Hasta La Gadget!

Google Maps for iOS may not be due to hit the iPhone 5 and other iOS 6 devices until the end of the year, but Apple fans will reportedly be able to use Street View on their devices far sooner. While Google’s work on an iOS 6-compatible native version of the mapping app isn’t expected to be ready for release until later in 2012, a browser based Street View for Apple’s gadgets is roughly two weeks away, the NYT reports.

That will fill one obvious omission in functionality from Apple’s own native Maps app, which replaced Google Maps in iOS 6. Although Apple’s software introduces native turn-by-turn directions, missing until now unless iOS users bought third-party navigation apps, it does not include the street-level photography that Google has painstakingly collected over the past years.

The browser-based version of Google Maps for iOS also lacks Street View support currently, but that’s all set to change. Those visiting the site – which can be saved as a shortcut to the iPhone and iPad homescreen – will be able to flip into Street View mode and get a pedestrian-eye preview of where they’re going.

Replicating Street View itself would be an arduous challenge for Apple. Although it has been able to source maps, points-of-interest, and other data from third-party providers – amounting to “many petabytes” of information, Apple claims – there’s no alternative source for what makes Street View special. One possibility is enabling iOS device owners themselves to provide street-level data, perhaps using the same panoramic photo technology as Apple introduced with the iPhone 5′s camera, though it would be a time-consuming and labor-intensive task.

According to Apple, the decision to eject Google Maps from iOS – and do so earlier than its contract for the software actually required – was down to Google’s ongoing refusal to share turn-by-turn. Instead, the functionality was kept for Android devices.

Street View for iPhone 5 and iOS 6 users is two weeks away is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

You know how most people who’ve used Google Maps and Apple Maps realize that Apple Maps is inexcusably bad and most definitely inferior? Yeah, these are not those people. These people don’t give a crap what you think. That’s right: even Apple Maps has fanboys. More »

This whole Apple Maps and Google Maps fiasco has gotten pretty crazy. After iOS users found out that the new Apple Maps pretty much sucked, they were left wondering why Apple ditched Google Maps in the first place. Many believed it had to with the crumbling relationship between the two companies, but it turns out the answer is as simple as it gets: Apple left Google Maps because it didn’t have turn-by-turn navigation.

As any iPhone or iPad user may know, Google Maps for iOS did not come with turn-by-turn navigation unlike the Android version. Google was adamant about keeping turn-by-turn an exclusive feature on Android. Somehow, Apple was okay with that and they signed the contract that would allow a modified version of Google Maps to be used on iOS.

However, Apple slowly started to realize that they needed built-in turn-by-turn navigation on iOS that was free, but their contract with Google (which still had a year left) still wouldn’t allow that. In order to compete with Android, Apple’s only choice at that point was to build their own solution that came with turn-by-turn navigation.

So, Apple began to quietly and quickly develop an in-house maps app that had voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation built in, with the goal of having it ready for iOS 6. Once they knew that it would be ready for iOS 6, the company decided to announce their new maps app at WWDC back in June and ditch Google Maps once and for all.

The transition isn’t going so well for Apple, since their new Maps app is getting a lot of flack for being extremely buggy and pretty inaccurate. Then again, this is Apple’s first time doing this, and even know we’re talking about a great company like Apple, no one does something great on the first try. They even said it themselves.

[via AllThingsD]

Apple ditched Google Maps due to lack of turn-by-turn navigation is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Yesterday, Google chairman Eric Schmidt said that the company has yet to start work on a Google Maps app for iOS. It certainly bummed a lot of iPhone and iPad users out since it would now be a while before they could be saved from the Apple Maps fiasco. However, the New York Times is reporting that Google is indeed currently working on a Maps app for iOS after all.

As you may already know, Apple ditched Google Maps in favor of their own solution in iOS 6. However, Apple’s new maps app isn’t exactly a home run. The accuracy isn’t all that great, and public transit information and directions aren’t supported. This has resulted in a majority of iOS users begging for Google to save the day.

However, when Schmidt was asked about bringing a Google Maps app to iOS, he said that it wasn’t currently being worked on. Then again, according to sources close to the New York Times, that’s not true at all, as we should be seeing a Google Maps app for both the iPhone and the iPad appear by the end of the year.

It’s too bad Google wasn’t as quick to the punch as they were with their new YouTube app. After Apple also pulled their built-in YouTube app from iOS 6, Google was surprisingly quick to deliver their own YouTube app for iOS users to download and enjoy. Hopefully Google is working hard to deliver its Maps to iOS users as we speak.

[via Ars Technica]

Google Maps iOS app rumored to arrive by the end of the year is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you’re unsatisfied with Apple’s current iOS 6 Maps experience and are hoping to jump back into Google’s loving arms then take a breath and sit down — it could be a little while. Separately, The Verge and New York Times have heard from unnamed sources that a standalone Google Maps app on iOS is launching, but may not be ready until the end of the year. The reason for the delay? Unlike some previous rumors that claimed Apple may be stalling on the approval an already submitted app, they indicate Google did not know of Cupertino’s plans to launch its own solution this year until it was publicly announced in June, since their contract extended into 2013. According to one of the NYT sources, another issue could be Google’s desire to include 3D imagery from Google Earth in any standalone effort to compete with Apple’s native features. All of this follows a statement Google Chairman Eric Schmidt made in Japan last night that it had “not done anything yet” regarding Google Maps on iOS. So, if you’ve upgraded to iOS 6, are you sticking with the new app or trying to find some other way to avoid navigation related mishaps until Gmaps is back?

Filed under: Software, Mobile

Rumors about Google Maps app for iOS intensify, claim it’s still months away from launch originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 00:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  The Verge, The New York Times  | Email this | Comments