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Actually I think Apple won here. Google was refusing to release a turn by turn direction update to their apps. By developing an Apple Map App with turn by turn,

• jgw 14y ago
  I have a really, really hard time seeing Apple's map fiasco as a win for Apple.
  • hpagey 14y ago
    Google submitting a turn by turn direction enabled google maps app is some sort of win nonetheless.
    • Gigablah 14y ago
      For Google, yes.
      • quux 14y ago
        And users. I suppose any win for users of iOS is a win of some kind for Apple too.
        • css771 14y ago
          At that point they're actually Google users too. So in the end, users win. Google along with them. And Apple saves face.
      • criley 14y ago
        How is going from having your app presinstalled on every device and being maintained, for free, by Apple developers to having to write and maintain your own app and put it in the app store a "win"?? There is no win here for Google! Less users (not everyone is going to install it), less data coming in, more money spent, having to hire more dedicated iOS coders inhouse at Google... People have a weird definition of "win".
        • evandena 14y ago
          I think you're missing some of the major pros for Google... With this new app, they control all of the branding, all of the upstream data gathering, and paid ads.
        • jlgreco 14y ago
          Maps on iOS were using Google's data, but the application was not Google's. The only thing Google was getting from that was a licensing fee. Now they have a mapping application, which means now they have users.
  • brianpan 14y ago
    It may be a win in a similar way that the Chrome browser was a win. Google kicked browser competition into high gear in terms of performance and ACID compliance when they launched Chrome. Apple Maps may have had a similar effect. I hate to use "killer app" but a great GPS makes the phone a more valuable device. I still have a standalone GPS in the car which we will definitely not need once we all upgrade to phones with turn-by-turn directions. I have relatives that pride themselves in not needing smartphones, but seeing turn-by-turn was very compelling. My question which I haven't seen a definitive answer on is if Google had the ability pre-iOS 6 to do turn-by-turn? They already had it on Android. Were they slow on iOS, or were key APIs missing?
    • erikpukinskis 14y ago
      [Did] Google [have] the ability pre-iOS 6 to do turn-by-turn? The original Maps app was written by Apple and consumed data licensed from (and presumably hosted by?) Google. Apple wanted turn-by-turn on iOS, but the data required was not part of their original deal with Google. Google was willing to license it, provided that Apple give Google additional data: presumably anonymized data about where users were for Google to use to provide better AI. Although it's quite possible Google wanted better hooks to serve ads as well. They couldn't reach a deal, so Apple went their own way. Apple and Google were certainly technically capable of building Google-backed turn-by-turn into iOS 6, if not much earlier.
      • brianpan 14y ago
        Wow, I had forgotten in all of this that the original app was written by Apple. So going back to the original comment of being a "win for Apple"- this does seem to have been an end-around past the licensing issue, but not much of a "win" for Apple. Google gets kicked out of the default app and launches a third-part app in probably the best possible way for them though.
• gtaylor 14y ago
  Sure, Apple spent billions of dollars acquiring companies and developing Apple Maps just so Google would come in and plunk theirs down...
• seiji 14y ago
  My first thought was along the same lines. What if this was a long con to get Google to release what Apple wanted for free? Any bets on if Apple Maps is gone in iOS 7 and google maps becomes the system mapping provider again?
  • krmmalik 14y ago
    Now that I've read this, I was starting to think the same thing. Apple is completely capable of creating good software. They have all the resources they need, and "polish" is what their company is all about, so why release a sub-par app? Yes it's far fetched, but not beyond possible.
    • blhack 14y ago
      That reality distortion field is pretty powerful. Wow.
    • seiji 14y ago
      Of the difficult data problems in the world, creating an online mirror map of the physical world is probably in the top three. Let's say Apple tried. They didn't know how hard it would be, so they bought all the companies they could. They realized, "shit--this still won't be good enough, but we can't give in to mountain view." Their only move? Release 98% done maps anyway and hope Google misses the iOS map spying ad traffic. iOS maps is perfectly usable, but it's not perfect for every situation (park layouts, transit, inside building directions, more sane turn-by-turn routing). Google has been doing massive data collection for years (mapping individual internal building layouts? street view gps trails by bike? insane on a world scale.) How can anybody possibly get close to the polish of Google's mapping data (varying wildly by country though)? Apple should have made every Apple Store a base of mapping operations. They should have sent people out with gps loggers to run, bike, walk, drive everywhere they could. Someday a company will buy google just for its mapping capability and toss the rest in the bitbucket.
      • theorique 14y ago
        Someday a company will buy google just for its mapping capability and toss the rest in the bitbucket. Sounds like you're exaggerating for effect but still ... wat? What company is at a scale to buy Google and kill its cash cow of search advertising? And why would they?
• kyrra 14y ago
  How is that a win? Apple got egg on their face from all the bad press. They had to shell out a ton of money for 2 map companies they bought, money for all the map data they are buying, plus all the engineering resources to create the product. Google Maps lets google have full branding on the iphone and can gather all the data they want from users. And they can have all the branding on the Maps that they want. If I remember right, some of the reasons Apple and Google didn't agree on maps is that Google wanted more branding and to gather more data. And I also believe Apple wasn't too happy about paid advertisements appearing for map search results. Google really seems as the winner here.
  • mtgx 14y ago
    Not to mention they had to fire one of their VP's over it.
    • sigzero 14y ago
      That is an Apple win actually.
  • Alaskan005 14y ago
    How much money Apple or Google spent is not really an issue Both are loaded, especially Apple. And unless the egg in the face translated to lost sales, it will go away. Never underestimate the power of "default" and Apple can tighten the screws on Google Maps to make iOS maps look even better. Bottom line is that Apple is working on their own maps and that's a major loss for Google.
  • angryasian 14y ago
    >Apple wasn't too happy about paid advertisements appearing for map search result Curious where are there paid advertisements anywhere on google maps browser or mobile ?
  • rmc 14y ago
    Apple got egg on their face from all the bad press. Do you think it'll hurt them? After all the released an iPhone that didn't work if you held it wrong. Did that hurt them?
• MichaelApproved 14y ago
  It's the consumer who wins in the end. The old model had an outdated map app. Now we've got two major companies competing to create a great map app on iOS.
• toddmorey 14y ago
  That's an interesting perspective, but there are a few problems with it. I think Apple could live without the brand tarnish from the Maps app (mostly, the errors in the data). It's become a running joke against the platform and a bit of PR nightmare as park officials warn people not to depend on it. The move to smartphones gave us powerful, handheld computers. Apple proved to be awesome in that space. Now, however, these phones are becoming small glass windows to cloud services that crunch large datasets to give you quick, meaningful, and accurate answers. With Maps and Siri, I think Apple is showing that they don't yet have the competency here that they've enjoyed with hardware and interface. I'm not ruling them out, but it feels like the game has moved to play more to Google's advantage.
• acchow 14y ago
  > Google was refusing to release a turn by turn direction update to their apps. Your choice of wording here is rather misleading. Apple wrote the old Maps app. Google refused to allow Apple to add turn-by-turn to the old maps app. We will never know the true reasons, but it was likely due to Apple refusing to relinquish control of what was displayed to the user.
  • eco 14y ago
    We do know some of the reasons negotiations for adding turn-by-turn broke down[1]. Google wanted more branding and Latitude support. Latitude seemed like a weird thing to demand since it's not a particularly useful feature until you realize that it's just something to get people to turn on Location History (which is the secret sauce that makes all these nice location based Google Now cards work). [1] http://allthingsd.com/20120926/apple-google-maps-talks-crashed-over-voice-guided-directions/ http://allthingsd.com/20120926/apple-google-maps-talks-crash...
• niklas_a00 14y ago
  I think it's a huge loss for Apple. They tried to break free from Google and failed. Apple users are now more reliant than ever on Google services to use their phones. I would imagine that Gmail, Calendar, Search and Maps are used on almost every single device that they sell and they have no control over those services. If Google would introduce a new feature in Maps, let's say indoor navigation, then Apple would be completely in the hands of Google for when that feature would be available to their users. You could easily see a future where more and more Google services become popular on Apple devices. If that's the case Apple essentially becomes just another OEM like Samsung or HTC.
• Spooky23 14y ago
  Apple engineered a process that tarnished a major iOS release, broke a key function on the iPhone as smartphone competition started heating up, prompted the departure of key leaders and basically ceded control of mapping. In exchange, they got Google to release their own maps app, which included features that Google refused to license to Apple previously, and gave Google a platform to sell ads and make money. So users get good maps + transit + turn by turn navigation at no cost. Yup, sound likes an Apple win.
• drzaiusapelord 14y ago
  Agreed. Google should have kept maps as an android-only product. Whatever ill-will Apple has gotten over maps is now gone because "I can just install google maps for free now!"
  • eumenides1 14y ago
    I disagree, Google's long term play isn't to "own" a platform and have everyone live in it (a la apple/microsoft). Google is an internet company and it's overall strategy is to have everyone on the internet. Because if you are on the internet, chances are you will use a Google product (by choice). Google doesn't care about iphone vs android. Google only cares that you are using the internet. An iphone/ipad is an expensive device for well off people. Androids don't have to be and less expensive products broadens the market. A market which when broader, is going to be owned by Google. Making google maps a iOS product only encourages more people to use the internet and thus google.
    • dreamdu5t 14y ago
      This makes the most sense to me, but is Google's strategy really that open-ended?
    • drzaiusapelord 14y ago
      >Google only cares that you are using the internet. Google also cares about its earning reports and stock price. "Using the internet" doesn't pay the bills. Google is far from a charity. Its a multinational corporation beholden to its stock holders. Google made a strategic decision to piss on its mobile division to help its maps division. This may not have been the wisest move and considering how google stock prices have been falling lately, well, wise moves is something it needs to focus on. I just hope google knows what its doing. Apple is ruthless against Android, yet google seems to be pretty easy going with iOS.
      • jahmed 14y ago
        >Its a multinational corporation beholden to its stock holders. Larry, Sergei, and Eric own almost all Class B shares which have 10 votes each. They control about 65% of the voting shares. So really the rest of the stockholders are just along for the ride. Google is really in this for the long game.
• KaoruAoiShiho 14y ago
  It's a win for Google. Google was asking for a Google Maps branding in return for turn directions on the official Maps app but was refused. Now that Google Maps exists everyone can clearly see that Google Maps is the better one.
• jacoblyles 14y ago
  As I recall, the reason that Apple chose not to include turn by turn in the official maps app was because they early on had high-profile partnerships with GPS makers who had expensive apps on the app store.