Apple continues to rollout 3D Flyover support to Maps users all over the world, and it appears the features latest destination is Paris, France. Until this week, Lyon was the only French city that boasted Flyover support, but that’s no longer the case.
When Apple launched its new Maps app with iOS 6 last September, one of its headline features, Flyover, only supported a handful of big cities. But the Cupertino company has been hard at work in the background to extend its reach, adding support for additional locations all over the world.
In the past few months, Apple has brought Flyover to an additional 16 cities, plus extended its coverage in 14 of the cities already supported.
Everyone knows that Apple’s maps suck, right? After all, they were pretty poor at launch, and anything to do with Apple never changes: Apple gear is overpriced ($330 for an iPad!), Apple should license its OS (Android is open! And winning!). Etc.
Except that maps have gotten a lot better in the intervening months. The app mightn’t have gotten an update, but arguably its the same old app that used to use Google maps anyway. But the software and map tiles behind the scenes? Oh boy.
Street View is a new $0.99 iOS app from FutureTap that promises to bring Google Street View back to Apple’s Maps app on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Once installed, you’ll be able to access Street View from within Apple Maps with a series of simple taps. It’s not seamless, but it works.
Amidst the criticism of Apple’s new iOS 6 Maps app, many users have been (not so patiently) waiting for Google to release their own official Maps application. While Google has confirmed that they have yet to submit an application to the App Store, they certainly have one in development. If these photos that were leaked today are to be believed, we could have our first glimpse of Google’s new Maps app.
While the interface isn’t impressive by any means, it sure beats the likes of Google’s miserable Gmail app it released last year. From the blurry pictures posted by developer Ben Guild, it appears that Google has brought over some Android design language into the app. Ben says the app will support the iPhone 5’s increased resolution, and will offer similar two-finger rotation gestures as the current iOS Maps app.
While Apple’s new Maps app has received a lot of criticism since its debut last month, it does offer a number of nifty features that weren’t available in iOS 5, including 3D Flyover and voice-guided, turn-by-turn navigation. However, these are features that are only available on the latest devices, including the iPhone 4S, the iPhone 5, the new iPad, and the fifth-generation iPod touch.
At least that’s the case if you handset isn’t jailbroken. If it is, you can now get these features on A4-powered devices like the iPhone 4, and the fourth-generation iPod touch thanks to a new tweak called ‘Unlock iOS 6 Maps’.
While iOS 6 may be “the world’s most advanced mobile operating system,” its new Maps app is, quite frankly, a heap of trash. It boasts some terrific features, such as 3D Flyover and voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation, but they’re only terrific when the Maps that power them actually work. And Apple’s don’t in a lot of places.
The Cupertino company’s CEO, Tim Cook, has apologized to customers for the frustration the new app has caused, and it’s led us to wonder why Apple even released it. It still had a year left on its contract with Google, so why did it rush into releasing its own, half-baked service so quickly?
Well, one reason behind the move is that Steve Jobs had grown to hate Google. So much so that he set up a new Maps team just to kick Google Maps off the iOS devices.
We’ve heard a lot of rumors surrounding a Google Maps app for iOS over the past week, and now The New York Times is weighing in with information from its own sources. Fortunately, it’s good news: it claims Google is indeed working on a Maps app for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, and that the company is hoping to have it ready and released by the end of this year.
Why’s it taking so long? Well, Google had no idea Apple was kicking Google Maps out of iOS until Apple first previewed iOS 6 back in June.
With Google Maps gone from iOS 6 in favor of Apple’s own solution, many are hoping Google will bring its own Maps app to the App Store — as it did with YouTube a couple weeks ago. A recent report claimed that it was already on its way, but according to Google chairman Eric Schmidt, that’s not the case at all. In fact, Google hasn’t even submitted a Maps app to Apple for approval yet.
Apple is said to be “aggressively” recruiting Google Maps employees in an effort to fix its highly criticized Maps service, according to an unnamed source “with connections on both teams.” The Cupertino company is reportedly using recruiters to attract individuals who have previously helped develop Google Maps, and many of them seem to be snapping up the opportunity to work at Apple.
