Google Maps Apps is now available on iOS App store. The Google Maps App for iOS will include turn by turn navigation which is voice based, vector based maps and will support 2D and 3D layouts. When Apple introduced iOS 6 at the WWDC 2012 event, it decided to do away with Google Maps for its own Map service.
The newly approved Google Maps app on App store, has been created ground up. It includes an expandable info sheet for more details on businesses and landmarks.
Apple’s Google Maps Saga
Apple’s own Map service was disastrous as it simply did not match up to Google Maps. That was expected as Google has spent years collecting and refining the data for its maps feature. The issue became critical when users upgraded to iOS6 and found Google maps missing. Apple’s own mapping service had many errors and outside the U.S and Europe, it was more or less considered useless. Apple’s CEO Tim Cook, did apologize for the maps fiasco and even went on to recommend using Bing and Nokia Maps along with Google Maps via the Safari browser.
Google had never released a official maps app on iOS platform. Since iPhone was introduced, Apple used date from Google Maps to create a default app for the iPhone. This meant that when people upgraded to iOS 6 there was no way to access the Google Maps app on the phone.
If you own a iPhone or iPad, download the official Google Maps App and do let us know about your views.
Link: Google Maps App for iOS