15 ms·

Google Maps for iOS

827 points by zacharytamas 14y ago

assharif 14y ago
This never would have happened if Steve Jobs was alive.
benesch 14y ago
Coming up as "Temporarily Unavailable" when I try to download it. Not yet appearing in search results either—maybe it's just still processing?
- film42 14y ago
  I think it is, I'll check back every 15min or so. Update: Following OP's advice I was able to get to the Google, Inc page where the Maps app is listed. Still no luck. This is gonna be a waiting game :(
- zacharytamas 14y ago
  Possibly. I found it by chance on the page which lists all the apps by "Google, Inc." in the App Store. It's listed there, but agree it doesn't show up in search results yet and I can't download it. It just seems this is definitely the permalink to it.
  - joshmlewis 14y ago
    Woop, karma for you! Good job.
    - headShrinker 14y ago
      You don't need to tell people you are upmodding them. Just upmod them.
      - bsg75 14y ago
        +1
      - joshmlewis 14y ago
        I wasn't really telling him, I was just acknowledging the fact he gets to collect credit for finding this first. Unnecessary? Sure. I apologize.
      - joshmlewis 14y ago
        I wasn't really telling him, I was just acknowledging the fact he gets to collect credit for finding this first. Unnecessary? Sure. I apologize.
  - joshmlewis 14y ago
    Woop, karma for you! Good job.
selectout 14y ago
Voice Navigation and turn by turn! Now to see about offline access.
- thejosh 14y ago
  Would be interesting to see how large this would be. I remember a few years ago (3-4?) when there was a project for mobile devices that would cache Google Maps for your city onto your device.
  - cleverjake 14y ago
    On the android version of google maps, I saved the route from Philadelphia to Kentucky (~675 miles) without a problem. You loose voice turn by turn, however.
- robflynn 14y ago
  Does voice navigation work on iPhone 4? I currently use a telenav app due to them having voice nav. I'm not in a position to upgrade my phone yet, so my girlfriend and I are stuck with the 4 for a bit. I downloaded the app and gave it a test but it didnt seem to do any voice -- that may be because I wasn't moving, though. It did give me the option to mute the voice navigation -- which I found odd.
  - teejae 14y ago
    Yes, voice navigation should work fine on an iPhone 4. Enjoy :).
    - robflynn 14y ago
      Thanks! You were right. Apparently it didn't do anything when I wasn't moving but I finally had a chance to try it on the move and it worked flawlessly. Thanks for correcting my initial assumption.
TillE 14y ago
Again no iPad native version on the initial release, just like their YouTube app? That's a little disappointing.
- aneth4 14y ago
  Would you be less disappointed if they waited another month or two to release both together?
  - TillE 14y ago
    I'd rather they put another designer on the project and develop both interfaces simultaneously from the beginning. Other companies manage it, but apparently not Google.
    - artursapek 14y ago
      I don't develop iOS, but I don't think it's that trivial.
    - untog 14y ago
      Just adding an extra designer does not balance out the extra work involved in making an iPad version of an app.
- FootballMuse 14y ago
  Notice the last screenshot preview of the app? Interestingly, it is the iPad aspect ratio. So I'm sure it's just simply not yet ready for public release.
  - kalleboo 14y ago
    It might also just still be in review
ricardobeat 14y ago
But Apple is evil, they wouldn't allow this!
- homosaur 14y ago
  Your smarminess is cute, but Apple eased up on the "duplicate functionality" stuff a long time ago. You have to look no further than the fact that Chrome exists.
  - cheald 14y ago
    Which is still just a UIWebView in the Chrome dressing because Apple won't permit Google to run their own Javascript or document rendering engines on iOS.
    - Firehed 14y ago
      That's a totally separate issue, with completely valid security concerns (although sounds like an implementation issue that should be rethought). It very much duplicates the core functionality of Safari, just as Google Voice does for the Phone and Messages apps. And GV was what both started and eventually ended that whole "duplicate functionality" debacle.
    - randomdata 14y ago
      I have a web browser for iOS that does its own HTML rendering, and has been available in the store for many years now. Before CoreText was available, even. It doesn't deal with Javascript though, so you may have a point there.
carlsednaoui 14y ago
Not sure what's going on...I get "the item you tried is no longer available" but a friend did manage to download it.
- vyder 14y ago
  Yeah, I copy pasted the link into Chrome on iPhone 5, it opened the install page on the iTunes app (instead of the App Store app). Possibly because of the itunes.apple.com/... in the url. What are regular app link domains anyway?
- pooriaazimi 14y ago
  It takes a few minutes for all CDNs to get the download file I think...
janesvilleseo 14y ago
Wow! This is a very slick and sexy app, I am impressed. I am going to give it a try for my commute to work tomorrow. Very fast, responsive, and the voice is nice (but a little too fast as compared to iOS)
toast76 14y ago
Voice guides, street view, search/favourites syncing...oh and the maps are actually correct.
- cubicle67 14y ago
  Edit: yeah, it's a cheap shot, but my point is "correctness" is not binary http://au.news.yahoo.com/technology/news/article/-/15610781/police-warn-of-safety-concerns-from-google-maps/ http://au.news.yahoo.com/technology/news/article/-/15610781/... Now police in Colac, west of Melbourne, say faults with Google maps are putting people's lives at risk along the Great Ocean Road and in the southern Otways. Sergeant Nick Buenen says trucks, buses and tourists are being directed down Wild Dog Road, which is a one-way track, not built for heavy traffic. He says VicRoads has denied responsibility and Google Maps has not responded.
  - cleverjake 14y ago
    http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57558777-93/police-google-maps-giving-dangerous-directions-too/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57558777-93/police-google-m... "Update, 12:41 p.m. PT A Google spokesperson said that Google Maps routes drivers onto Wild Dog Road only if the driver searches for a destination located on that road. For directions to other nearby locations, Google Maps routes drivers onto Forrest-Apollo Bay Road/Skenes Creek Road. "
yoda_sl 14y ago
It is available at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-maps/id585027354 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-maps/id585027354
DigitalSea 14y ago
Not seeing this in the Australian App Store either. Can't wait, my girlfriend will be especially pleased she relies on having maps on her iPhone because she's a hopeless navigator and the iOS 6 maps frustrate her.
- toast76 14y ago
  https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/google-maps/id585027354?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/google-maps/id585027354?mt=8
  - DigitalSea 14y ago
    Thanks man. I just realised the app is so new Apple's app store search index probably hasn't been refreshed just yet, so went onto the HN homepage on my phone and it opened up in the store.
bonjourmr 14y ago
The crime rate in Victoria is dropping by the minute.
mromanuk 14y ago
The item is not available anymore in the US App Store :|
- jlmendezbonini 14y ago
  Are you sure? I just downloaded it (30 seconds ago).
  - mortenjorck 14y ago
    This item is temporarily unavailable. Try again later.
  - sciurus 14y ago
    Same here. I visited this story on an iphone 4s, clicked the link, the app store came up, and I installed google maps.
- jamesjyu 14y ago
  Yep, I'm also getting "this item is no longer available"
- veidr 14y ago
  I am seeing that too, on iPhone 5 and iPad Mini: "The item you tried to buy is no longer available."
  - chockablock 14y ago
    Try turning off wifi, and downloading over cell radio. Worked for me on a an AT&T 4S. (Maybe it hits a different CDN server?) Also, app is only 6.7MB, pretty svelte!
    - veidr 14y ago
      Yup, that worked! Finally, there is no longer a phantom train station on top of my house!
- 14y ago
DenisM 14y ago
Hallelujah!
joshmlewis 14y ago
Apple had an interesting choice here, they could allow it, or they could not allow it. If they didn't, Google had a very good opportunity to slam Apply publicly and get users riled up, and enemies more ammunition. They chose the latter, which I think is the best choice as they now have real competition and they'll have to step up their game. This is app number two that will probably take place over the natively installed apps now by Google.
- ntkachov 14y ago
  What is app number 1?
  - zwass 14y ago
    Presumably the Gmail app. Well worth a try if you've been using the Apple default.
  - joshmlewis 14y ago
    It's actually Chrome, I use it 90% of the time. The other 10% is when things open in Safari. Apple could be a little looser about setting which apps to open by default.
  - dubcanada 14y ago
    Nobody knows, I don't know anyone with Google Chrome or Google Mail. So obviously this demographic is different when asked outside of hn.
- furyofantares 14y ago
  What would Apple have gained by not allowing it?
  - joshmlewis 14y ago
    They have a history of being very picky about allowing certain apps that compete with their core products.
brackin 14y ago
This is leaps and bounds better than Apple Maps and even the original maps client on iOS that used Google Maps. I didn't even think Apple maps were 'that' bad. The huge hole was POI data, in London at least. Most POI's seemed to be approximated and the rest of them were missing, old or incorrect. After playing with this app for 10 minutes I think this is far superior to the iOS5 Maps experience. It's an extremely refined and clean app that is extremely fast with lots of features. Start typing a street or location and it'll know what you mean within a few letters.
- bwooce 14y ago
  It is positively beautiful for public transport. It shows the next service leaving and how far (time) it is. I'm still looking to see how the option to save Home and Work addresses helps me - it makes home and work function as search terms but there must be more to it?
  - lchang 14y ago
    Probably eventual Google Now support.
  - w1ntermute 14y ago
    > It is positively beautiful for public transport. It shows the next service leaving and how far (time) it is. It's quite amusing to see how excited people are about this when this has been available with Google Maps on Android since 2009 (IIRC). I remember I used my Galaxy Nexus to navigate NYC for a whole week with public transit without ever asking a person for directions.
    - __abc 14y ago
      It was available on iOS until iOS 6
- comex 14y ago
  My impression is the opposite - Google Maps' data is so much better that it hardly matters, but this app seriously lacks polish. For instance, it's laggy - iOS 6 Maps doesn't always make 60fps, which is a shame, but this app doesn't even try. Simply panning around (on my 4S) is enough to produce serious stuttering; even the simple transition to the side menu is not smooth. Or consider Street View, which is missing the signature transition as you "move" from one place to another. edit: Opening the side menu, for its matter, visually seems to depend on hitting a tiny tap target; there is hidden space to the left of the target but not above it, which is the natural place I tried tapping. The menu itself is weirdly designed (giant spacing) and prone to accidental dismissal by someone trying to scroll it. No bookmarks either.
packetslave 14y ago
IOS SDK released as well: http://googlegeodevelopers.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-new-way-to-add-google-maps-to-your.html http://googlegeodevelopers.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-new-way-to...
- selectout 14y ago
  I hope this get's more use than the "Open in Chrome" button does. Both are awesome, my only gripe with iOS 6 is not being able to set default apps for browser, email, and maps. (coincidentally I'd switch them all to Google or google owned items)
  - veidr 14y ago
    I don't think it is coincidental; I think that is precisely the main reason why Apple chooses what apps can be used for these purposes, instead of the user being allowed to choose.
    - mjhagen 14y ago
      As long as you buy Apple hardware, I don't think they care what default mapping software you use. I think there is a different reason why they don't have settings for this.
      - veidr 14y ago
        Such as?
  - biturd 14y ago
    I think you may be able to now. Yesterday I did a backup of my phone, then erased the phone, selected the restore file, and ran through the questions it asked me. I had Chrome installed on my iPhone for the first time since I have ever performed a restore like this. ( I was getting jumbled cover art on albums and a restore seems to have solved it ) During this process, I was asked to setup the phone, first I think I had to unlock it, then wait some time, then set my location, then some security questions, and then a new screen I had not seen before, where there was Safari and Chrome listed, and I needed to pick one. The problem is I was rushing, waiting for a phone call and didn't want to miss it. While in this setup mode the 3G radio icon was not on so I wanted to get back up and running. I didn't read what this screen does, chose Safari, and moved on. I remember thinking to myself, hmpf, odd, Apple asking what default browser I want to use, that's a first. But it was what first came to mind. I can't say for sure that is what it was, as I didn't take the time to read the screen. It's such a painless process, I may restore my phone again to answer this question. If I do, I will report it back here.
mattquiros 14y ago
Death rates of misguided tourists are plummeting! But seriously, this is just great news for us folks outside the US and who use public transit. I can now get an iPhone 5 today! :D
twodayslate 14y ago
Now we just need a jailbreak tweak to make this the default map app.
- cryptoz 14y ago
  Or you could use Android, which lets users select default apps for handling different user intents.
  - w1ntermute 14y ago
    Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's not get too crazy here!
mkinsella 14y ago
I can finally upgrade to iOS 6.
- lunchbox 14y ago
  Yes, but keep in mind you can't make Google Maps the default mapping application, so links to addresses (e.g. in calendar, web browser, contacts) will open in Apple Maps.
  - SquareWheel 14y ago
    I expect there to eventually be a jailbreak tweak for this. Though of course having an iOS6 jailbreak would help first.
miles_matthias 14y ago
The new Google Maps' shake to give feedback feature is so genius. Shake your phone in frustration, and get to yell at Google :) Is this feature in any other app? Maybe I just haven't seen it yet.
- sisk 14y ago
  You can also find this feature in the PayPal Here app.
tterrace 14y ago
The first thing I did after reading the headline was go to the app store on my iphone and search for "google maps" - 328 results, and google maps isn't one of them.
- panacea 14y ago
  It's showing up as the eighth hit for me.
shoopy 14y ago
I wonder if Apple is still willing to pay the 80/20 piper with iOS maps? It must be awfully expensive to keep up on data quality.
iag 14y ago
Yes!!! finally. I expect Apple to see a drastic increase in iOS5->iOS6 upgrade over the next few days. Hahah!
- epmatsw 14y ago
  Maybe a small bump. They hit over 60% adoption in October, and when you take out devices that can't upgrade to iOS6 and people who don't even realize updates are available (my grandma, for one), I'd have to think people who have intentionally held out this long make up a small but vocal minority.
jim_h 14y ago
If you are having trouble installing on phone, try using iTune to search for it, then download it and sync it to the phone.
andrewfelix 14y ago
Notice the cheeky use of London and Japan in the screens. Two locations Apple maps had real difficulty with.
- pooriaazimi 14y ago
  It had real difficulty everywhere except (parts of) California :)
  - andrewfelix 14y ago
    True, but I think the shot utilising London public transport is definitely a dig at Apple...see here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/9557702/Apple-promises-to-improve-iOS-6-Maps.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/9557702/Apple-pr...
  - lchang 14y ago
    I tried to go to an address about 2 miles from Cupertino - and Apple maps redirected me to the exact same address, except in the city next door.
  - epmatsw 14y ago
    A bit of a hyperbole...it's been fine everywhere in Georgia. I've been using iOS6 Maps since the first beta, and I honestly didn't notice any of the issues people have with Apple Maps until people pointed them out after the public release.
    - andrewfelix 14y ago
      It isn't hyperbole at all. Tim Cook himself apologised for its shortcomings. The fact that Google is getting so much attention for their maps app speaks volumes as to how problematic Apple Maps is.
      - epmatsw 14y ago
        Tim Cook responding to bad press makes sense, but having bad publicity doesn't necessarily mean a product is awful. "Apple Maps fail hard after Steve Jobs dies" is a big headline, and it's no surprise that news agencies pick up on that regardless of how much substance it has. And realistically, I don't think it says much. First, tech sites are obviously going to pick up on this release. It continues the narrative they've had going for months. Second, even if there had been no stories about Apple Maps, we'd be seeing tons of stories about this release. Very few people had issues with mobile Safari before Chrome came out, but the response to that was huge as well.
danielrm26 14y ago
It's great, but nothing on the iPhone will open the app, which is very annoying.
ryanoshea 14y ago
Reviews mention street view; anyone figure out how to enter it?
- packetslave 14y ago
  Tap a named location (such as a business), or tap-and-hold on a location to drop a pin, tap the name plate that appears at the bottom of the screen, then tap Street View.
  - ryanoshea 14y ago
    Thank you kindly.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
dakrisht 14y ago
Wonder if this will hit 1,000,000 download in one night... Unavailable for me still, I see in the App Store and within iTunes but no go on the D/L.
- joezydeco 14y ago
  With the way their CDN is getting hammered, it's gonna be a million downloads in the first hour.
rjsamson 14y ago
I'm unable to download on phone and mac - anyone else?
- stevewilhelm 14y ago
  "This item is temporarily unavailable." "Try again later."
  - rjsamson 14y ago
    And now its saying "no longer available"...
- dakrisht 14y ago
  I believe not all CDN's have received the app yet, any minute. Hilarious how excited everyone is... App of the Year 2012... LOL
mikek 14y ago
All Google needs to do now is make a way to open the app from within Google search (the Web app), and I will be happy again.
- Achshar 14y ago
  That's not for google to decide unfortunately, not for safari anyways but with the new SDK, it might work in Chrome for iOS.
  - melvinmt 14y ago
    They could replace all links with a Google Maps URI.
kennystone 14y ago
Beautiful app. They've clearly been working on this a long time.
sudhirj 14y ago
Also, double tap and hold, move up and down to zoom. Full one handed operation FTW.
robbiep 14y ago
So a question I have for some people more knowledgable than me in the iOS system: Now that we have an apple maps program, and various competitors including and not limited to google; we also have a chrome (and other) iOS browsers to compete with safari (and yes, I understand it's really just skinned web kit) and a new default video player, Is this situation not akin to the anti-trust wars that threatened to consume Microsoft a decade ago? For instance, they (the apple defaults) are all installed by default, and they remain the default option: for example if you receive an address (either physical or web) in messenger or whatsapp or whatever, iOS will attempt to recognise it and make it a hyperlink, but it will then open in the apple default app - if you want it to open in say chrome or google maps you have to copy and paste it. So- is this the same as the anti-trust case against Microsoft? Will apple ever change the default program? Or will my next phone be an android..
- mintplant 14y ago
  The primary difference is that it's Apple's software going on Apple's own hardware, rather than Microsoft requiring that manufactures installing Windows on their systems include their web browser as well.
  - tambourine_man 14y ago
    And Apple doesn't have 95% of the phone market.
- wmeredith 14y ago
  Apple's market share in smartphones also pales in comparison to the Microsoft's dominance in desktop computing during that era.
  - w1ntermute 14y ago
    This is something that can be surprisingly hard to grok for someone immersed in the SF startup crowd, where everyone uses an iPhone and a MacBook.
  - Tyrannosaurs 14y ago
gvkv 14y ago
Whoohoo! I can finally dump Apple Maps in my iCrap folder.
ssapkota 14y ago
A sigh of relief! Finally I can upgrade to ios6.
guelo 14y ago
Weird that bike directions are missing.
kjackson2012 14y ago
Finally, I'm happy that this app is released. I refused to use Apple Maps any further. The one major drawback from the Original Google Maps app is that the original one did an excellent job showing every single street name on even a deep zoom level. The new Google Maps one does a poor job on this and you have to hunt back and forth to figure out what zoom level you need to get to in order to read the street name. Once they get this right, things will be back to normal.
guyzero 14y ago
Presumably the app icon does not have you drive off an overpass onto highway 280 near Apple HQ in Cupertino.
- benesch 14y ago
  That's a fantastic catch. I always knew something bothered me about that icon.
ghshephard 14y ago
Just one Data Point - My first query (from my office in Redwood City) was "Directions to Lake Merrit" - it found Lake Merrit, but, unlike IOS 6 Maps, couldn't get me transit direction there. IOS 6 Maps one-clicked me over to "HopStop" which gave me a choice of Walk/Caltrain/Bart. Prior to the uproar around IOS 6 maps not having Transit direction, I wasn't even aware the IOS 5 Map had transit directions. In San Francisco, Tokyo, New York and other places this is a big deal. But, if you want to get Transit Direction from Redwood City, CA to Oakland, CA, IOS 6 Maps currently beats out Google Maps. With that said, I'm blown away by how quickly the interface can guess what I'm looking for as I start typing into it. Apple has a long way to catch up in that department. I suspect for much map searching, Google Maps is going to become my "Goto" client on the iPhone. [Edit - Love the speedy Swipe Left/Right interface. Also Offline Maps. Just Cached all of California, Switched to "Airplane Mode" - and all my mapping data is cached. Awesome.] [Edit 2 - Wow - this map is fast. IOS 6 Maps wasn't particularly slow, but switching back and forth shows me Apple has a long way to go. Have to Love Competition] [Edit 3 - Jumping into StreetView is silky smooth, and, they make use of the accelerometer so you can look around]
- xbryanx 14y ago
  I am a regular IOS5 Google Maps transit directions user in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Google Maps transit is far superior here to HopStop, which seems to think we have a subway. Looking forward to testing this new app, so I can upgrade to IOS6.
- magicalist 14y ago
  Is this a UI issue? Or does it not think it has any transit directions to offer? The web interface and android have transit available from Redwood City to Lake Merritt: http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Redwood+City,+CA&daddr=Lake+Merritt&dirflg=r&ttype=now&noexp=0&noal=0&sort=def&mra=ltm&t=m&z=11&start=0 http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Redwood+City,+CA&daddr...
  - ghshephard 14y ago
    I just get "No Route Found" when trying to get Transit route instructions from 555 Broadway, Redwood City, CA on my iPhone using the Google Map client. HopStop works fine. Even lets me know when the next train is leaving. I think this is just "an exception that proves the rule" - It's pretty well accepted that Google Transit Direction are pretty good - just not well defined on their iOS App for my use case (yet)
alooPotato 14y ago
I'm shocked how fast the UI is. I'm on an iPhone 4S and every UI gesture, view load and transition has absolutely no lag. For example, from the sliding info sheet, tap on the street view button and it loads instantly. Even requests that are hitting the server seem to return almost instantly. Is it just me?
- featherless 14y ago
  Glad to hear :)
- potatolicious 14y ago
  Looking at the UI I can see why it's fast - everything is set up in a way to maximize performance if you're willing to put in the work. Which is to say, simple text, simple lines, simple shadows - all of which, so long as you take the time and draw smartly using Core Graphics, is well within the capabilities of any iOS device. Combine with a few dashes of smart UI caching and the whole thing will scream. iOS UI optimization is a topic I wish more devs knew about. So many relatively simplistic apps are dog slow because no one has bothered to do even the most modest amount of optimization.
  - alooPotato 14y ago
    Not sure I agree its simple. They have shadows and subtle transparencies everywhere. I'm assuming the actual map and StreetView is implemented in openGL. Heck, maybe the whole thing is.
    - pcwalton 14y ago
      All iOS apps are implemented in OpenGL, since that's what Core Animation wraps.
  - featherless 14y ago
    We definitely had a blast optimizing the app :) Gotta love Instruments.
dakrisht 14y ago
Wow. New GMaps totally annihilates Apple Maps in every which way. Not that this comes as a surprise... Navigation is great, so much better than Siri's dreadful voice, easy to navigate from A>B with a tap of your destination. Let's not even mention the street data. Great 3D flyovers, but no satellite-3D flyovers (if you're worried about that you probably have too much time to waste during the day - this is a maps app, to take you places, not give you a tour of Los Angeles). UI feels great - intuitive, fluid, multi-touch works fantastic. Heard someone mention that it "lacks polish" or feels "laggy" - not sure I agree with that - feels fast on an iPhone 5 and on a 4S side-by-side. UI is clean and not cluttered, that's a plus. Someone else mentioned that it's simply GMaps in a UIWebView - no chance for that. Of course, the public transport data is second to none. The data in general - we won't discuss that. Great release - welcome back
- malandrew 14y ago
  Does it support biking directions? That's something I always missed in Apple's map app and maps.google.com was horribly laggy to use in iOS safari.
  - chockablock 14y ago
    No. :(
  - pkulak 14y ago
    Yeah, no bike maps. Eh, saves me wondering if I should switch back to iOS. :D
  - dakrisht 14y ago
    Can't seem to find biking directions... Hoping they add this in ASAP...
  - Spiritus 14y ago
    What's the difference between biking and walking directions?
    - 14y ago
dakrisht 14y ago
Thank God we're done with Siri's miserable fucking voice...
- taligent 14y ago
  Which one ? It's different depending on the region.
  - dakrisht 14y ago
    Siri U.S. voice is the worst thing in the history of AI, if you can even call it that...
    - taligent 14y ago
      Then switch. 5 other English voices available.
- alayne 14y ago
  The Google Maps voice is worse.
homosaur 14y ago
THANK YOU JESUS/GOOGLE Come save me from IOS 6 hell
homosaur 14y ago
THANK YOU JESUS/GOOGLE Come save me from IOS 6 hell
Groxx 14y ago
So far, it seems very awkward... Two-finger slide from the right sometimes opens up a sidebar that apparently contains settings (not sure what the magic incantation is). Zooming in works, but there's no street view, you just keep zooming waaaaay in. No bike directions. :| I might like the map drawing better, can't really say which is quicker on my relatively slow device, and it does work quite well. But so far I'm not impressed at all. The previous iOS 5- version was better, if less new-Google-aesthetic-y.
- Ogre 14y ago
  It does have street view, it's just not obvious how to get to it. Hold your finger on a location. When the address appears at the bottom, tap it. More info will slide up, including a street view image. Tapping that image will take you to actual street view. Maybe there's a better way, but I'm with you, I tried just zooming way in first.
  - coob 14y ago
    I dislike having to wait for a network round trip for the pin to drop. Drop the pin, and do the reverse geocode simultaneously. Access to streetview would be quicker that way.
- el_cuadrado 14y ago
  > No bike directions. :| Yes, what is up with that? Android app had that for ages. I guess I am not supposed to have an iPhone if I bike.
  - aw3c2 14y ago
    Maybe it is a precaution since a fixie is dangerous enough, you should not also look at your phone while driving it.
  - Blara 14y ago
    Unless you want to have the phone attached to the bike, I haven't found any good mounts for my galaxy nexus, but there's plenty of mounts for iPhone. I've considered a switch just because of that.
nimeshneema 14y ago
No iPad version. Seems like Google is playing it's cards.
nachteilig 14y ago
This app is fantastic. And now I can finally upgrade to iOS 6. Thanks Google Maps team!
- tjmc 14y ago
  It will be interesting to see if there's a spike in iOS upgrades now. I suspect a lot of people will have been holding off.
albertzeyer 14y ago
Yea, vector graphics. That was originally the main reason Apple stated why they developed they own maps data, didn't they?
- pkulak 14y ago
  That or the thermonuclear war on Android.
vincefutr23 14y ago
A shame you can't delete apple maps icon from the homescreen.
- panacea 14y ago
  Oh for fuck's sake. Tap and hold on the icon. It will wiggle. Now drag it across the screen with your finger and put it on a secondary page.
siphor 14y ago
disclaimer.. I'm a little (a lot) drunk but still... Searching for 'google maps' does not bring up this app.. I could only find it by clicking on the link... Is visibility this poor on the App Store... The name I'm searching is identical to that of the app, what's going on here..
- nik_0_0 14y ago
  I am seeing the same as you (ctrl+f'd for 'search'). "Google Maps" in App Store showing nothing for both iPhone and iPad. (Canada?) Had to go though this link. I understand it is new but that seems a bit underhanded...
  - taligent 14y ago
    Underhanded ? The more likely explanation is that Apple is caching the search index. Which given the traffic volumes, number of apps and the fact they are using Lucene makes sense.
- karlshea 14y ago
  Try "google inc" and then scroll through until you see it. That's the only way I could find it.
jasongaya 14y ago
love google map. i think its beet apple map.... Great work by google.
piyush_soni 14y ago
It's still not completely clear if they're vector maps (I'm hearing different things). Can someone confirm?
- davidwhodge 14y ago
  They are vector based maps. Confirmed on their blog post about the SDK release alongside the app. http://googlegeodevelopers.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-new-way-to-add-google-maps-to-your.html http://googlegeodevelopers.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-new-way-to... also if you watch the loading closely you can tell.
wowfat 14y ago
they should have launched it just after xmas. this news will increase apple sales for xmas period!
- sgh_1 14y ago
  interesting observation.
jmount 14y ago
WTF: you have to sign in with your Google account to use this?
- kingnothing 14y ago
  No. Press 'skip'.
dirkdk 14y ago
Already 967 reviews on US iTunes Store, 4.5 (?) average. Surprised iTunes didn't break down under the downloads. Only 6.7 MB, quite small!
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
volkanvardar 14y ago
Not available in Turkish market, yet :-(
lucian303 14y ago
Inevitable comeback. And a great example of why I don't develop for iOS on principle.
dutchbrit 14y ago
I can't seem to look at an angle, except for my current location. Is this a bug? Rest is nice, glad to have Google Maps back on my phone!!
senthilnayagam 14y ago
nobody commented about this. any opinions? "Google Maps Navigation is in beta. Use caution. Please keep your eyes on the road and obey applicable laws. Do not manipulate this application while in motion. Directions may be inaccurate, incomplete, dangerous, or prohibited. Traffic data is not real-time, and location accuracy cannot be guaranteed "
- notimetorelax 14y ago
  Isn't it a standard disclaimer? Even if you buy Tom-Tom or Garmin they'll have something similar.
  - senthilnayagam 14y ago
    my point is if we had to agree to this disclaimer, there was nothing wrong with apple maps then
    - notimetorelax 14y ago
      Well you shouldn't bet your life on the accuracy of these maps but there's great distance between hugely inaccurate maps and maps with millimeter precision. My guess is if Apple maps were introduced 5 years ago (or even earlier) people wouldn't complain as there wouldn't be any other better alternative that used to be available.
    - Florin_Andrei 14y ago
      It's just a legal disclaimer, it's not reality.
newman314 14y ago
I thought this was for both iPhone and iPad but it's only for iPhones. Not to be sour or anything but I would have been fine with a stretched version for the iPad.
scoopr 14y ago
On a cursory glance, The panning performance is disappointing (looks like 20fps) on my iPhone 5, whilst Apple maps is buttersmooth at 60fps. I like the overall look of Google maps more, having more detail and and the 3d buildings that pop-up are cute. Apple maps are right down bare looking in comparison. I was sorely missing streetview, I was amazed myself how used to I was checking streeview of various places. Can't offhand remember places Apple maps couldn't address-locate so I don't have any good comparison off the map data quality, but both have been mostly fine, with google having slightly better heuristics finding an address even if it doesn't know the exact street number. I like the rotation with two fingers in google maps is less sensitive, I often rotate in apple maps accidentally. But then again, Google maps has this menu that comes up when sliding with two fingers (by placing two fingers and then dragging) and that came up accidentally few times. In google maps, sometimes a quick tap tells you the address of that place, but sometimes it needs a tap-and-hold, feels erratic. Google maps driving directions didn't say a word while staying still, so I can't say much about that. The finnish voice in apple maps is very understandable, but quite harsh. The US voice of course failed to read any finnish names in a comical way (but had to change phone language to get finnish voice, I usually prefer my electronics in english). Public transport stuff has always been useless in finland, so nothing to say about that either..
steilpass 14y ago
Merry Christmas to you too Google.
akurilin 14y ago
How does this compare to Google Navigation (or Navigate?) from Android? A viable replacement?
grayprog 14y ago
It's certainly a great alternative for Apple's maps, which lack data in many parts of the world. It also appears to be vector maps, like Apple's, unlike Maps in iOS 5. Some things that lack or incomplete in the meantime: - iPad version, which is less critical, of course. - Access to contact addresses - Street view doesn't load high-resolution images when zoomed in. The performance on iPhone 4S is good enough but zooming in and out is sometimes too fast and hard to do with precision. Still, I already replaced Apple's Maps with this one of my iPhone's home screen.
anuaitt 14y ago
now here comes the competition for apple maps. oopes sorry if I said competition :-)
greattypo 14y ago
Anyone know if we've got real-time transit directions yet for MUNI and BART?
apronchenkov 14y ago
I supposed that backspace was implemented as ``punch all holes''.
radiosnob 14y ago
I'll throw my voice into this maelstrom. 1) Search for "Google Maps" and it is the 5th result. The app is literally called Google Maps. The results before: Fine Maps, PD Maps Worldwide Edition, Google Earth(?!). 2) 300 comments and the topic of Apple anti-competitive behaviour with regard to App availability is hardly touched. In fact the top most comments are on UI and nitpicking over details such as Bookmarks and response speed.
- NameNickHN 14y ago
  > 1) Search for "Google Maps" and it is the 5th result. The app is literally called Google Maps. The results before: Fine Maps, PD Maps Worldwide Edition, Google Earth(?!). I suspect that this is simply due to some part of the searching algorithm that takes things like number of downloads and publishing date into account. Over time the position will probably change.
- nicholassmith 14y ago
  The search algorithm isn't necessarily predicated on name, which is silly in many ways but I wouldn't say it's anti-competitive.
  - radiosnob 14y ago
    I don't believe the Search algorithm to be malicious, but it is definitely off. And anti-competitive maybe a bit strong. But wasn't it Google Voice that has been stranded in review for a while now? I think Apple's mono-culture is beginning to fail: using the App Store as a gateway to their devices (touched on briefly above), etc.
- rit 14y ago
  Apple has blocked things like "Google Voice" in the past claiming it duplicates existing functionality in the phone. I suspect (And this is entirely speculation on my part) that if iOS Maps had not been under such a cloud of scrutiny since it launched, we might not have seen Google Maps. With so many having major issues with iOS Maps, and Apple needing to do a lot of catch up, being seen to block a reasonable solution would be very, very bad. Especially the same week as the well publicized "Sending people into the middle of the Australian outback with no mobile reception instead of the city they put in" news on iOS Maps. Not trying to sound conspiracy theorist here, but observing past behaviours and the likely influence of current demands.
nicholassmith 14y ago
It looks great, the fact that it has 480 upvotes on here shows that a lot of people wanted it. The transport directions are slightly better, it'll find actual options for me now but does still occasionally go "Nope, no public transport around you!" when I live near a bus stop. And a train station. It's slightly laggy on my iPhone 5, I popped it up with a high view when I was on the train and it was very visibly jerky, Apple Maps was much, much smoother. Hey guys, SIGN IN. You want your search history? SIGN IN. That's really annoying, and given when the whole Maps shift started it was rumoured that Google was demanding more and more information on the searches it points to Google really wanting that search history with your account. POI stuff spanks Apple, easily. Apple sucks at that at the moment, the fact that Google can autocomplete a hell of a lot of it is much nicer. I don't like some of the UX choices, the 'tutorial overlay' says the bottom right button is tappable but it's actually a slide over, tapping did nothing for me. Accessing Street View is non-intuitive. Occasionally it felt like there was a few too many taps to get me where I needed to be. This is all stuff they can work on though. All in all, it's pretty good. I'll have it as a secondary Maps app, I'm going to try stick with Apple Maps though. Not because I'm a glutton for punishment but because it has genuinely started getting better for the use case I need it in. Choice is always nice though.
- jinushaun 14y ago
  Bottom right button is tappable. I avoid sliding/swiping on the phone unless I have to.
  - nicholassmith 14y ago
    I've tried it a few times and it doesn't seem like the tap zone is quite as big as it could be. Or my fingers are tapping the wrong place, possibly.
sgh_1 14y ago
The good thing is that OS on my iPhone can now be upgraded to iOS6... The interesting conclusion for me as a user is that: (1) I value the additional services like Maps more than the base OS... (2) I don't care about Apple loyalty - my loyalty is towards iPhone and any app provider who continues to provide me an excellent iPhone experience
frazerb 14y ago
You've got to wonder how much Apple are paying Google to support maps on iOS....or what other kick-back (more valuable to Google than cash) there might be.
- Tyrannosaurs 14y ago
  Why do you think they're paying them anything given how the transition from one mapping application to the other has gone? Apple clearly wanted Google maps to be relegated to an also ran. This works for both of them - the complaints about Apple maps are undermined by the existence of Google maps for iOS, Google get to retain their position as the best maps on any platform. I see no evidence for an exchange of money in any direction.
  - piyush_soni 14y ago
    But I still don't see what motivation Google had for releasing an iOS 6 app. I mean they are already the undisputed kings in maps - and had they not released an iOS6 maps app, wouldn't have more users converted to Android phones? Just trying to understand all this, I'm not a business expert. Though I agree there wouldn't be any money exchange for this between the two.
kalleboo 14y ago
What I found really interesting is how after playing with Google Maps for a couple minutes, then hopping out to the Settings app to change something, the standard iOS look instantly felt really dated, with the bubbliness, heavy gradients and pinstripes.
- Too 14y ago
  I get that every time i use an iphone. Feels like the "Web 2.0" era or some shitty flash-game where everything consists of rounded corners and gradients. The sms-view really makes me cringe. Not in line with apples otherwise timeless designs at all.
fedxc 14y ago
It is not available on all countries. In example, Uruguay. Not available here yet.
JuDue 14y ago
Google dominate this area, obviously. It's great we are happy to have working maps, but let's just hope other companies can break the monopoly on our location data at some point.
madoublet 14y ago
Best review so far "I almost died in Australia, thank god this is out."
- JimmaDaRustla 14y ago
  Burst out laughing at this!
jstalin 14y ago
Competition === good
- Florin_Andrei 14y ago
  > === So it's not just equal, but actually identical.
isabre 14y ago
Finally! I get back my street view and my public transit schedule. Welcome back!
jaimefjorge 14y ago
A customer review: "Boring UI, slow data and seems pretty feature-free. I'll stick with Apple Maps." This strikes me as funny and suspicious.
balabaster 14y ago
I used the new Google Maps for my GPS on the way to work this morning to do a side by side comparison with my regular GPS software from Navigon. A couple of things I love: 1). It connects to my car stereo via the phone bluetooth profile so even though my car can't stream music by bluetooth, I can still get my turn-by-turn directions. My Navigon uses the whichever audio profile is used for music, so I only get the turn-by-turn over the car stereo if I'm plugged in by wire. Kudos Google, that's a really nice touch. Thank you. 2). I like the way it displays the streetview when you arrive at your destination so you can see where you should be. Another great touch. And a couple of things I really don't like at all: 1). "In 300 metres...[pregnant pause]... turn left". 2). I don't like that it doesn't provide the street names in the audible turn by turn directions. So in cases where you have two streets in close proximity, unless you actually look at the screen, you're left guessing which is the correct one.
kodisha 14y ago
I wonder how this thing with Apple App Store works, and why some items appear in US store only, and in other (Croatian, and i see from comments Uruguay and Turkey) hours or even days later.
frogpelt 14y ago
Is Apple Maps really completely terrible? OR Does it have a few problems that, when compared with all the progress Google has made in that arena, makes its performance untenable? I say this because I have used Apple Maps to navigate the rural southeastern U.S. with absolutely no problems. I even had my dedicated GPS to make sure Apple Maps wasn't leading me astray.
- emehrkay 14y ago
  My theory is that people want it to be worse than it actually is. I've put ~1000 miles on it via turn-by-turn and I like it a lot better than the old maps app. What I dont get is that people were/are willing to wait for google to get it together with the "next release," and crucify apple for doing the exact same. Either way, we win because apple removing google maps from ios forced google to work hard on providing a good app and google's app will force apple to polish up their maps.
- smackfu 14y ago
  I have maybe 75% success in having a search term find the right place in Apple Maps. In Google Maps, it was more like 99%. This sounds pretty close, but every single one of those 25% that failed, I had to go look up the address on Google and cut and paste it into Apple Maps. I do not enjoy doing that. I've also had it direct me to locations that did not exist (but were in Yelp). But since no one uses Yelp to review bank branches, that data has never really been checked before.
mrcharles 14y ago
So, I find this out, I go directly to the App Store on my phone, and I do a search for "Google Maps". First five results:"Google Earth", "My Places for Google Maps", "My Maps Editor", "Road Tripper", and then finally "Google Maps" Seriously, how difficult is it to bump an exact string match to the top of the list? Seems to me that iOS is just getting worse and worse.
- jmonegro 14y ago
  This happens with every new app release, it takes a while for it to show up in the search results.
  - mrcharles 14y ago
    But it was in the search results. This isn't a case of "not there yet."
- stevebenjamins 14y ago
  You could make the same complaint about Google SERPS: "Why does it take so long for my exact match domain to show for it's target keyword?" My point is there are things other than "exact string match" to take in account for ...
- Tyrannosaurs 14y ago
  Ranking based on a number of factors, not just a string match is generally a good idea. When someone searches on the term "maps" do you want the "best" (highest rated, most popular, whatever) app to be the top hit (give it a week and that'll likely be Google Maps), or the one from the person who had done a bit of SEO and thought to call his app "maps" to hit the exact string match? I contest that what's happening is actually a good thing and what you propose would be a field day for those who look to game the system.
  - mrcharles 14y ago
    Does that hold true when the exact string match is already #1 on the Free Apps list? Because to me, if it's an exact string match, AND it's wildly popular...
Tyrannosaurs 14y ago
I'm not seeing a lot of comments about how good for Apple this is. Yes Apple want to own maps on iOS but given how their own launch went the ship has sailed on that for a while at least. But given the position they found themselves in this goes a long way to undermining the criticisms of mapping on iOS because if you think Apple maps sucks you just go and get Google maps for free. One of Apple's big gripes supposedly was that they couldn't get Google maps turn by turn navigation on the iPhone and here it is (and without them paying for it it seems) plus they get to work on Apple maps with some of the pressure off which protects them some if Google start messing around. I'm not in any way saying that this was Apple's plan all along - that plan went badly wrong in the summer - but as of this morning iOS, for regular users at least, just got more attractive. Yes it's a win for Google, but it's a win for Apple too.
- alxndr 14y ago
  "One of Apple's big gripes supposedly was that they couldn't get Google maps turn by turn navigation on the iPhone" I thought it was because when Apple asked for turn-by-turn, Google said "okay, but we want larger Google branding, and also want to hook it up to Google Latitude" and Apple said no way?
  - Tyrannosaurs 14y ago
    OK, how about "they couldn't get Google to offer turn by turn navigation under terms Apple found acceptable"?
- highwind 14y ago
  So when Apple decides drop Google Maps as their default, they probably thought that it'll bring more value to their iOS platform. But obviously that didn't happen. Now that Google Maps is back on iOS, I agree that it's a win for Apple as well. But someone please explain it to me how it could have been a win for Apple to drop Google Maps in the first place?
  - Tyrannosaurs 14y ago
    Relations between the two companies were hardly cordial. I suspect Apple didn't want to be beholden to a rival over what was becoming an increasingly core service. Remember Apple already give Samsung, another competitor, a shed load of each money for components. Why enrich someone you're competing with?
emehrkay 14y ago
Will maps put the idea of unchangeable default apps on the radar of anti-competitive practices? The people clearly want their mapping from Google, but if you dont implicitly open the google map and type an address (by way of hyperlink in another app, etc.), all mapping will be routed to apple's app.
nsxwolf 14y ago
Rendering is slow on the iPhone 4. Interface looks nothing like an iOS app. It's like some Android alien has landed in my iPhone.
phawk 14y ago
It's good, it's really good!
toddmorey 14y ago
So, I'm really disappointed. The thing I was most looking forward to was the return of public transportation schedules on my iPhone. But this new app simply says, "Unavailable in this region." They were there before and they are still available for my area on a desktop computer. I don't understand why they are missing. EDIT: I take that back, as others have noticed, it's there... just unavailable from the sidebar. Not sure why.
tharris0101 14y ago
As a timed test, I wanted to see how long it would take me to search for my favorite Phoenix, AZ coffee shop (Lux). I did the test from start up to clicking on the pin on an iPhone 4. Google Maps: 22 seconds Apple Maps: ??? It took me to Luxembourg I think I know which map app I'll be using from now on.
rogerchucker 14y ago
Pros: 1. You can pinch to zoom while during turn-by-turn navigation 2. You can select a point anywhere in the map and it instantaneously gives you the time to drive there from your current location (which is also a link to the navigation details/options. 3. Feels like a real map compared to the barren-ass land that Apple's Map shows. 4. Streetview (that is even smoother than the browser version) Cons: 1. No integration with the address book. Pros >>>> Cons.
Vitaly 14y ago
WTF is it in the US store only?
dcu 14y ago
Excellent! I am downloading the app right now
sbov 14y ago
They need to add one way street indicators.
Too 14y ago
Can this be used inside other apps that rely on maps? Otherwise only half of the problem is solved.
qas1981 14y ago
I live in Atlanta and Apple maps let me down numerous occasions. I like their interface and integration but, the data quality & quantity is bad.
mavbozo 14y ago
I don't have iphone but my friend who does can not install it because it is not available in my country

827 points by zacharytamas 14y ago

This never would have happened if Steve Jobs was alive.

Coming up as "Temporarily Unavailable" when I try to download it. Not yet appearing in search results either—maybe it's just still processing?

film42 14y ago
I think it is, I'll check back every 15min or so. Update: Following OP's advice I was able to get to the Google, Inc page where the Maps app is listed. Still no luck. This is gonna be a waiting game :(
zacharytamas 14y ago
Possibly. I found it by chance on the page which lists all the apps by "Google, Inc." in the App Store. It's listed there, but agree it doesn't show up in search results yet and I can't download it. It just seems this is definitely the permalink to it.
- joshmlewis 14y ago
  Woop, karma for you! Good job.
  - headShrinker 14y ago
    You don't need to tell people you are upmodding them. Just upmod them.
    - bsg75 14y ago
      +1
    - joshmlewis 14y ago
      I wasn't really telling him, I was just acknowledging the fact he gets to collect credit for finding this first. Unnecessary? Sure. I apologize.
    - joshmlewis 14y ago
      I wasn't really telling him, I was just acknowledging the fact he gets to collect credit for finding this first. Unnecessary? Sure. I apologize.
- joshmlewis 14y ago
  Woop, karma for you! Good job.

selectout 14y ago

Voice Navigation and turn by turn! Now to see about offline access.

thejosh 14y ago
Would be interesting to see how large this would be. I remember a few years ago (3-4?) when there was a project for mobile devices that would cache Google Maps for your city onto your device.
- cleverjake 14y ago
  On the android version of google maps, I saved the route from Philadelphia to Kentucky (~675 miles) without a problem. You loose voice turn by turn, however.
robflynn 14y ago
Does voice navigation work on iPhone 4? I currently use a telenav app due to them having voice nav. I'm not in a position to upgrade my phone yet, so my girlfriend and I are stuck with the 4 for a bit. I downloaded the app and gave it a test but it didnt seem to do any voice -- that may be because I wasn't moving, though. It did give me the option to mute the voice navigation -- which I found odd.
- teejae 14y ago
  Yes, voice navigation should work fine on an iPhone 4. Enjoy :).
  - robflynn 14y ago
    Thanks! You were right. Apparently it didn't do anything when I wasn't moving but I finally had a chance to try it on the move and it worked flawlessly. Thanks for correcting my initial assumption.

TillE 14y ago

Again no iPad native version on the initial release, just like their YouTube app? That's a little disappointing.

aneth4 14y ago
Would you be less disappointed if they waited another month or two to release both together?
- TillE 14y ago
  I'd rather they put another designer on the project and develop both interfaces simultaneously from the beginning. Other companies manage it, but apparently not Google.
  - artursapek 14y ago
    I don't develop iOS, but I don't think it's that trivial.
  - untog 14y ago
    Just adding an extra designer does not balance out the extra work involved in making an iPad version of an app.
FootballMuse 14y ago
Notice the last screenshot preview of the app? Interestingly, it is the iPad aspect ratio. So I'm sure it's just simply not yet ready for public release.
- kalleboo 14y ago
  It might also just still be in review

ricardobeat 14y ago

But Apple is evil, they wouldn't allow this!

homosaur 14y ago
Your smarminess is cute, but Apple eased up on the "duplicate functionality" stuff a long time ago. You have to look no further than the fact that Chrome exists.
- cheald 14y ago
  Which is still just a UIWebView in the Chrome dressing because Apple won't permit Google to run their own Javascript or document rendering engines on iOS.
  - Firehed 14y ago
    That's a totally separate issue, with completely valid security concerns (although sounds like an implementation issue that should be rethought). It very much duplicates the core functionality of Safari, just as Google Voice does for the Phone and Messages apps. And GV was what both started and eventually ended that whole "duplicate functionality" debacle.
  - randomdata 14y ago
    I have a web browser for iOS that does its own HTML rendering, and has been available in the store for many years now. Before CoreText was available, even. It doesn't deal with Javascript though, so you may have a point there.

carlsednaoui 14y ago

Not sure what's going on...I get "the item you tried is no longer available" but a friend did manage to download it.

vyder 14y ago
Yeah, I copy pasted the link into Chrome on iPhone 5, it opened the install page on the iTunes app (instead of the App Store app). Possibly because of the itunes.apple.com/... in the url. What are regular app link domains anyway?
pooriaazimi 14y ago
It takes a few minutes for all CDNs to get the download file I think...

janesvilleseo 14y ago

Wow! This is a very slick and sexy app, I am impressed. I am going to give it a try for my commute to work tomorrow. Very fast, responsive, and the voice is nice (but a little too fast as compared to iOS)

toast76 14y ago

Voice guides, street view, search/favourites syncing...oh and the maps are actually correct.

cubicle67 14y ago
Edit: yeah, it's a cheap shot, but my point is "correctness" is not binary http://au.news.yahoo.com/technology/news/article/-/15610781/police-warn-of-safety-concerns-from-google-maps/ http://au.news.yahoo.com/technology/news/article/-/15610781/... Now police in Colac, west of Melbourne, say faults with Google maps are putting people's lives at risk along the Great Ocean Road and in the southern Otways. Sergeant Nick Buenen says trucks, buses and tourists are being directed down Wild Dog Road, which is a one-way track, not built for heavy traffic. He says VicRoads has denied responsibility and Google Maps has not responded.
- cleverjake 14y ago
  http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57558777-93/police-google-maps-giving-dangerous-directions-too/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57558777-93/police-google-m... "Update, 12:41 p.m. PT A Google spokesperson said that Google Maps routes drivers onto Wild Dog Road only if the driver searches for a destination located on that road. For directions to other nearby locations, Google Maps routes drivers onto Forrest-Apollo Bay Road/Skenes Creek Road. "

yoda_sl 14y ago

It is available at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-maps/id585027354 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-maps/id585027354

DigitalSea 14y ago

Not seeing this in the Australian App Store either. Can't wait, my girlfriend will be especially pleased she relies on having maps on her iPhone because she's a hopeless navigator and the iOS 6 maps frustrate her.

toast76 14y ago
https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/google-maps/id585027354?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/google-maps/id585027354?mt=8
- DigitalSea 14y ago
  Thanks man. I just realised the app is so new Apple's app store search index probably hasn't been refreshed just yet, so went onto the HN homepage on my phone and it opened up in the store.

bonjourmr 14y ago

The crime rate in Victoria is dropping by the minute.

mromanuk 14y ago

The item is not available anymore in the US App Store :|

jlmendezbonini 14y ago
Are you sure? I just downloaded it (30 seconds ago).
- mortenjorck 14y ago
  This item is temporarily unavailable. Try again later.
- sciurus 14y ago
  Same here. I visited this story on an iphone 4s, clicked the link, the app store came up, and I installed google maps.
jamesjyu 14y ago
Yep, I'm also getting "this item is no longer available"
veidr 14y ago
I am seeing that too, on iPhone 5 and iPad Mini: "The item you tried to buy is no longer available."
- chockablock 14y ago
  Try turning off wifi, and downloading over cell radio. Worked for me on a an AT&T 4S. (Maybe it hits a different CDN server?) Also, app is only 6.7MB, pretty svelte!
  - veidr 14y ago
    Yup, that worked! Finally, there is no longer a phantom train station on top of my house!
14y ago

DenisM 14y ago

Hallelujah!

joshmlewis 14y ago

Apple had an interesting choice here, they could allow it, or they could not allow it. If they didn't, Google had a very good opportunity to slam Apply publicly and get users riled up, and enemies more ammunition. They chose the latter, which I think is the best choice as they now have real competition and they'll have to step up their game. This is app number two that will probably take place over the natively installed apps now by Google.

ntkachov 14y ago
What is app number 1?
- zwass 14y ago
  Presumably the Gmail app. Well worth a try if you've been using the Apple default.
- joshmlewis 14y ago
  It's actually Chrome, I use it 90% of the time. The other 10% is when things open in Safari. Apple could be a little looser about setting which apps to open by default.
- dubcanada 14y ago
  Nobody knows, I don't know anyone with Google Chrome or Google Mail. So obviously this demographic is different when asked outside of hn.
furyofantares 14y ago
What would Apple have gained by not allowing it?
- joshmlewis 14y ago
  They have a history of being very picky about allowing certain apps that compete with their core products.

brackin 14y ago

This is leaps and bounds better than Apple Maps and even the original maps client on iOS that used Google Maps. I didn't even think Apple maps were 'that' bad. The huge hole was POI data, in London at least. Most POI's seemed to be approximated and the rest of them were missing, old or incorrect. After playing with this app for 10 minutes I think this is far superior to the iOS5 Maps experience. It's an extremely refined and clean app that is extremely fast with lots of features. Start typing a street or location and it'll know what you mean within a few letters.

bwooce 14y ago
It is positively beautiful for public transport. It shows the next service leaving and how far (time) it is. I'm still looking to see how the option to save Home and Work addresses helps me - it makes home and work function as search terms but there must be more to it?
- lchang 14y ago
  Probably eventual Google Now support.
- w1ntermute 14y ago
  > It is positively beautiful for public transport. It shows the next service leaving and how far (time) it is. It's quite amusing to see how excited people are about this when this has been available with Google Maps on Android since 2009 (IIRC). I remember I used my Galaxy Nexus to navigate NYC for a whole week with public transit without ever asking a person for directions.
  - __abc 14y ago
    It was available on iOS until iOS 6
comex 14y ago
My impression is the opposite - Google Maps' data is so much better that it hardly matters, but this app seriously lacks polish. For instance, it's laggy - iOS 6 Maps doesn't always make 60fps, which is a shame, but this app doesn't even try. Simply panning around (on my 4S) is enough to produce serious stuttering; even the simple transition to the side menu is not smooth. Or consider Street View, which is missing the signature transition as you "move" from one place to another. edit: Opening the side menu, for its matter, visually seems to depend on hitting a tiny tap target; there is hidden space to the left of the target but not above it, which is the natural place I tried tapping. The menu itself is weirdly designed (giant spacing) and prone to accidental dismissal by someone trying to scroll it. No bookmarks either.

packetslave 14y ago

IOS SDK released as well: http://googlegeodevelopers.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-new-way-to-add-google-maps-to-your.html http://googlegeodevelopers.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-new-way-to...

selectout 14y ago
I hope this get's more use than the "Open in Chrome" button does. Both are awesome, my only gripe with iOS 6 is not being able to set default apps for browser, email, and maps. (coincidentally I'd switch them all to Google or google owned items)
- veidr 14y ago
  I don't think it is coincidental; I think that is precisely the main reason why Apple chooses what apps can be used for these purposes, instead of the user being allowed to choose.
  - mjhagen 14y ago
    As long as you buy Apple hardware, I don't think they care what default mapping software you use. I think there is a different reason why they don't have settings for this.
    - veidr 14y ago
      Such as?
- biturd 14y ago
  I think you may be able to now. Yesterday I did a backup of my phone, then erased the phone, selected the restore file, and ran through the questions it asked me. I had Chrome installed on my iPhone for the first time since I have ever performed a restore like this. ( I was getting jumbled cover art on albums and a restore seems to have solved it ) During this process, I was asked to setup the phone, first I think I had to unlock it, then wait some time, then set my location, then some security questions, and then a new screen I had not seen before, where there was Safari and Chrome listed, and I needed to pick one. The problem is I was rushing, waiting for a phone call and didn't want to miss it. While in this setup mode the 3G radio icon was not on so I wanted to get back up and running. I didn't read what this screen does, chose Safari, and moved on. I remember thinking to myself, hmpf, odd, Apple asking what default browser I want to use, that's a first. But it was what first came to mind. I can't say for sure that is what it was, as I didn't take the time to read the screen. It's such a painless process, I may restore my phone again to answer this question. If I do, I will report it back here.

mattquiros 14y ago

Death rates of misguided tourists are plummeting! But seriously, this is just great news for us folks outside the US and who use public transit. I can now get an iPhone 5 today! :D

twodayslate 14y ago

Now we just need a jailbreak tweak to make this the default map app.

cryptoz 14y ago
Or you could use Android, which lets users select default apps for handling different user intents.
- w1ntermute 14y ago
  Whoa, whoa, whoa, let's not get too crazy here!

mkinsella 14y ago

I can finally upgrade to iOS 6.

lunchbox 14y ago
Yes, but keep in mind you can't make Google Maps the default mapping application, so links to addresses (e.g. in calendar, web browser, contacts) will open in Apple Maps.
- SquareWheel 14y ago
  I expect there to eventually be a jailbreak tweak for this. Though of course having an iOS6 jailbreak would help first.

miles_matthias 14y ago

The new Google Maps' shake to give feedback feature is so genius. Shake your phone in frustration, and get to yell at Google :) Is this feature in any other app? Maybe I just haven't seen it yet.

sisk 14y ago
You can also find this feature in the PayPal Here app.

tterrace 14y ago

The first thing I did after reading the headline was go to the app store on my iphone and search for "google maps" - 328 results, and google maps isn't one of them.

panacea 14y ago
It's showing up as the eighth hit for me.

shoopy 14y ago

I wonder if Apple is still willing to pay the 80/20 piper with iOS maps? It must be awfully expensive to keep up on data quality.

iag 14y ago

Yes!!! finally. I expect Apple to see a drastic increase in iOS5->iOS6 upgrade over the next few days. Hahah!

epmatsw 14y ago
Maybe a small bump. They hit over 60% adoption in October, and when you take out devices that can't upgrade to iOS6 and people who don't even realize updates are available (my grandma, for one), I'd have to think people who have intentionally held out this long make up a small but vocal minority.

jim_h 14y ago

If you are having trouble installing on phone, try using iTune to search for it, then download it and sync it to the phone.

andrewfelix 14y ago

Notice the cheeky use of London and Japan in the screens. Two locations Apple maps had real difficulty with.

pooriaazimi 14y ago
It had real difficulty everywhere except (parts of) California :)
- andrewfelix 14y ago
  True, but I think the shot utilising London public transport is definitely a dig at Apple...see here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/9557702/Apple-promises-to-improve-iOS-6-Maps.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/9557702/Apple-pr...
- lchang 14y ago
  I tried to go to an address about 2 miles from Cupertino - and Apple maps redirected me to the exact same address, except in the city next door.
- epmatsw 14y ago
  A bit of a hyperbole...it's been fine everywhere in Georgia. I've been using iOS6 Maps since the first beta, and I honestly didn't notice any of the issues people have with Apple Maps until people pointed them out after the public release.
  - andrewfelix 14y ago
    It isn't hyperbole at all. Tim Cook himself apologised for its shortcomings. The fact that Google is getting so much attention for their maps app speaks volumes as to how problematic Apple Maps is.
    - epmatsw 14y ago
      Tim Cook responding to bad press makes sense, but having bad publicity doesn't necessarily mean a product is awful. "Apple Maps fail hard after Steve Jobs dies" is a big headline, and it's no surprise that news agencies pick up on that regardless of how much substance it has. And realistically, I don't think it says much. First, tech sites are obviously going to pick up on this release. It continues the narrative they've had going for months. Second, even if there had been no stories about Apple Maps, we'd be seeing tons of stories about this release. Very few people had issues with mobile Safari before Chrome came out, but the response to that was huge as well.

danielrm26 14y ago

It's great, but nothing on the iPhone will open the app, which is very annoying.

ryanoshea 14y ago

Reviews mention street view; anyone figure out how to enter it?

packetslave 14y ago
Tap a named location (such as a business), or tap-and-hold on a location to drop a pin, tap the name plate that appears at the bottom of the screen, then tap Street View.
- ryanoshea 14y ago
  Thank you kindly.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

dakrisht 14y ago

Wonder if this will hit 1,000,000 download in one night... Unavailable for me still, I see in the App Store and within iTunes but no go on the D/L.

joezydeco 14y ago
With the way their CDN is getting hammered, it's gonna be a million downloads in the first hour.

rjsamson 14y ago

I'm unable to download on phone and mac - anyone else?

stevewilhelm 14y ago
"This item is temporarily unavailable." "Try again later."
- rjsamson 14y ago
  And now its saying "no longer available"...
dakrisht 14y ago
I believe not all CDN's have received the app yet, any minute. Hilarious how excited everyone is... App of the Year 2012... LOL

mikek 14y ago

All Google needs to do now is make a way to open the app from within Google search (the Web app), and I will be happy again.

Achshar 14y ago
That's not for google to decide unfortunately, not for safari anyways but with the new SDK, it might work in Chrome for iOS.
- melvinmt 14y ago
  They could replace all links with a Google Maps URI.

kennystone 14y ago

Beautiful app. They've clearly been working on this a long time.

sudhirj 14y ago

Also, double tap and hold, move up and down to zoom. Full one handed operation FTW.

robbiep 14y ago

So a question I have for some people more knowledgable than me in the iOS system: Now that we have an apple maps program, and various competitors including and not limited to google; we also have a chrome (and other) iOS browsers to compete with safari (and yes, I understand it's really just skinned web kit) and a new default video player, Is this situation not akin to the anti-trust wars that threatened to consume Microsoft a decade ago? For instance, they (the apple defaults) are all installed by default, and they remain the default option: for example if you receive an address (either physical or web) in messenger or whatsapp or whatever, iOS will attempt to recognise it and make it a hyperlink, but it will then open in the apple default app - if you want it to open in say chrome or google maps you have to copy and paste it. So- is this the same as the anti-trust case against Microsoft? Will apple ever change the default program? Or will my next phone be an android..

mintplant 14y ago
The primary difference is that it's Apple's software going on Apple's own hardware, rather than Microsoft requiring that manufactures installing Windows on their systems include their web browser as well.
- tambourine_man 14y ago
  And Apple doesn't have 95% of the phone market.
wmeredith 14y ago
Apple's market share in smartphones also pales in comparison to the Microsoft's dominance in desktop computing during that era.
- w1ntermute 14y ago
  This is something that can be surprisingly hard to grok for someone immersed in the SF startup crowd, where everyone uses an iPhone and a MacBook.
- Tyrannosaurs 14y ago

gvkv 14y ago

Whoohoo! I can finally dump Apple Maps in my iCrap folder.

ssapkota 14y ago

A sigh of relief! Finally I can upgrade to ios6.

guelo 14y ago

Weird that bike directions are missing.

kjackson2012 14y ago

Finally, I'm happy that this app is released. I refused to use Apple Maps any further. The one major drawback from the Original Google Maps app is that the original one did an excellent job showing every single street name on even a deep zoom level. The new Google Maps one does a poor job on this and you have to hunt back and forth to figure out what zoom level you need to get to in order to read the street name. Once they get this right, things will be back to normal.

guyzero 14y ago

Presumably the app icon does not have you drive off an overpass onto highway 280 near Apple HQ in Cupertino.

benesch 14y ago
That's a fantastic catch. I always knew something bothered me about that icon.

ghshephard 14y ago

Just one Data Point - My first query (from my office in Redwood City) was "Directions to Lake Merrit" - it found Lake Merrit, but, unlike IOS 6 Maps, couldn't get me transit direction there. IOS 6 Maps one-clicked me over to "HopStop" which gave me a choice of Walk/Caltrain/Bart. Prior to the uproar around IOS 6 maps not having Transit direction, I wasn't even aware the IOS 5 Map had transit directions. In San Francisco, Tokyo, New York and other places this is a big deal. But, if you want to get Transit Direction from Redwood City, CA to Oakland, CA, IOS 6 Maps currently beats out Google Maps. With that said, I'm blown away by how quickly the interface can guess what I'm looking for as I start typing into it. Apple has a long way to catch up in that department. I suspect for much map searching, Google Maps is going to become my "Goto" client on the iPhone. [Edit - Love the speedy Swipe Left/Right interface. Also Offline Maps. Just Cached all of California, Switched to "Airplane Mode" - and all my mapping data is cached. Awesome.] [Edit 2 - Wow - this map is fast. IOS 6 Maps wasn't particularly slow, but switching back and forth shows me Apple has a long way to go. Have to Love Competition] [Edit 3 - Jumping into StreetView is silky smooth, and, they make use of the accelerometer so you can look around]

xbryanx 14y ago
I am a regular IOS5 Google Maps transit directions user in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Google Maps transit is far superior here to HopStop, which seems to think we have a subway. Looking forward to testing this new app, so I can upgrade to IOS6.
magicalist 14y ago
Is this a UI issue? Or does it not think it has any transit directions to offer? The web interface and android have transit available from Redwood City to Lake Merritt: http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Redwood+City,+CA&daddr=Lake+Merritt&dirflg=r&ttype=now&noexp=0&noal=0&sort=def&mra=ltm&t=m&z=11&start=0 http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Redwood+City,+CA&daddr...
- ghshephard 14y ago
  I just get "No Route Found" when trying to get Transit route instructions from 555 Broadway, Redwood City, CA on my iPhone using the Google Map client. HopStop works fine. Even lets me know when the next train is leaving. I think this is just "an exception that proves the rule" - It's pretty well accepted that Google Transit Direction are pretty good - just not well defined on their iOS App for my use case (yet)

alooPotato 14y ago

I'm shocked how fast the UI is. I'm on an iPhone 4S and every UI gesture, view load and transition has absolutely no lag. For example, from the sliding info sheet, tap on the street view button and it loads instantly. Even requests that are hitting the server seem to return almost instantly. Is it just me?

featherless 14y ago
Glad to hear :)
potatolicious 14y ago
Looking at the UI I can see why it's fast - everything is set up in a way to maximize performance if you're willing to put in the work. Which is to say, simple text, simple lines, simple shadows - all of which, so long as you take the time and draw smartly using Core Graphics, is well within the capabilities of any iOS device. Combine with a few dashes of smart UI caching and the whole thing will scream. iOS UI optimization is a topic I wish more devs knew about. So many relatively simplistic apps are dog slow because no one has bothered to do even the most modest amount of optimization.
- alooPotato 14y ago
  Not sure I agree its simple. They have shadows and subtle transparencies everywhere. I'm assuming the actual map and StreetView is implemented in openGL. Heck, maybe the whole thing is.
  - pcwalton 14y ago
    All iOS apps are implemented in OpenGL, since that's what Core Animation wraps.
- featherless 14y ago
  We definitely had a blast optimizing the app :) Gotta love Instruments.

dakrisht 14y ago

Wow. New GMaps totally annihilates Apple Maps in every which way. Not that this comes as a surprise... Navigation is great, so much better than Siri's dreadful voice, easy to navigate from A>B with a tap of your destination. Let's not even mention the street data. Great 3D flyovers, but no satellite-3D flyovers (if you're worried about that you probably have too much time to waste during the day - this is a maps app, to take you places, not give you a tour of Los Angeles). UI feels great - intuitive, fluid, multi-touch works fantastic. Heard someone mention that it "lacks polish" or feels "laggy" - not sure I agree with that - feels fast on an iPhone 5 and on a 4S side-by-side. UI is clean and not cluttered, that's a plus. Someone else mentioned that it's simply GMaps in a UIWebView - no chance for that. Of course, the public transport data is second to none. The data in general - we won't discuss that. Great release - welcome back

malandrew 14y ago
Does it support biking directions? That's something I always missed in Apple's map app and maps.google.com was horribly laggy to use in iOS safari.
- chockablock 14y ago
  No. :(
- pkulak 14y ago
  Yeah, no bike maps. Eh, saves me wondering if I should switch back to iOS. :D
- dakrisht 14y ago
  Can't seem to find biking directions... Hoping they add this in ASAP...
- Spiritus 14y ago
  What's the difference between biking and walking directions?
  - 14y ago

dakrisht 14y ago

Thank God we're done with Siri's miserable fucking voice...

taligent 14y ago
Which one ? It's different depending on the region.
- dakrisht 14y ago
  Siri U.S. voice is the worst thing in the history of AI, if you can even call it that...
  - taligent 14y ago
    Then switch. 5 other English voices available.
alayne 14y ago
The Google Maps voice is worse.

homosaur 14y ago

THANK YOU JESUS/GOOGLE Come save me from IOS 6 hell

homosaur 14y ago

THANK YOU JESUS/GOOGLE Come save me from IOS 6 hell

Groxx 14y ago

So far, it seems very awkward... Two-finger slide from the right sometimes opens up a sidebar that apparently contains settings (not sure what the magic incantation is). Zooming in works, but there's no street view, you just keep zooming waaaaay in. No bike directions. :| I might like the map drawing better, can't really say which is quicker on my relatively slow device, and it does work quite well. But so far I'm not impressed at all. The previous iOS 5- version was better, if less new-Google-aesthetic-y.

Ogre 14y ago
It does have street view, it's just not obvious how to get to it. Hold your finger on a location. When the address appears at the bottom, tap it. More info will slide up, including a street view image. Tapping that image will take you to actual street view. Maybe there's a better way, but I'm with you, I tried just zooming way in first.
- coob 14y ago
  I dislike having to wait for a network round trip for the pin to drop. Drop the pin, and do the reverse geocode simultaneously. Access to streetview would be quicker that way.
el_cuadrado 14y ago
> No bike directions. :| Yes, what is up with that? Android app had that for ages. I guess I am not supposed to have an iPhone if I bike.
- aw3c2 14y ago
  Maybe it is a precaution since a fixie is dangerous enough, you should not also look at your phone while driving it.
- Blara 14y ago
  Unless you want to have the phone attached to the bike, I haven't found any good mounts for my galaxy nexus, but there's plenty of mounts for iPhone. I've considered a switch just because of that.

nimeshneema 14y ago

No iPad version. Seems like Google is playing it's cards.

nachteilig 14y ago

This app is fantastic. And now I can finally upgrade to iOS 6. Thanks Google Maps team!

tjmc 14y ago
It will be interesting to see if there's a spike in iOS upgrades now. I suspect a lot of people will have been holding off.

albertzeyer 14y ago

Yea, vector graphics. That was originally the main reason Apple stated why they developed they own maps data, didn't they?

pkulak 14y ago
That or the thermonuclear war on Android.

vincefutr23 14y ago

A shame you can't delete apple maps icon from the homescreen.

panacea 14y ago
Oh for fuck's sake. Tap and hold on the icon. It will wiggle. Now drag it across the screen with your finger and put it on a secondary page.

siphor 14y ago

disclaimer.. I'm a little (a lot) drunk but still... Searching for 'google maps' does not bring up this app.. I could only find it by clicking on the link... Is visibility this poor on the App Store... The name I'm searching is identical to that of the app, what's going on here..

nik_0_0 14y ago
I am seeing the same as you (ctrl+f'd for 'search'). "Google Maps" in App Store showing nothing for both iPhone and iPad. (Canada?) Had to go though this link. I understand it is new but that seems a bit underhanded...
- taligent 14y ago
  Underhanded ? The more likely explanation is that Apple is caching the search index. Which given the traffic volumes, number of apps and the fact they are using Lucene makes sense.
karlshea 14y ago
Try "google inc" and then scroll through until you see it. That's the only way I could find it.

jasongaya 14y ago

love google map. i think its beet apple map.... Great work by google.

piyush_soni 14y ago

It's still not completely clear if they're vector maps (I'm hearing different things). Can someone confirm?

davidwhodge 14y ago
They are vector based maps. Confirmed on their blog post about the SDK release alongside the app. http://googlegeodevelopers.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-new-way-to-add-google-maps-to-your.html http://googlegeodevelopers.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-new-way-to... also if you watch the loading closely you can tell.

wowfat 14y ago

they should have launched it just after xmas. this news will increase apple sales for xmas period!

sgh_1 14y ago
interesting observation.

jmount 14y ago

WTF: you have to sign in with your Google account to use this?

kingnothing 14y ago
No. Press 'skip'.

dirkdk 14y ago

Already 967 reviews on US iTunes Store, 4.5 (?) average. Surprised iTunes didn't break down under the downloads. Only 6.7 MB, quite small!

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

volkanvardar 14y ago

Not available in Turkish market, yet :-(

lucian303 14y ago

Inevitable comeback. And a great example of why I don't develop for iOS on principle.

dutchbrit 14y ago

I can't seem to look at an angle, except for my current location. Is this a bug? Rest is nice, glad to have Google Maps back on my phone!!

senthilnayagam 14y ago

nobody commented about this. any opinions? "Google Maps Navigation is in beta. Use caution. Please keep your eyes on the road and obey applicable laws. Do not manipulate this application while in motion. Directions may be inaccurate, incomplete, dangerous, or prohibited. Traffic data is not real-time, and location accuracy cannot be guaranteed "

notimetorelax 14y ago
Isn't it a standard disclaimer? Even if you buy Tom-Tom or Garmin they'll have something similar.
- senthilnayagam 14y ago
  my point is if we had to agree to this disclaimer, there was nothing wrong with apple maps then
  - notimetorelax 14y ago
    Well you shouldn't bet your life on the accuracy of these maps but there's great distance between hugely inaccurate maps and maps with millimeter precision. My guess is if Apple maps were introduced 5 years ago (or even earlier) people wouldn't complain as there wouldn't be any other better alternative that used to be available.
  - Florin_Andrei 14y ago
    It's just a legal disclaimer, it's not reality.

newman314 14y ago

I thought this was for both iPhone and iPad but it's only for iPhones. Not to be sour or anything but I would have been fine with a stretched version for the iPad.

scoopr 14y ago

On a cursory glance, The panning performance is disappointing (looks like 20fps) on my iPhone 5, whilst Apple maps is buttersmooth at 60fps. I like the overall look of Google maps more, having more detail and and the 3d buildings that pop-up are cute. Apple maps are right down bare looking in comparison. I was sorely missing streetview, I was amazed myself how used to I was checking streeview of various places. Can't offhand remember places Apple maps couldn't address-locate so I don't have any good comparison off the map data quality, but both have been mostly fine, with google having slightly better heuristics finding an address even if it doesn't know the exact street number. I like the rotation with two fingers in google maps is less sensitive, I often rotate in apple maps accidentally. But then again, Google maps has this menu that comes up when sliding with two fingers (by placing two fingers and then dragging) and that came up accidentally few times. In google maps, sometimes a quick tap tells you the address of that place, but sometimes it needs a tap-and-hold, feels erratic. Google maps driving directions didn't say a word while staying still, so I can't say much about that. The finnish voice in apple maps is very understandable, but quite harsh. The US voice of course failed to read any finnish names in a comical way (but had to change phone language to get finnish voice, I usually prefer my electronics in english). Public transport stuff has always been useless in finland, so nothing to say about that either..

steilpass 14y ago

Merry Christmas to you too Google.

akurilin 14y ago

How does this compare to Google Navigation (or Navigate?) from Android? A viable replacement?

grayprog 14y ago

It's certainly a great alternative for Apple's maps, which lack data in many parts of the world. It also appears to be vector maps, like Apple's, unlike Maps in iOS 5. Some things that lack or incomplete in the meantime: - iPad version, which is less critical, of course. - Access to contact addresses - Street view doesn't load high-resolution images when zoomed in. The performance on iPhone 4S is good enough but zooming in and out is sometimes too fast and hard to do with precision. Still, I already replaced Apple's Maps with this one of my iPhone's home screen.

anuaitt 14y ago

now here comes the competition for apple maps. oopes sorry if I said competition :-)

greattypo 14y ago

Anyone know if we've got real-time transit directions yet for MUNI and BART?

apronchenkov 14y ago

I supposed that backspace was implemented as ``punch all holes''.

radiosnob 14y ago

I'll throw my voice into this maelstrom. 1) Search for "Google Maps" and it is the 5th result. The app is literally called Google Maps. The results before: Fine Maps, PD Maps Worldwide Edition, Google Earth(?!). 2) 300 comments and the topic of Apple anti-competitive behaviour with regard to App availability is hardly touched. In fact the top most comments are on UI and nitpicking over details such as Bookmarks and response speed.

NameNickHN 14y ago
> 1) Search for "Google Maps" and it is the 5th result. The app is literally called Google Maps. The results before: Fine Maps, PD Maps Worldwide Edition, Google Earth(?!). I suspect that this is simply due to some part of the searching algorithm that takes things like number of downloads and publishing date into account. Over time the position will probably change.
nicholassmith 14y ago
The search algorithm isn't necessarily predicated on name, which is silly in many ways but I wouldn't say it's anti-competitive.
- radiosnob 14y ago
  I don't believe the Search algorithm to be malicious, but it is definitely off. And anti-competitive maybe a bit strong. But wasn't it Google Voice that has been stranded in review for a while now? I think Apple's mono-culture is beginning to fail: using the App Store as a gateway to their devices (touched on briefly above), etc.
rit 14y ago
Apple has blocked things like "Google Voice" in the past claiming it duplicates existing functionality in the phone. I suspect (And this is entirely speculation on my part) that if iOS Maps had not been under such a cloud of scrutiny since it launched, we might not have seen Google Maps. With so many having major issues with iOS Maps, and Apple needing to do a lot of catch up, being seen to block a reasonable solution would be very, very bad. Especially the same week as the well publicized "Sending people into the middle of the Australian outback with no mobile reception instead of the city they put in" news on iOS Maps. Not trying to sound conspiracy theorist here, but observing past behaviours and the likely influence of current demands.

nicholassmith 14y ago

It looks great, the fact that it has 480 upvotes on here shows that a lot of people wanted it. The transport directions are slightly better, it'll find actual options for me now but does still occasionally go "Nope, no public transport around you!" when I live near a bus stop. And a train station. It's slightly laggy on my iPhone 5, I popped it up with a high view when I was on the train and it was very visibly jerky, Apple Maps was much, much smoother. Hey guys, SIGN IN. You want your search history? SIGN IN. That's really annoying, and given when the whole Maps shift started it was rumoured that Google was demanding more and more information on the searches it points to Google really wanting that search history with your account. POI stuff spanks Apple, easily. Apple sucks at that at the moment, the fact that Google can autocomplete a hell of a lot of it is much nicer. I don't like some of the UX choices, the 'tutorial overlay' says the bottom right button is tappable but it's actually a slide over, tapping did nothing for me. Accessing Street View is non-intuitive. Occasionally it felt like there was a few too many taps to get me where I needed to be. This is all stuff they can work on though. All in all, it's pretty good. I'll have it as a secondary Maps app, I'm going to try stick with Apple Maps though. Not because I'm a glutton for punishment but because it has genuinely started getting better for the use case I need it in. Choice is always nice though.

jinushaun 14y ago
Bottom right button is tappable. I avoid sliding/swiping on the phone unless I have to.
- nicholassmith 14y ago
  I've tried it a few times and it doesn't seem like the tap zone is quite as big as it could be. Or my fingers are tapping the wrong place, possibly.

sgh_1 14y ago

The good thing is that OS on my iPhone can now be upgraded to iOS6... The interesting conclusion for me as a user is that: (1) I value the additional services like Maps more than the base OS... (2) I don't care about Apple loyalty - my loyalty is towards iPhone and any app provider who continues to provide me an excellent iPhone experience

frazerb 14y ago

You've got to wonder how much Apple are paying Google to support maps on iOS....or what other kick-back (more valuable to Google than cash) there might be.

Tyrannosaurs 14y ago
Why do you think they're paying them anything given how the transition from one mapping application to the other has gone? Apple clearly wanted Google maps to be relegated to an also ran. This works for both of them - the complaints about Apple maps are undermined by the existence of Google maps for iOS, Google get to retain their position as the best maps on any platform. I see no evidence for an exchange of money in any direction.
- piyush_soni 14y ago
  But I still don't see what motivation Google had for releasing an iOS 6 app. I mean they are already the undisputed kings in maps - and had they not released an iOS6 maps app, wouldn't have more users converted to Android phones? Just trying to understand all this, I'm not a business expert. Though I agree there wouldn't be any money exchange for this between the two.

kalleboo 14y ago

What I found really interesting is how after playing with Google Maps for a couple minutes, then hopping out to the Settings app to change something, the standard iOS look instantly felt really dated, with the bubbliness, heavy gradients and pinstripes.

Too 14y ago
I get that every time i use an iphone. Feels like the "Web 2.0" era or some shitty flash-game where everything consists of rounded corners and gradients. The sms-view really makes me cringe. Not in line with apples otherwise timeless designs at all.

fedxc 14y ago

It is not available on all countries. In example, Uruguay. Not available here yet.

JuDue 14y ago

Google dominate this area, obviously. It's great we are happy to have working maps, but let's just hope other companies can break the monopoly on our location data at some point.

madoublet 14y ago

Best review so far "I almost died in Australia, thank god this is out."

JimmaDaRustla 14y ago
Burst out laughing at this!

jstalin 14y ago

Competition === good

Florin_Andrei 14y ago
> === So it's not just equal, but actually identical.

isabre 14y ago

Finally! I get back my street view and my public transit schedule. Welcome back!

jaimefjorge 14y ago

A customer review: "Boring UI, slow data and seems pretty feature-free. I'll stick with Apple Maps." This strikes me as funny and suspicious.

balabaster 14y ago

I used the new Google Maps for my GPS on the way to work this morning to do a side by side comparison with my regular GPS software from Navigon. A couple of things I love: 1). It connects to my car stereo via the phone bluetooth profile so even though my car can't stream music by bluetooth, I can still get my turn-by-turn directions. My Navigon uses the whichever audio profile is used for music, so I only get the turn-by-turn over the car stereo if I'm plugged in by wire. Kudos Google, that's a really nice touch. Thank you. 2). I like the way it displays the streetview when you arrive at your destination so you can see where you should be. Another great touch. And a couple of things I really don't like at all: 1). "In 300 metres...[pregnant pause]... turn left". 2). I don't like that it doesn't provide the street names in the audible turn by turn directions. So in cases where you have two streets in close proximity, unless you actually look at the screen, you're left guessing which is the correct one.

kodisha 14y ago

I wonder how this thing with Apple App Store works, and why some items appear in US store only, and in other (Croatian, and i see from comments Uruguay and Turkey) hours or even days later.

frogpelt 14y ago

Is Apple Maps really completely terrible? OR Does it have a few problems that, when compared with all the progress Google has made in that arena, makes its performance untenable? I say this because I have used Apple Maps to navigate the rural southeastern U.S. with absolutely no problems. I even had my dedicated GPS to make sure Apple Maps wasn't leading me astray.

emehrkay 14y ago
My theory is that people want it to be worse than it actually is. I've put ~1000 miles on it via turn-by-turn and I like it a lot better than the old maps app. What I dont get is that people were/are willing to wait for google to get it together with the "next release," and crucify apple for doing the exact same. Either way, we win because apple removing google maps from ios forced google to work hard on providing a good app and google's app will force apple to polish up their maps.
smackfu 14y ago
I have maybe 75% success in having a search term find the right place in Apple Maps. In Google Maps, it was more like 99%. This sounds pretty close, but every single one of those 25% that failed, I had to go look up the address on Google and cut and paste it into Apple Maps. I do not enjoy doing that. I've also had it direct me to locations that did not exist (but were in Yelp). But since no one uses Yelp to review bank branches, that data has never really been checked before.

mrcharles 14y ago

So, I find this out, I go directly to the App Store on my phone, and I do a search for "Google Maps". First five results:"Google Earth", "My Places for Google Maps", "My Maps Editor", "Road Tripper", and then finally "Google Maps" Seriously, how difficult is it to bump an exact string match to the top of the list? Seems to me that iOS is just getting worse and worse.

jmonegro 14y ago
This happens with every new app release, it takes a while for it to show up in the search results.
- mrcharles 14y ago
  But it was in the search results. This isn't a case of "not there yet."
stevebenjamins 14y ago
You could make the same complaint about Google SERPS: "Why does it take so long for my exact match domain to show for it's target keyword?" My point is there are things other than "exact string match" to take in account for ...
Tyrannosaurs 14y ago
Ranking based on a number of factors, not just a string match is generally a good idea. When someone searches on the term "maps" do you want the "best" (highest rated, most popular, whatever) app to be the top hit (give it a week and that'll likely be Google Maps), or the one from the person who had done a bit of SEO and thought to call his app "maps" to hit the exact string match? I contest that what's happening is actually a good thing and what you propose would be a field day for those who look to game the system.
- mrcharles 14y ago
  Does that hold true when the exact string match is already #1 on the Free Apps list? Because to me, if it's an exact string match, AND it's wildly popular...

Tyrannosaurs 14y ago

I'm not seeing a lot of comments about how good for Apple this is. Yes Apple want to own maps on iOS but given how their own launch went the ship has sailed on that for a while at least. But given the position they found themselves in this goes a long way to undermining the criticisms of mapping on iOS because if you think Apple maps sucks you just go and get Google maps for free. One of Apple's big gripes supposedly was that they couldn't get Google maps turn by turn navigation on the iPhone and here it is (and without them paying for it it seems) plus they get to work on Apple maps with some of the pressure off which protects them some if Google start messing around. I'm not in any way saying that this was Apple's plan all along - that plan went badly wrong in the summer - but as of this morning iOS, for regular users at least, just got more attractive. Yes it's a win for Google, but it's a win for Apple too.

alxndr 14y ago
"One of Apple's big gripes supposedly was that they couldn't get Google maps turn by turn navigation on the iPhone" I thought it was because when Apple asked for turn-by-turn, Google said "okay, but we want larger Google branding, and also want to hook it up to Google Latitude" and Apple said no way?
- Tyrannosaurs 14y ago
  OK, how about "they couldn't get Google to offer turn by turn navigation under terms Apple found acceptable"?
highwind 14y ago
So when Apple decides drop Google Maps as their default, they probably thought that it'll bring more value to their iOS platform. But obviously that didn't happen. Now that Google Maps is back on iOS, I agree that it's a win for Apple as well. But someone please explain it to me how it could have been a win for Apple to drop Google Maps in the first place?
- Tyrannosaurs 14y ago
  Relations between the two companies were hardly cordial. I suspect Apple didn't want to be beholden to a rival over what was becoming an increasingly core service. Remember Apple already give Samsung, another competitor, a shed load of each money for components. Why enrich someone you're competing with?

emehrkay 14y ago

Will maps put the idea of unchangeable default apps on the radar of anti-competitive practices? The people clearly want their mapping from Google, but if you dont implicitly open the google map and type an address (by way of hyperlink in another app, etc.), all mapping will be routed to apple's app.

nsxwolf 14y ago

Rendering is slow on the iPhone 4. Interface looks nothing like an iOS app. It's like some Android alien has landed in my iPhone.

phawk 14y ago

It's good, it's really good!

toddmorey 14y ago

So, I'm really disappointed. The thing I was most looking forward to was the return of public transportation schedules on my iPhone. But this new app simply says, "Unavailable in this region." They were there before and they are still available for my area on a desktop computer. I don't understand why they are missing. EDIT: I take that back, as others have noticed, it's there... just unavailable from the sidebar. Not sure why.

tharris0101 14y ago

As a timed test, I wanted to see how long it would take me to search for my favorite Phoenix, AZ coffee shop (Lux). I did the test from start up to clicking on the pin on an iPhone 4. Google Maps: 22 seconds Apple Maps: ??? It took me to Luxembourg I think I know which map app I'll be using from now on.

rogerchucker 14y ago

Pros: 1. You can pinch to zoom while during turn-by-turn navigation 2. You can select a point anywhere in the map and it instantaneously gives you the time to drive there from your current location (which is also a link to the navigation details/options. 3. Feels like a real map compared to the barren-ass land that Apple's Map shows. 4. Streetview (that is even smoother than the browser version) Cons: 1. No integration with the address book. Pros >>>> Cons.

Vitaly 14y ago

WTF is it in the US store only?

dcu 14y ago

Excellent! I am downloading the app right now

sbov 14y ago

They need to add one way street indicators.

Too 14y ago

Can this be used inside other apps that rely on maps? Otherwise only half of the problem is solved.

qas1981 14y ago

I live in Atlanta and Apple maps let me down numerous occasions. I like their interface and integration but, the data quality & quantity is bad.

mavbozo 14y ago

I don't have iphone but my friend who does can not install it because it is not available in my country