In yet another article regarding Apple's bemoaned iOS Maps, The New York Times claims that Google will be adding Street View functionality to its web app in as little as two weeks, giving iOS 6 users access to the exclusive Google Maps feature.
The information was revealed by NYT technology journalist David Pogue in a Wednesday report regarding a recent experience with the new iOS Maps.
Apparently Pogue used Apple's new mapping service to guide him to a speaking engagement and, while the interface was clean and the directions were clear, the system ended up taking him to the wrong destination, making him late for his talk. The tech writer's troubles echo earlier reports of incorrect, old or missing location data.
Pogue slammed Apple's foray into map making, saying "Maps is an appalling first release. It may be the most embarrassing, least usable piece of software Apple has ever unleashed," but unlike similar reports, offered alternatives to the service and in doing so let loose that Google would be rolling out Street View for its iOS-compatible web app in two weeks.
From Pogue's report:
You can still use Googleâs maps â on the Web. Visit maps.google.com and accept the offer to create a Home-screen icon for you. You wonât get spoken directions, but youâll get written directions, public transportation details, live traffic reports and, of course, Googleâs far superior maps and data. (In two weeks, youâll be able to get Street View this way, too, says Google.) And you can install the Google Plus Local app for full access to Googleâs more complete database of shops and businesses.
In replacing Google Maps in iOS 6 with its own proprietary solution, Apple lost the Street View feature Google spent years to build, substituting it with a 3D rendering function called Flyover. Although a nice addition to iOS Maps, Flyover is limited to certain major metropolitan areas and some say the functionality is not as useful as an on-the-ground view of a location's surroundings.
Later in the report, Pogue noted Apple is taking full responsibility for the missing features, including incorrect place names.
âWe own this; we manage the vendors," said an anonymous Apple executive. "This is no oneâs issue but ours."
Last week, Apple issued a statement regarding the complaints over iOS Maps, promising that the service is a work in progress and would get better with time.
32 Comments
The Google mobile web app is still terrible.
iOS Apps + the upcoming update to Garmin, for Street View. For those not in the mood to shell out for a GPS, I suppose the Google Maps web app will do.
I'm over the whole iOS Maps flap, anyway. It doesn't matter, in retrospect, nearly as much as I thought. *shrugs*
IOS 6 maps rocks for me ! No issues yet and I will bet in less than 2 years it will be far better than google maps was after their first 2 years....
This just pisses me off. What this means is that just as everyone has always suspected, Google has been using Flash for Streetview for years when it didn't really have to. If they can get rid of it that fast, why (the f*ck) didn't they do this years and years ago?
IOS 6 maps rocks for me ! No issues yet and I will bet in less than 2 years it will be far better than google maps was after their first 2 years....
The sad reality is that Google Maps in the iPhone 1.0, 5 years ago, was far better and had more features than the pathetic Apple Map in iOS 6. So you think the Apple Map will be better in 2 years compared to what Google Map was 8 years ago? That is not an improvement. Apple admitted that their Map app was an inferior product in their latest press statement. Too late for Apple on that one. They should have kept the Google Map app and released their app as a beta until they could get it right, at least to be feature-matching with Google Map.
Flyover is fun to play with but completely useless.