Look, I’ll say this right up front — you don’t really need a reason to like Android. However, if you’re looking for one, just one, then here’s a big one. You used to be able to access Google Maps via a native app on iOS. As of iOS 6, you can’t. The replacement — made by Apple — by many accounts, including those with a close relationship with Apple, is rubbish.
Even Waze CEO’s Noam Bardin offered little praise for iOS’ new mapping solution, saying:
“Apple went out and partnered with the weakest player,” he said. “They’re now coming out with the lowest, weakest data set and they’re competing against Google, which has the highest data set. What’s going to happen with the Apple maps, is that you’re literally not going to find things. When you do find them, they might be in the wrong place or position geographically. And if you do have it, the route to it may not be the optimal route.”
Waze provides mapping data for Apple to use in its Maps product, together with Tom Tom, though the implication from Waze is that it’s mostly Tom Tom data. Whether this criticism is isolated to the USA remains to be seen, but from first hand experience, I can tell you that Apple Maps on iOS 6 is rubbish — you can’t find local businesses, or if you can, they’re in the wrong place, or the listings are woefully outdated.
If you use Apple devices — as some of us do for work phones — then your devices will get a bit less useful than they already are with iOS 6. One can only hope that Google releases a Maps app for iOS soon, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t.
