Google Maps Coming (Back) to iOS
A couple months ago, iOS 6 users lost Google’s wonderful Maps app, when Apple switched to its own homegrown solution. Te results were… not so good. Apple’s app is fine — excellent, even. But the data can be real crap, just like Google’s was when the debuted it all those years ago.
These things take time, and iOS users aren’t all that patient. To Apple’s credit, they’ve sacked those responsible and begun a crash program to fix what’s wrong.
So why did Apple ever give Google the boot in the first place?
In a word: Features.
Google refused to update its iOS Maps with things that people have come to expect, like turn-by-turn navigation. Siri integration wasn’t happening, either. Google was hoping, it seems, to drive iPhone users onto the Android platform by offering a much-better-than-iOS maps app.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but you can understand Apple’s rush to give users something better. Sure, maybe there was some Apple hubris involved, too — except maybe for the maybe part. But the fact remains that Apple remained at a competitive disadvantage on maps, as long as Google was in the driver’s seat.
Now here we are, just three months later, and Google has introduced a new Maps app for iPhone, with an iPad version to follow soon. Google’s new app features turn-by-turn and everything else they’d long denied to iOS users. By the few reports I’ve seen, it’s a better app than Apple’s, and it’s sure damn sure going to work better.
Two questions:
Why did Google do it?
Why did Apple approve it?
Let’s tackle the second question first.
Apple didn’t need to approve the new Google Maps for download in the App Store. Yet they did, even though it’s a better product than their own — and will generate revenue directly for Google, and not for Apple. The answer is easy: Apple is devoted to providing the best user experience possible. (Whether or not they always achieve it is subject to debate; their dedication to it is not.) When the scale of the iOS Maps app become obvious, Apple created an entirely new section of the App Store devoted just to third-party maps, and then promoted the heck out of it at their own expense. That’s a pretty massive mea culpa. To Apple, Google’s new app is just another third-party app.
But why did Google do it? Why, after years of foot-dragging on providing iOS users with a better app, did they suddenly and rapidly conjure one up? Two words: Revenue and data. Google earns its keep pushing targeted ads at your eyeballs, and it needs your search data to do it. Not having a Map app cut them off from hundreds of millions of search-hungry iOS users. If getting them back means providing a better app than Google provides for its own Android customers, that’s just business.
See, so long as Google was the default map option for iOS, Google held the strings. It seems almost paradoxical, but Apple doing their own app in-house fostered more competition for users’ eyeballs, not less.
All of this goes to the wisdom of Google ever getting into the mobile OS business in the first place. Android has been an expensive proposition for them. Google had to spend all the money developing (and continuing to develop) Android. Then they give it away for free. And then spent $12 billion buying Motorola to defend it. Then they went and got themselves kicked off of the most valuable mobile platform (iOS) in yet another attempt to defend Android. It’s been a huge money-loser for Google — so far.
Can they earn some of that money back? I dunno, but after I get a chance to put the new Google Maps through its paces, maybe I’ll have an answer to that one.
If I remember correctly (and you may have addressed this as well, in an earlier missive on the Apple/Google relationship), one of the insurmountable issues with the contract renewal between Apple and Google over Maps was user data. Google wanted more; Apple wasn’t willing to give it.
I wonder who blinked.
I’d forgotten that little wrinkle from the Maps flap. But I’m guessing you’re being facetious, because Apple holds the key to the App Store — and with all the good maps there already, Google really had no leverage at all.
Maps was only one of several ways ios6 is inferior to ios5. IMO a better way to have handled the situation was to let those of us unhappy with having been tricked into downgrading to 6 upgrade back to the 5.
Then, as they improved ios 6, let us choose when to make the switch.
But “choice”, that’s not one of Apple’s strong suits.
With the maps thing, they do seem to have stumbled onto the concept.
Umm, just restore your device to its original settings. If it originally came with iOS 5,then you’re good to go.
Choice preserved!
Sadly untrue, I did a fair bit of research on and off the apple forums. Lots of questions, lots of suggested workarounds (including that one) and lots of reports of failure. Apple will not let you switch back.
And McGehee, no, Swapping out google maps for a terrible apple maps does not equal “choice”. Even with the improvements that have come since, I am still worse off. Same goes for youtube–the app my ipad had when apple and i entered into our deal was better than what apple has left me with after sneaking in their ios6 downgrade.
I’ve been quite happy with iOS 6 — including Maps. Haven’t had any data fails (yet), and the deeper integration is pretty great. What are your complaints?
I agree about map on iOS 6. Perhaps I am happy because I am not driving to the Australian Outback. But after avoiding Maps for a while since all the complaints, I started using it around the Florida Panhandle and surrounding areas and have been quite satisfied. I downloaded google maps after it came out, got to the google sign in screen and stopped. I did not feel like messing with it any more.
You didn’t read Stephen’s whole post, it seems. I was referring to this:
Think it through, Tim. Think it through.
Based on their search page, I was expecting Google to introduce a phone with a clean and simple interface, that at the same time supported power users. I’m surprised at how uninspired the entire Android experience has been. Google has enough money to come up with something better.
The closest I’ve come to using Android was when I rooted my Kindle Fire. Based on the app ecosystem I pretty much decided I’d stick to Windows and/or iOS — and Windows 8 settled that in Apple’s favor.
And don’t even get me started on ChromeOS.
Update. Verizon just pushed the JellyBean upgrade to my Samsung SIII. It’s like I got a hardware upgrade. Everything works better, smoother – it’s nice. They also added a bunch of minor usability improvements, so maybe Google is taking this thing more seriously.
Google got into mobile phone OS because they did not want to be locked out of being able to get revenue from mobile phone users. They did not want Apple to have enough of a monopoly, nor Nokia, RIM or (giggle giggle) Microsoft on the smartphone market to be able to cut Google out. Especially when they had good reason to think that Apple and Microsoft especially thought in such exclusionary ways about their proprietary mobile OS’.
That was their motivation for creating and giving away Android.
Given Google’s ad revenue, Android is probably quite valuable as a fleet-in-being. They do need a way to make sure that they can’t be shut out of mobile search.
IMO, this bodes well for the future of both companies.
They both realize they can’t be everything to everybody.
Now they’re thinking with their brains, not their balls.
We will have to see, my own opinion is that Apple isn’t thinking with their brains until they realize that their litigation strategy isn’t succeeding. And they are not there yet, but with the Apple vs. Samsung verdict looking to me to fall apart in coming months, maybe they’ll get there.
Can’t argue with that.
Suing a supplier is always a tight rope walk.
Apple is devoted to providing the best user experience possible. (Whether or not they always achieve it is subject to debate; their dedication to it is not.) When the scale of the iOS Maps app become obvious, Apple created an entirely new section of the App Store devoted just to third-party maps, and then promoted the heck out of it at their own expense. That’s a pretty massive mea culpa.
Yup.
Apple doesn’t give a flying goddamn which Mapping app you use* – they care a lot about you loving the experience of using Apple hardware, though, and that means making the best mapping software they can find, available, even if they don’t make a cent off it directly.
(* Oh, they’d prefer people to use the built-in Maps and report errors and add places to improve their backing data. But that’s frosting compared to “keep buying iOS products and Macs”.)