That said, due to the massive amount of work required to accurately map the entire world, the Apple Maps of iOS 13 is fragmented for different geographical areas. While the new Apple-designed maps and Look Around have been promised for the entire US before 2019’s over, it’s unclear what availability will be this fall when iOS 13 first launches. And if you’re outside the US, it could be a long, slow road before you’ll enjoy these developments. Strip away Look Around and the new maps and what you’re left with in iOS 13 is an app that’s still markedly improved, but likely not enough to tempt you away from Google.
If building a map was as quick and relatively simple a process as adding features to Notes, Safari, or Files, Apple would no doubt have a better story to tell for iOS 13 users outside the US. Alas, some things take more time.
Ryan Christoffel
I still can’t quite understand how Apple expects to compete with Google in this area by offering what is largely an US-only product, and an inferior one on top of that, after years of development. Well, there’s always the option of using anticompetitive tactics, something that Apple has become great at.
This highlights another problem with Apple’s strategy for services: the apps and services they provide are too dependent on the hardware development cycle, meaning consumers receive significant updates generally once (maybe twice) a year, when new iPhones and a major iOS version launch. Compare this with Google’s software release cycle, which is… whenever they finish a feature. Being independent of hardware and OS updates, Google can evolve Maps (and any other service) much faster than Apple, so the gap should continue to widen, despite Apple’s much-publicized efforts. This is one of the problems that hampered Microsoft’s Edge browser, with its update cycle tied to half-yearly Windows releases, while Chrome is updated every six weeks.
The article also mentions Google Maps’ Timeline feature in the context of possible privacy questions. While I agree in principle, ever since I’ve moved to Android I’ve found Timeline an invaluable addition to Google Maps. It makes keeping track of past events and trips effortless, it’s reasonably accurate and, with a large database of businesses, logging even more obscure stops requires only a couple of clicks. Even if Google Maps and Apple Maps were comparable in terms of map details, I would vastly prefer Google Maps for the Timeline integration.
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