Apple Maps: Time For A New Direction

Whether you’re heading to a meeting or looking for a place to eat with friends in town, mapping apps are an essential part of everyday life.

ALL CHANGE FOR APPLE MAPS

While Google Maps continues to dominate, Apple Maps is growing in popularity, with new changes set to make the software even more advanced.

In an interview with TechCrunch, Apple’s SVP Eddy Cue revealed that the Cupertino firm was working on a brand new Apple Maps app “from the ground up”, designed to address some of the most common pain points that iPhone users faced when navigating. With an early rollout expected in San Francisco in the coming weeks and a US-wide release within the next year, we take a look at the history of Apple Maps and reveal what you can expect from the overhauled app.

CONTROVERSIAL iOS 6 LAUNCH

Since the release of the first-generation iPhone in 2007, Google had served as the default Maps provider on iOS. It was only in late2009 when tensions between Google and the Cupertino firm began to grow after an Android version of Google Maps featured turned-byturn navigation - a feature that didn’t come packaged as standard with iOS. On top of that, Apple argued that technology giant Google had been collecting too much data about users on iOS, and so in 2012 at the Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple unveiled its own Maps apps for iOS. The announcement was coupled with news that Apple Maps would include turn-by-turn navigation, 3D Maps, Flyovers, and the company’s virtual assistant Siri, which would make navigating easier than ever before.