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Google Maps becomes the App Store’s most popular free app in 7 hours

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Re: Google Maps becomes the App Store’s most popular free app in 7 hours

#251

Post by drzaiusapelord »

eumenides1 wrote: post #148
drzaiusapelord wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!"

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 expe…

>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.

Re: Google Maps becomes the App Store’s most popular free app in 7 hours

#252

Post by jlgreco »

rieter wrote: post #240
megablast wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The search of Google Play store is atrocious, much worse than this.

I never had any serious issues with it.

The only problem I have is when I search for something that isn't there. Happens sometimes that what I want simply doesn't exist in their store (like, for example, VLC), and when that happens all of the near-hits come up. If I am thinking about it, that is the correct behavior, but it still strikes me as strange every time it happens. I think the reason for this is that I have become spoiled by usually only searching on the web, and when I search on the web it is very rare that I don't get any desirable results at all. Google's web search has spoiled me.

Re: Google Maps becomes the App Store’s most popular free app in 7 hours

#253

Post by ivankirigin »

tharris0101 wrote: post #91

Sort of off-topic and I've harped on this before, but when I search "google maps" in the app store, it's the fifth search result! As a developer in the App Store, I really hope they do something to fix the abysmal searches in it.

It isn't off topic to point out that Apple isn't as good at search as Google. Relevant to both maps and app stores.

Re: Google Maps becomes the App Store’s most popular free app in 7 hours

#254

Post by theorique »

seiji wrote: post #179
theorique wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Thought experiment: a company buying google (10, 20, 50 years hence) would be much bigger and may not care about tiny revenue streams.

That assumes that Google's search ad revenue, and perhaps their growing application service provider revenue, are going to be tiny relative to this hypothetical acquiring company's revenue.

It seems absurd now, but on those timelines you could be right. If nothing else, a lot can change in 10-50 years.

Re: Google Maps becomes the App Store’s most popular free app in 7 hours

#255

Post by skeletonjelly »

recursive wrote: post #208
jlouis wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Curiously, I wonder what they do then because they definitely have the vector data in the backend. Google Maps for Android has been vector based for 1.5 to 2 years now.

I'm using google maps for android. When I zoom in, I can clearly see the pixelation of the tiles before the new tiles load. The google play store doesn't show any updates for the app. Where are you getting your information? Here's a screenshot I took after I enabled airplane mode: http://i.imgur.com/wc5Ie.png

I have this on an old HTC phone. The UI is totally different, I think they have different layout controls for the "newness" of the phone. Having said that, it's possible the vector data is still being used, but renders to bitmap when zooming for some reason. I can't recall this happening on my S2 though (dead now, can't test)

Re: Google Maps becomes the App Store’s most popular free app in 7 hours

#256

Post by skeletonjelly »

xutopia wrote: post #40
kjackson2012 wrote: post #33

Frankly, Tim Cook should shut down the entire Apple Maps division. Who in their right mind is going to use Apple Maps at this point? Try searching "Pier 39 San Francisco". The query can't be any more specific, and it's the most iconic location for tourists, and Apple Maps will bring you to a pretty shady area of town, only a mile or two away from Hunter's Point, one of the more violent areas of SF.

This is nothing. Try to look up many of the hospital in Quebec and it will send you to random places (car dealer, ice cream shop, etc...)

Job's homoeopathic influence?

Re: Google Maps becomes the App Store’s most popular free app in 7 hours

#257

Post by SyneRyder »

nicholassmith wrote: post #171
DannyBee wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean "if I stop using it it won't get better"? Do you mean apple will stop supporting it? I'm having trouble seeing why you can't stop using it for a year until it gets better.

No, I mean Apple won't get the many data faults I report, the missing POI reports or the incorrect POI reports. Apple has an entire globe to cover, it'll improve incrementally globally but improve locally for me if I'm reporting my concerns.

Are Apple doing anything with those bug reports, though? In my area, bugs reported 2.5 months ago still haven't been corrected. (If you are seeing improvements though, more power to you.)

Re: Google Maps becomes the App Store’s most popular free app in 7 hours

#258

Post by skeletonjelly »

criley wrote: post #105
mdc wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a difference between not having a smart phone and having a smart phone that actively misleads you.

No, there's not as big a difference as you're implying -- because ALL mapping data is imperfect, therefore ALL smartphones are capable of actively misleading you. And paper maps can mislead, as well! (I'm trying to think how many "this place is closed/moved/never here" notices I sent Google Maps myself, because of the number of times I've been misled by Google Maps!) A smartphone is not a replacement for common sense…

There's no black and white perfection and imperfection that you state.

Re: Google Maps becomes the App Store’s most popular free app in 7 hours

#259

Post by epo »

leephillips wrote: post #130
brianpan wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely you agree that your example is a non-standard address. The things are more important to get right: postal addresses, searches for company names, airports, schools, searches for intersections. Of course you want to get the other things right like, parks (what's the pinpoint location of a park?) and things like pier 39. But those errors don't make Apple Maps a non-starter. I've been using it in the Bay Area with…

'Apple has in the past been known to make things with the ultimate attention to detail and things that "just work"' I don't know why people continue to believe this. Apple has released versions of the Finder with amateurish bugs that delete files[1] and versions of Mail that randomly delete messages[2]. Several versions of Mail on iPhone send hundreds of copies of a message when emailing a link from Safari[3]. The Ma…

ref 1 dates back to 2007, ref 2 is an isolated 'bug report' which no one else seems to corroborate and ref 3 seems to be written by you. You're not making any kind of case here for Apple being overrated.

Re: Google Maps becomes the App Store’s most popular free app in 7 hours

#260

Post by wilfra »

tonfa wrote: post #229
zrgiu_ wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

still does. Try searching for something relevant, see where an app with that exact name is placed. Example: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=child+books&c=apps The app named "Child Books" comes after coloring book, Nook, WebMD and many others. It's just that popularity matters MUCH much more than what you actually search for, and it takes days from the moment of getting popular (Google Maps style) to the moment…

In that case it isn't clear why an app named "child books" should be on top. It's a very generic name.

Right. The reason they can't do that is because people can easily game the system by just naming their apps popular search terms.

It's the same reason simply owning 'thing.com' doesn't make it your rite to be ranked #1 in google for 'thing'.

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