Millions of iPhone customers may soon find themselves losing touch with an old friend: Google’s maps application.
On Wednesday, Apple released a software update for the iPhone that, among other changes, replaces the Google maps that have been on the phone since 2007 with Apple’s own maps. So far the feedback from reviewers and early adopters of the new software is that it is attractive but suffers from holes and glitches.
For example, some have found that searches for an in-town destination can pull up an entirely different city, and there is no built-in information about public transportation.
Apple’s previous versions of iOS, its mobile software system, included a Maps app that was made by Apple but powered by Google’s mapping service. In iOS 6, the latest version, Apple has replaced the old app with a new version that uses mapping data collected or purchased by Apple itself.
The company has been preparing for this change for a while as Google, with its Android software for phones, has come to be more of a competitor than a partner. Over the last three years, Apple has acquired three mapping companies.
On the bright side, the new Apple-powered Maps app includes some features that were not in the old version, like spoken turn-by-turn directions and Flyover, a feature that shows 3-D models of buildings in major cities.
However, Apple is relatively new to mapping and it has a lot more work to do before its service is as robust as Google’s.
No comments:
Post a Comment