Amid varied reports claiming that Google has been working on a replacement standalone Maps app for iOS to replace the bundled app included with every version of iOS until last week's release of iOS 6, The New York Times weighs in with its own sources claiming that Google is indeed working on a standalone app for iPhone and iPad and is hoping to have it available in "another couple months or so".
As was noted yesterday by The Verge, Apple and Google still have over a year left on their contract for Google to provide Maps for iOS, and thus Google was caught off guard when Apple announced in June that it would be replacing Google's solution with its own Maps app for iOS 6. As a result, Google still needs several more months to complete work on a standalone offering to be submitted to Apple for inclusion in the App Store.
The New York Times notes that another challenge faced by Google stems from its desire to build 3D imagery into its upcoming Maps app for iOS 6. The functionality was added to the Google Earth app several months ago, but moving it to the more traditional mapping app will require additional work.
Another complication, according to a person with knowledge of Google Maps: Google would likely prefer to release a maps app that includes 3-D imagery so it is comparable to Apple’s. But Google has 3-D images in Google Earth, which is a separate app with a separate code base from Google Maps, so it would take some time to combine the two.
Apple's new Maps app has come under significant criticism for a number of issues, including incomplete or poor imagery, errors in locating points of interest and even cities, and a lack of transit information. As with Google Maps, users can report problems to Apple to help improve the product.
Tuesday January 21, 2025 12:46 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
A leaker known as "Majin Bu" today shared an alleged image of a component for the rumored, ultra-thin "iPhone 17 Air" model.
The blurry, pixelated image shows a pair of rear iPhone shells with a pill-shaped, raised camera bar along the top. On the left side of the bar, there is a circular cutout that appears to be for a single rear camera. On the right side of the bar, there appears to be an ...
Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app.
Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
Monday January 20, 2025 9:01 am PST by Joe Rossignol
A new iPhone SE is widely rumored to launch this year, and the device has potentially been confirmed today by known leaker Evan Blass.
In a private social media post, Blass shared an image of what appears to be source code mentioning an iPhone SE (4th Gen), which casts doubt on the alternative "iPhone 16E" name rumored for the device. However, the name in the source code could be a...
Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action.
Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
Tuesday January 21, 2025 4:31 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 18.3 today, and with it comes release notes confirming what's new. While we knew about several of the features that are in the update, there are some lesser known tweaks and bug fixes.
The update adds new Visual Intelligence features for iPhone 16 models, it tweaks Notification summaries on all...
Sunday January 19, 2025 8:11 am PST by Joe Rossignol
After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory.
A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June.
The original AirTag was announced...
Tuesday January 21, 2025 6:40 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple plans to release at least one new iPad Pro model this year, according to a supplier-focused report today from Korean website The Elec. It is likely that the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro models would be updated simultaneously.
After receiving an OLED display last year, the report said the iPad Pro will receive only "minor" changes this year. Overall, the next iPad Pro is expected to...
Wednesday January 22, 2025 2:07 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Popular caller ID app Truecaller is rolling out an update that brings real-time caller ID support to its iOS subscribers.
Apple introduced Live Caller ID Lookup in iOS 18, allowing third-party caller ID apps to securely retrieve information about a caller from their servers, hence today's Truecaller update.
iPhone users can enable the Live Caller ID Lookup feature by going to Settings ➝ ...
Saturday January 18, 2025 10:28 am PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr.
The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models:
iPhone 16
iPhone 16 Plus
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 16 Pro Max
iPhone 15
iPhone 15 Plus
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPhone 14
iPhon...
By then, a lot of Apple's maps glitches will have been resolved.
The first couple of months will see a significant improvement in maps as millions of users calibrate data by simply using maps. If thousands of people travel on a road that is slightly off in maps, that road will be adjusted. If businesses find that their store pin is off, they'll Report a Problem and drop a pin in front of their door.
There will be a big bump in improvements in the first couple of months, then a gradual improvement as Apple tackles glitches and obvious problems over the year and then another big bump with the release of Maps 2.0 in iOS7 when Apple improves the codebase and adjusts/adds features.
Ripping off the bandaid is only going to hurt for a quick moment but Apple will gain control of their maps and we'll see steady improvements over the long term. It'll be worth it.
Big opportunity missed by Google in not having their app ready. Duh, who didn't see this coming??
It will take YEARS for Apple to catch up on Google. Google is years ahead in experience, they have a bigger team dedicated to maps, and lots, lots, lots of data for POI's. Data gathering is their specialty, even. Add to that the poor reputation Apple has launching services (think MobileMe and Ping) and I can't see how this can ever succeed.
I believe Apple will improve their maps, sure, but catch up on Google? I don't think so.
looks like Apple may have played this one perfectly. Catch Google off guard, fix the problems as fast as you can, then by the time google does come out with something people will be used to Apple's map. BOOM. As long as Apple gets the map together, I don't think anyone will care about google maps. Apple actually gave me a much better route to take yesterday than what google suggested.
All these months of iOS 6 betas and Google was somehow taken by surprise? :rolleyes:
Edit: Okay, apparently Google has been surprised since June.
It was public knowledge that Apple had purchased Mapping companies over the past several years. If Google didn't know this could be coming and were not already working on a standalone map app for iOS they haven't been paying attention.
