me rather pessimistic. It's for example not available on the iPad and you cannot send links to videos by mail.

spitx 14y ago

This bothers me to no end. One of the major things beside the odd dimensions of the iPhone 5 screen, that prevent me from switching from Android. However the screen is clearly a bigger let-down for most Android users who are used to larger screens. Jobs would never have allowed such an atrocity to occur. The sub-par Gmail integration is another pain point. Roger McNamee expressed the same misgivings on Bloomberg the other day. He said Apple is starting to act like a bad monopolist.

rimantas 14y ago
> Jobs would never have allowed such an atrocity to occur iPhone 5 is more likely to be blessed by Jobs than not. I am not sure how long Apple product pipeline is, but I seriously doubt they had iPhone 4S ready for production, but not iPhone 5 in the advanced design stage. On the other hand I don't give a damn about "odd" dimensions. There is nothing odd in them for me.
- AnthonyMouse 14y ago
  >iPhone 5 is more likely to be blessed by Jobs than not. I am not sure how long Apple product pipeline is, but I seriously doubt they had iPhone 4S ready for production, but not iPhone 5 in the advanced design stage. Yes and no. Jobs may have signed on to the idea of replacing the maps with an in-house solution, but the implementation wouldn't have been finished until shortly before launch. And when it turned out to be as bad as it seems to be then he might very reasonably have reverted to the previous maps app for at least this version of iOS (if not scrapping the idea entirely).
- spitx 14y ago
  The tall-narrow screen is just a case of classic Apple orthodoxy. There is nothing in the dimensions of the iPhone 5 that make it inherently a better viewing experience over a wider configuration. If Apple had convinced itself to be less parsimonious and obtained larger (width wise) screens at better margins I'm sure they would have made that one of their USPs. Instead they cheap-ed out on the acreage. That screen is dumb and in a sea of larger and similarly fabulous screens (including the upcoming Nokia Lumia 920 which incidentally has some stellar mapping alongside other great features) it just doesn't cut it. Tim Cook and his core team seem to be a bunch of frugal zealots. He bungled the layoffs at the Apple stores too. Upon a backlash he had to hire some of them back. This launch is probably the first one where nearly every detail leaked well ahead of time. The screen, the connector, the no-NFC, the LTE and several other parts. It certainly is all down-hill from here. There is no longer that halo around the Apple experience. Unless of course people want to accessorize their attire with glass-slab jewelry which the iPhone 5 has been likened to. The first-on-iPhone apps are the only draw.
  - philwelch 14y ago
    The narrow-but-tall screen isn't meant for viewing experience; it's meant for holding-in-your-hand experience.
    - vidarh 14y ago
      The iPhone is uncomfortably small to me. I don't think my hands are that abnormally large, but my 4.3" HTC Desire HD is a much better size fit. Even so, my next phone might very well be one with an even larger screen - I use my phone flat in my hand with screen facing me about ten times more than I hold it up in any way that requires a great grip. It's not a coincidence that the top selling Android phones have gradually been ones with larger and larger screens.
    - CamperBob2 14y ago
      The only valid answer to this debate would be for Apple to acknowledge that not everyone has the same size hands, and release two different iPhones. They don't appear to be interested in doing the obvious right thing here.

rmc 14y ago

I expect within a short time we will see an iOS Google Maps that is on par with the Android app. I wonder if Google will do that. Surely they want people to use Android, and "better maps on Android", would be a nice selling point.

anextio 14y ago
No. Google want people using their services. They don't care if people are using Android or not - Android is simply a platform upon which they can get users to use their services. That is their only vested interest.
- kls 14y ago
  Right Android exist because Google feared that people could be locked out of Google services. Google services and access to them, is their first priority.
ben1040 14y ago
On the other hand, they are trying to monetize the Android Maps app by including paid local offers and the like. There's nothing stopping them from trying to make money from the iOS user base the same way.
nicholassmith 14y ago
Google wants people to use Google, not specifically Android even if it is a handy portal into the world of Google Apps and Services.
AnthonyMouse 14y ago
>I wonder if Google will do that. Surely they want people to use Android, and "better maps on Android", would be a nice selling point. The more difficult problem will be getting the app past Apple when it so clearly 'duplicates functionality in iOS.' My understanding is that one of the main drivers behind the change on Apple's part is that they wanted to collect user location data (and deprive Google of it), which doesn't do the job if 95% of the user base switches to the Google app straight away.
14y ago

holtr94 14y ago

The only problem with any maps app written by Google is it cannot be the default. Friend texts you an address? It will always open in Apple Maps.

TheBindingVoid 14y ago
That's an iOS design flaw, not Google's problem.
- rmc 14y ago
  Yes, Android's intents are nice for allowing users to change that.
  - Simucal 14y ago
    I've been using my Nexus 7 for several weeks now. I still think Android has a way to go in the UI/UX area but it seems a lot better in Jelly Bean compared to older versions of Android I have tried. However, the number one feature I wish I had on my iPhone is the Android intents system. It is seriously great. I'd love to be able to set the default application for different actions. When I tell my Nexus 7 to play a particular song it will now launch Spotify to play the song I requested. I should be able to do this with Siri. This would be a huge feature for me.
zyb09 14y ago
Also every 3rd party app using MapKit is stuck with Apple's maps. Google would need to release a GoogleMapKit iOS-Library for 3rd Party apps. iOS limitations are really showing now, it 's so disappointing to see Apple making things worse (new Maps, new AppStore), without providing proper 3rd party access to core functions and better cross-app communication. Instead of getting baked-in Facebook-Sharing with iOS 6, they should've made that an API, something every service can plug into, like Android's Sharing System. It's a shame, the hardware is so awesome, but the software is going down the drain, it desperately needs to be opened up more. For the record, the iPhone is now the only modern device I know of, that you can't access Google StreetView. No app, not through Safari, you just can't. I think it should be clear that something is wrong, when such an advanced device, can't do something as simple as that.

daleharvey 14y ago

And a word of warning, at least for those outside the US, you are probably still better using cyclestreets.net than googles cycle directions, They sent me down a dual carriageway last weekend (and generally got every part of a 50 miles journey wrong)

hesselink 14y ago
For those in the Netherlands, I can recommend the planner by 'de Fietsersbond': http://www.fietsersbond.nl/fietsrouteplanner/ http://www.fietsersbond.nl/fietsrouteplanner/
- grimborg 14y ago
  Interesting. I use a regular GPS with the maps of OpenFietsMap. It's mostly accurate, and pretty awesome.
prof_hobart 14y ago
Don't know what country you're in, but cycling down a dual carriageway is not particulary uncommon where I live.

mgw 14y ago

Google is surely working on a native iOS maps app, but (when) will Apple approve it?

rmc 14y ago
Apple aren't completly stupid. I doubt they'd delibrately hobble the iPhone by leaving this as the best maps you can get.
- hahainternet 14y ago
  They have.
mbesto 14y ago
No joke, I would switch to Android in a hear beat if they don't. I am 100% reliant on my map app and therefore am willing to pay for anything with the best experience.
- adgar 14y ago
  Android's google maps have been better by features than iOS's google maps for a couple years now, since Google could update the Android app. Vector graphics since 2010, local integration (reviews, including zagat now), more advanced directions options, and so on.
- diptanu 14y ago
  Same here. Used iPhone since the day it was released. But I can't survive without a functional map, buying an Nexus One tonight. Good Bye iPhone :(
  - fpgeek 14y ago
    Might I suggest getting a Galaxy Nexus instead of a Nexus One? The Nexus One is pretty dated at this point...
- Angostura 14y ago

arrrg 14y ago

maps.google.com regularly crashes Safari on my iPad. I really hope for a native app from Google – and given recent trends, that’s not unlikely. (Google has some great apps on the App Store and they seem to want to cover all bases.) It just might take some time (I’m guessing several months).

twism 14y ago

Why would Apple allow a native iOS maps app by Google, that competes with their core Maps app, in the AppStore?

dailyrorschach 14y ago
They already allow turn-by-turn navigation apps, and allow applications for GMail, Chrome (thought they don't get the full baked in system feel). For the most part the duplicated functionality requirements aren't as strict as they were from 2008-2010. I think they'll definitely allow a Maps app from Google if they submit one. I also think that Google very likely wanted more updates and possibly more money for their map data. Apple likely viewed this as something that was always going to be painful but something they needed to just do and get behind them. I also wonder/hope/suspect that they may already be adding more data based on reports of landmarks that weren't appearing, now appearing. This is also a nice point: http://blog.lumatic.com/post/31863865686/ive-been-using-ios-6-for-a-few-months-and http://blog.lumatic.com/post/31863865686/ive-been-using-ios-... Usage data is what improves maps, which they'll now have a lot of. Though I am surprised they haven't picked a better provider then just TomTom, perhaps that's also in the works.
stephen_g 14y ago
Why wouldn't they? In the App Store there are all sorts of browsers that compete with Safari (I know that they still have to use the built in WebView, but still), mail apps (including Gmail), that compete with Mail, camera apps that compete with the Camera app, to-do lost apps that compete with Reminders, and even many existing navigation apps, etc. There's no reason it wouldn't be allowed in if Google complies with the guidelines...
- ChuckMcM 14y ago
  Reasons: Maps is expected to be the key monetization engine in mobile, sharing mobile ads with Google is anathema. Maps 'replicates substantially similar content' in IOS. This one has been used quite a few times. Apple can be pretty arbitrary about apps as we've seen but by and large from a business perspective its one of their core capabilities they will want to own. Of course I could be completely wrong here, we'll see as this plays out of course.