A while ago we reported that Apple is to drop Maps from iOS in favour of their own in-house mapping solution. This is of course an attempt to squeeze Google out of the Apple experience as much as possible, being they are at war, competing for supremacy on many fronts.
Ensuing conversations were about the capabilities of Apple‘s solution, being that Google has superior data to offer this service. Apple did start to “œshow off“ what it can do, after which Apple users around the world started to cry foul. The reason for this is that the Apple maps simply do not have enough detail to justify the switch from Google Maps.
For example, as shown by many sources, there is not nearly as much information on the Apple maps in comparison to Google’s version.
Also, traffic is not as up to date or complete as on Google Maps.
Luckily for Apple users, Google might be planning to keep supporting this customer base. According to Gizmodo, an iOS user said on Google+ that he hopes Google Maps would still be available to iOS users. Jeff Huber, Google‘s Senior Vice President of Commerce responded, “œWe look forward to providing amazing Google Maps experiences on iOS.“
How they will do this (if ever) remains to be seen. Whether or not Apple would allow Google to sell a Maps app on their App Store is questionable. We in SA were only recently able to use live traffic in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town. So would iOS users here mind moving to Apple‘s solution?
