Apple Released Maps App Before Contract With Google Was Up

Posted September 26, 2012 at 6:49am by iClarified | Please help us and submit a translation by clicking here | 13084 views

A new report from The Verge says that Apple had over a year left on its contract with Google for Maps when it decided to ship its own Maps application.

The decision, made sometime before Apple's WWDC event in June, sent Google scrambling to develop an iOS Google Maps app -- an app which both sources say is still incomplete and currently not scheduled to ship for several months.

Apple apparently felt that Maps in iOS was falling behind Android particularly due to the missing turn-by-turn navigation feature. Google is said to have wanted more prominent branding and additional features such as Latitude but there was still a lot of time before renewal agreement needed to be reached.

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt recently commented on the switch saying, "We think it would have been better if they had kept ours. But what do I know? What were we going to do, force them not to change their mind? It's their call."

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Comments (26)

dzinxxx - September 26, 2012 at 6:57pm

@tiestofan go and get new iphone, hope you gonna use montshit view which can give you "outstsnding preformance also accuracy" find your restaurant on the middle of river or shop wright at the top of the mountain. Hehe I can tell you live in America. Coz you think there is no other country's in the World. But America is not about you, they are good people up there which understand that, people learning other languages, also we can have our own opinion about things. You don't even know how crappy this app is up here in Europe son. Google works on maps over 10 years now, if you think apple on any other companny can cutch up with them you are wrong. Anyway Steve won't let that happend, but now it's to late. Poor Steve by the way, we all miss him all ready. So good luck with your apple, I will stick to S3 for the time being. Google works well ,free sat nav with free traffic info accuracy very high. Check out ATB son, what he said about new maps on the facebook.

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Ben - September 26, 2012 at 6:14pm

I'm just gonna sit happy with my iOS 5 and it's YouTube and google maps for now on my iPhone 4.

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Fran - September 26, 2012 at 2:24pm

I hate sound like an Apple apologist but - good riddance Google based Maps app!!! After downloading Mapquest's free app over a year ago I can count in one hand the amount of times I used the Google based Maps app. Via the new Maps app I now get turn by turn navigation and the Flyover feature is nothing short of amazing. Maybe I'm the lone ranger on this but I have no use for the Google based Maps app. And best yet - I don't have to worry about Google collecting my personal data! (I know Apple does the same but that's an argument for another post.) Yes, the new Maps has issues but if there's one thing that Apple has consistently proven over time is that it will work and work on something until it becomes the most visually appealing and user friendly product in the marketplace. If me using the Maps app makes me a beta tester then so be it. Won't last long...

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NoGoodNick - September 26, 2012 at 2:04pm

All the yammering about the new Maps app is that it "makes mistakes", yet no one remembers when Google first started, and how flawed their search and map apps were. Apple has a solid app, and now they have to refine it. What 'doesn't work' are its ability to guess what you meant, or to locate clear errors. These are things that take time to work out, and that you can't predict by staring at it. Personally, I like the idea of honest competition, even if the results aren't perfect. Once a company gets as big and cocky as Google (or Facebook) think they can do no wrong. Hopefully it's ,will make both Apple and Google clean up their acts.

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gringo - September 26, 2012 at 3:05pm

So, we all have to make our own mistakes, re-invent the wheel??? Can't we learn from other's mistakes? Why do I have to be a beta tester when there's no need for that other than Apple being a bully and greedy company? If there's a Maps app that works, don't mess it up. I pay money for my iPhones, I don't get them for free so that I can be a beta tester.

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@ Nick - September 26, 2012 at 3:54pm

I agree with some of what you say Nick, a couple of niggles here and there I can put up with, the app has just been released and will hopefully improve as did Googles. That said, my problem is with the quality of the maps, I sat with mine and my wifes 4S and compared them and the simple truth is that the graphical quality (resolution) is noticably superior in the Google maps allowing to zoom much further in. I lament the loss of street view which I used a lot and consider the flyover and 3D features fun but rarely used. In closing I suppose the thing that I am most disapointed in with this upgrade, is that old Apple mantra of Apple being all about the user experience, having been (and still am) an iPhone user since day one, I feel my user experience has taken a bit of a step backward. I look forward to Apple redressing that soon.

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Tiestofan - September 26, 2012 at 1:27pm

Yeah apple sucks at technology that why Samsung is being sued over and over by apple because Samsung keeps biting off their shit! Stupid noobs!

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