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If I Were Google, I Wouldn’t Release A Native iOS 6 Maps App For Six Months

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Re: If I Were Google, I Wouldn’t Release A Native iOS 6 Maps App For Six Months

#51

Post by feronull »

rimantas wrote: post #21
Irfaan wrote: post #8

"If I were Google, I wouldn’t launch a native Maps app for iOS 6 for at least six months, [...]" If I were in Google's shoes, I wouldn't be launching a native Maps app. Period. It's not like Maps is driving vast amounts of search revenue for Google. And with the degraded functionality of Apple's own Maps app, Google's Map app has become a reason for a buyer to consider switching to a Google-blessed Android phone. And…

> If I were in Google's shoes, I wouldn't be launching > a native Maps app. Period. I hope Google does just that. It takes a nontrivial amount of stupidity to think that Apple does not know shortcomings of its maps application and are not working on fixing that. Loosing iOS users for some barely noticeable amount of switchers is hardly a good business for Google—do they even make money from Android phones someone sel…

They are making a money with google play, ads..

Re: If I Were Google, I Wouldn’t Release A Native iOS 6 Maps App For Six Months

#52

Post by robomartin »

starik36 wrote: post #47
robomartin wrote: post #31

Just throw an old 3GS or 4 in your pocket and use Google Maps by creating a private WiFi hot-spot with your iPhone 5. Wait a minute. The iPhone 5 doesn't do that. Hey, but it's longer, thinner and faster. What else do you want? It almost reminds me of Microsoft Word. Once MS Word got to the point where it did pretty much everything the majority of users wanted it to do there really was not reason to upgrade. As my ow…

Are you kidding? I use Siri every single solitary day. I use it to create reminders, I use it to dictate text messages, I use it to schedule appointments and find a local sandwich shop that delivers. Siri was one thing from iOS5 that actually met and exceeded the hype. From what I've seen tonight with iOS6, Siri got extended to deal with movie showings (another thing I frequently do with Flixter) and the latency seem…

Well, that's certainly not my experience. Every time I've tried to use it the experience is far less than ideal. My wife gave up way before me. And most of my friends with iPhones share my experience. Just to address the question before it surfaces, no, I/we don't have any weird accents.

Oh, yeah, the other issue: Try using Siri when your kids are around. Right.

Re: If I Were Google, I Wouldn’t Release A Native iOS 6 Maps App For Six Months

#53

Post by hcarvalhoalves »

vosper wrote: post #42
hcarvalhoalves wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"They are not about authoritative control over who gets access and locking their users in a walled garden." You think the iOS maps app was stagnant for such a long time because of what? Because Apple is lazy? It's obvious they don't want to be on the hand of a competitor. Google Maps used to be free with a large API quota when released, remember? Then, once everybody was using it, they updated the API and imposed a m…

But there's just no possible way Apple can win out of this - there is nothing really comparable to Google Maps out there, and mapping has been core iPhone functionality from the get-go. Many people rely on it every day. Even if Google were charging a huge premium behind the scenes Google Maps have always been presented as "the Apple iPhone mapping app" not "Google Maps for iPhone" and so it'll reflect on Apple for me…

"there is nothing really comparable to Google Maps out there"

How exactly? The previous app used Google Maps API and was completely lackluster. The only good thing using their API is their own Android app.

Now, what are Apple's options again?

Contribute to the cash flow of a company detaining the monopoly on mapping data when they can backstab you at any moment? That sounds like the stupidest strategic decision ever. Better get a true partnership.

I'm amazed how HN crowd is vocal against the big companies, but when it's about Google their monopolies are actually encouraged...

Re: If I Were Google, I Wouldn’t Release A Native iOS 6 Maps App For Six Months

#54

Post by ftwinnovations »

robomartin wrote: post #31

Just throw an old 3GS or 4 in your pocket and use Google Maps by creating a private WiFi hot-spot with your iPhone 5. Wait a minute. The iPhone 5 doesn't do that. Hey, but it's longer, thinner and faster. What else do you want? It almost reminds me of Microsoft Word. Once MS Word got to the point where it did pretty much everything the majority of users wanted it to do there really was not reason to upgrade. As my ow…

I use my iPhone as a hotspot all the time. It definitively "does that."

Re: If I Were Google, I Wouldn’t Release A Native iOS 6 Maps App For Six Months

#55

Post by hcarvalhoalves »

dannyr wrote: post #33
hcarvalhoalves wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"They are not about authoritative control over who gets access and locking their users in a walled garden." You think the iOS maps app was stagnant for such a long time because of what? Because Apple is lazy? It's obvious they don't want to be on the hand of a competitor. Google Maps used to be free with a large API quota when released, remember? Then, once everybody was using it, they updated the API and imposed a m…

The new Google Map pricing affected the Top 0.35% of its API users. What kind of site do you have?

A site big enough to hit free quota limits, but small enough for Google to not care.

Re: If I Were Google, I Wouldn’t Release A Native iOS 6 Maps App For Six Months

#56

Post by jsnell »

aisenik wrote: post #44
Irfaan wrote: post #8

"If I were Google, I wouldn’t launch a native Maps app for iOS 6 for at least six months, [...]" If I were in Google's shoes, I wouldn't be launching a native Maps app. Period. It's not like Maps is driving vast amounts of search revenue for Google. And with the degraded functionality of Apple's own Maps app, Google's Map app has become a reason for a buyer to consider switching to a Google-blessed Android phone. And…

Maps gives google a ton of information, and it's fresh. Remember that our information is their product. They can see which areas are experiencing growth, which businesses are getting increased demand, travel patterns, etc. They can see where you like to shop and sell ads to their competitors that target you. They can deduce your shopping habits and how likely you are to eat at a fine dining restaurant vs. a fast food…

You're vastly overestimating the utility of the data. Information about the behavior of individual users will be of limited use since Google will mostly not be able to associate an iPhone user to a Google account (unless they actively force users of the app to sign in). And even then the such tracking would really need an opt-in feature to avoid being extremely creepy, and for it to be opt-in it'd need to give users a real benefit. On Android they can do it (e.g. Google Now), it's less clear that it's possible on the iPhone.

There's some value in the aggregate information from all users in improving the service, but the law of diminishing returns will be reached quickly. Losing even half the mobile maps usage would have basically no impact in the ability of Google to deduce things from the data. There might be a few exceptions like real-time traffic information where every data point is precious.

Re: If I Were Google, I Wouldn’t Release A Native iOS 6 Maps App For Six Months

#57

Post by Gustomaximus »

vosper wrote: post #42
hcarvalhoalves wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"They are not about authoritative control over who gets access and locking their users in a walled garden." You think the iOS maps app was stagnant for such a long time because of what? Because Apple is lazy? It's obvious they don't want to be on the hand of a competitor. Google Maps used to be free with a large API quota when released, remember? Then, once everybody was using it, they updated the API and imposed a m…

But there's just no possible way Apple can win out of this - there is nothing really comparable to Google Maps out there, and mapping has been core iPhone functionality from the get-go. Many people rely on it every day. Even if Google were charging a huge premium behind the scenes Google Maps have always been presented as "the Apple iPhone mapping app" not "Google Maps for iPhone" and so it'll reflect on Apple for me…

Nothing comparable? I thought Microsoft and Nokia both have pretty decent mapping.

Re: If I Were Google, I Wouldn’t Release A Native iOS 6 Maps App For Six Months

#58

Post by kalleboo »

minikomi wrote: post #22

iOS6 maps simply does not work in Tokyo. Here's a comparison my friend posted.. Tokyo Station doesn't exist at all, and the level of details is woeful. https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/27725...

This one's better: https://twitter.com/ahm/status/248064518566051840

The lack of train lines on the maps until you zoom in super-far is shockingly bad. At least your friend managed to find things with his searches - most of my searches for Japanese addresses just come up with "not found" error. Apple's maps definitely seem far more car-oriented than walking or public-transit oriented.

I've taken to carrying an Android phone along with my iPhone.

Re: If I Were Google, I Wouldn’t Release A Native iOS 6 Maps App For Six Months

#60

Post by steevdave »

epoxyhockey wrote: post #7

My bet is that the end users aren't even going to notice. I switched my website maps from Google to OSM/Leaflet and absolutely no one noticed or cared enough to email me about it. Disclaimer: I didn't use OSM's default/ugly color palette. Disclaimer #2: I have used iOS 6 maps, and the most visible change (other than the color palette) is that subway markers are clickable and that Yelp is more tightly integrated into…

It's easy to notice the difference in the map app. Click the bus route button. Instead of the normal times listed, you get rerouted to a blank page on the App Store.
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