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Why? Shouldn't this be a benefit to using Android? I just ditched my iPhone for an Android phone and Apple Maps was a major reason why I didn't go for the iPhon

by joonix 14y ago

Why? Shouldn't this be a benefit to using Android? I just ditched my iPhone for an Android phone and Apple Maps was a major reason why I didn't go for the iPhone 5. Now that I've owned an Android phone, I couldn't be happier and more impressed with the device.

pdenya 14y ago
I think Google is more focused on getting as many people using Google Maps as possible than it is on giving a small benefit to Android sales.
hnriot 14y ago
Google benefit the most when the most number of people use their software services, so making their maps multi-platform is in their best business interest.
myko 14y ago
Google makes money whether a user is on Android or iOS - as long as they're using Google services. Android team may not be pleased but it is in Google's best interest to serve as many platforms/users as possible.
alwaysinshade 14y ago
> Why? Shouldn't this be a benefit to using Android? Google makes its money from data/advertising - Android is a hedge to prevent a single dominant player from controlling the flow of data. In itself, Android isn't necessarily profitable for Google - but it opens the door to their services ecosystem which is profitable. Not taking advantage of Apple's Maps gaffe would be ignoring a massive chunk of the data pie. And with Nokia hitting the scene with their map services, Google needs to act fast.
arrrg 14y ago
Because Google wants you to use their services (and see their ads). Google’s goal with Android is to prevent losing control over mobile platforms. Imagine a world in which Apple and Microsoft are the only two mobile OS vendors and then both decide to make the default search engine in their browsers Bing or something. Google wants to prevent that. At the moment there is about zero danger of Apple gaining any kind of significant control over mobile platforms that would allow them to do anything like that. It’s not going to happen – and there isn’t even any indication that Apple wants to make it happen. (Even if it were to happen it’s easy enough for Google to pull all their apps.) Maybe Google’s Android division also has plans to more directly make some money with Android, but I doubt it. Even if they had, though, I doubt that is in any sense a company-wide policy. Their goal is to get the most users to use their services. The maps people want everyone to use their maps, no matter which device they own. If it is possible to easily grab a few million users on Apple devices Google will obviously jump for that.
- cageface 14y ago
  Because Google wants you to use their services (and see their ads). Sure, but they also want to increase Android's share of the high end of the market and they could also have just let the inferior maps in iOS6 continue to drive prospective iPhone 5 buyers to Android. But obviously they've weighed their options here and decided that having a presence on iOS is worth more than letting Apple continue to piss off users by hobbling along on its own.
  - fpgeek 14y ago
    I don't think it's obvious whether or not having Google apps on iOS helps or hurts Android market share overall. On the one hand, you have people who might otherwise switch to Android to get particular features of the Google ecosystem they want. On the other, you have iOS users who gradually become more invested in the Google ecosystem over time and eventually decide to switch to Android to get "the real thing".
    - cageface 14y ago
      Sure I think you can make a strong argument either way. But clearly Google thinks it's a net gain to be on iOS and they have a lot more insight into the details of this deal than we do.
  - alexpopescu 14y ago
    As far as I know, right now Google's revenue is coming from ads and not from Android. Exclusivity of apps could potentially help the Android market grow over time. But is Google directly benefiting from this? I think that a larger Android market is just reducing the risks of Google tools/revenue generating apps/services being kicked out of environments that Google doesn't "control". Next question would be: would users of these other platform allow this to happen? As a side comment, I don't think app exclusivity as user acquisition technique is working anymore. It's an important aspect, but it's part of a larger picture.
  - dspillett 14y ago
    > > Because Google wants you to use their services (and see their ads). > Sure, but they also want to increase Android's share of the high end of the market and they could also have just let the inferior maps in iOS6 continue to drive prospective iPhone 5 buyers to Android. As useful as maps are to many, and essential to some, there are an awful lot of people for who it is not a descision making difference when speccing up a phone. For them it is a very useful extra on which-ever phone they buy for other reasons. So for all the noise about how bad Apple's maps are in this itteration I don't think it'll massively affect who buys what in the high-end market on its own, but if Google's maps on iOS6 are significantly better than Apple's maps on iOS6 it is an embarrasment to Apple and it helps cement an idea of qualty in Google's output. That may help sales of high-end Android devices because one of the common reasons for going Apple is the perception (earned in some ways) that Android is a lot less polished nd smooth-working than iOS - having a product on that platform that outperforms the built-in competitor will help fight that automatic perception and perhaps encourge peopel to at least look into the competition when chosing their upgrade/replacement path later on. tl;dr: it is more about showmanship than any direct sales effect (and if the have most of the code done anyway, it'll not cost them an awful lot to get it tweaked and up on the AppStore).
timfrietas 14y ago
Amazon sells a lot of Kindle books on the iOS application I am sure. This is a similar strategy.
- fpgeek 14y ago
  Amazon sells a lot of Kindle books that are read with the iOS application. Amazon hasn't sold any books on the iOS application for over a year (and, arguably, never has because even before the IAP controversy the Kindle app buy button sent you to Amazon's website in Safari).
- hboon 14y ago
  Amazon doesn't sell Kindles in their iOS app to avoid the in-app purchase cut to Apple. The app doesn't even have a link to Amazon's site since that's forbidden by Apple's terms. But yes, they make money indirectly from customers like me who visit their website to buy books so we can read on our iOS devices.

by joonix 14y ago

pdenya 14y ago

I think Google is more focused on getting as many people using Google Maps as possible than it is on giving a small benefit to Android sales.

hnriot 14y ago

Google benefit the most when the most number of people use their software services, so making their maps multi-platform is in their best business interest.

myko 14y ago

Google makes money whether a user is on Android or iOS - as long as they're using Google services. Android team may not be pleased but it is in Google's best interest to serve as many platforms/users as possible.

alwaysinshade 14y ago

> Why? Shouldn't this be a benefit to using Android? Google makes its money from data/advertising - Android is a hedge to prevent a single dominant player from controlling the flow of data. In itself, Android isn't necessarily profitable for Google - but it opens the door to their services ecosystem which is profitable. Not taking advantage of Apple's Maps gaffe would be ignoring a massive chunk of the data pie. And with Nokia hitting the scene with their map services, Google needs to act fast.

arrrg 14y ago

Because Google wants you to use their services (and see their ads). Google’s goal with Android is to prevent losing control over mobile platforms. Imagine a world in which Apple and Microsoft are the only two mobile OS vendors and then both decide to make the default search engine in their browsers Bing or something. Google wants to prevent that. At the moment there is about zero danger of Apple gaining any kind of significant control over mobile platforms that would allow them to do anything like that. It’s not going to happen – and there isn’t even any indication that Apple wants to make it happen. (Even if it were to happen it’s easy enough for Google to pull all their apps.) Maybe Google’s Android division also has plans to more directly make some money with Android, but I doubt it. Even if they had, though, I doubt that is in any sense a company-wide policy. Their goal is to get the most users to use their services. The maps people want everyone to use their maps, no matter which device they own. If it is possible to easily grab a few million users on Apple devices Google will obviously jump for that.

cageface 14y ago
Because Google wants you to use their services (and see their ads). Sure, but they also want to increase Android's share of the high end of the market and they could also have just let the inferior maps in iOS6 continue to drive prospective iPhone 5 buyers to Android. But obviously they've weighed their options here and decided that having a presence on iOS is worth more than letting Apple continue to piss off users by hobbling along on its own.
- fpgeek 14y ago
  I don't think it's obvious whether or not having Google apps on iOS helps or hurts Android market share overall. On the one hand, you have people who might otherwise switch to Android to get particular features of the Google ecosystem they want. On the other, you have iOS users who gradually become more invested in the Google ecosystem over time and eventually decide to switch to Android to get "the real thing".
  - cageface 14y ago
    Sure I think you can make a strong argument either way. But clearly Google thinks it's a net gain to be on iOS and they have a lot more insight into the details of this deal than we do.
- alexpopescu 14y ago
  As far as I know, right now Google's revenue is coming from ads and not from Android. Exclusivity of apps could potentially help the Android market grow over time. But is Google directly benefiting from this? I think that a larger Android market is just reducing the risks of Google tools/revenue generating apps/services being kicked out of environments that Google doesn't "control". Next question would be: would users of these other platform allow this to happen? As a side comment, I don't think app exclusivity as user acquisition technique is working anymore. It's an important aspect, but it's part of a larger picture.
- dspillett 14y ago
  > > Because Google wants you to use their services (and see their ads). > Sure, but they also want to increase Android's share of the high end of the market and they could also have just let the inferior maps in iOS6 continue to drive prospective iPhone 5 buyers to Android. As useful as maps are to many, and essential to some, there are an awful lot of people for who it is not a descision making difference when speccing up a phone. For them it is a very useful extra on which-ever phone they buy for other reasons. So for all the noise about how bad Apple's maps are in this itteration I don't think it'll massively affect who buys what in the high-end market on its own, but if Google's maps on iOS6 are significantly better than Apple's maps on iOS6 it is an embarrasment to Apple and it helps cement an idea of qualty in Google's output. That may help sales of high-end Android devices because one of the common reasons for going Apple is the perception (earned in some ways) that Android is a lot less polished nd smooth-working than iOS - having a product on that platform that outperforms the built-in competitor will help fight that automatic perception and perhaps encourge peopel to at least look into the competition when chosing their upgrade/replacement path later on. tl;dr: it is more about showmanship than any direct sales effect (and if the have most of the code done anyway, it'll not cost them an awful lot to get it tweaked and up on the AppStore).

timfrietas 14y ago

Amazon sells a lot of Kindle books on the iOS application I am sure. This is a similar strategy.

fpgeek 14y ago
Amazon sells a lot of Kindle books that are read with the iOS application. Amazon hasn't sold any books on the iOS application for over a year (and, arguably, never has because even before the IAP controversy the Kindle app buy button sent you to Amazon's website in Safari).
hboon 14y ago
Amazon doesn't sell Kindles in their iOS app to avoid the in-app purchase cut to Apple. The app doesn't even have a link to Amazon's site since that's forbidden by Apple's terms. But yes, they make money indirectly from customers like me who visit their website to buy books so we can read on our iOS devices.