Major Backlash Looms For Apple's New Maps App

Hugh Pickens writes "Michael DeGusta writes that Apple's new Maps app is the very first item on their list of major new features in iOS 6, but for many iPhone and iPad users around the world Apple's new maps are going to be a major disappointment as the Transit function will be lost in 51 countries, the Traffic function will be lost in 24 countries, and the Street View function will be lost in 41 countries. 'In total, 63 countries with a combined population of 4.5 billion people will be without one or more of these features they previously had in iOS,' writes DeGusta. 'Apple is risking upsetting 65% of the world's population, seemingly without much greater purpose than speeding the removal of their rival Google from iOS. Few consumers care about such battles though, nor should they have to.' The biggest losers will be Brazil, India, Taiwan, and Thailand (population: 1.5 billion) which overnight will go from being countries with every maps feature (transit, traffic, and street view) to countries with none of those features, nor any of the new features, flyover and turn-by-turn directions. Apple's maps are clearly behind in some key areas, but they will presumably continue to improve over time. Google has committed to making their maps available everywhere, so it seems likely Google will release their own iOS maps app soon, as they did with YouTube, which has similarly been removed from iOS 6." But what percentage of people who actually buy iPhones lost these features?

Comments

And they'll still buy the next iPhone

[danomac]

Most of their customers will grumble about it, and guess what? They'll still buy the next iPhone. Apple's marketing really helps them here.

Re:And they'll still buy the next iPhone

[rwa2]

OTOH, Google Maps on the Blackberry was the one killer app that made me go Android as opposed to, say, a Nokia N800. It's probably the one thing that has had the most profound impact on my life and travels... now I rarely / barely plan anymore... I just pop out the map and let it tell me where to go to explore.

Though I'm a bit pissed that Google replaced Yelp ratings with Zagat. Zagat puts way too much emphasis on decor over food quality. Maybe they're a bit more consistent, but I was more interested in what the locals thought. If a small town on the outskirts of a national forest I was exploring on the backroads really thought their Burger King was the best place to eat, then I'd know to push on.

Re:And they'll still buy the next iPhone

[Karlt1]

It's strange that after a decade, if the only thing that Apple had going for it was marketing, that no one else has figured out how to market a product......

Re:And they'll still buy the next iPhone

[TheRaven64]

They don't just have marketing. They also have products that suck marginally less than their competitors. They also make different bad UI decisions, so once you're used to one usability disaster, moving to the competitor's usability disaster is even harder.

Re:And they'll still buy the next iPhone

[curunir]

As an iOS user, I'm actually happy with the iOS 6 situation. The Google maps on iOS lags behind the version in Android because it's part of the core OS and only gets updated during OS upgrades. As a third-party app, Google will be free to update Maps more often.

The only way that the new development becomes a negative is if either Apple pulls App Store shenanigans with Google's Maps app or if Google doesn't put in the effort to keep the app current. Otherwise, this is a huge win for iOS users...we get an app that sits idle most of the time but has the cool flyover feature and we get a more current version of Google Maps.

Re:And they'll still buy the next iPhone

[tooyoung]

Also odd that people would repeatedly buy products for a decade that lack what they want, and that is all accomplished through the magic of marketing. Maybe this perception is actually wrong and people evaluate whether they like a product and make repeat purchases based on that decision. Maybe perception of a product is different from a hardware spec and a feature list.

Re:And they'll still buy the next iPhone

[Goth Biker Babe]

What I find incredible is the arrogance of commenters like this who think they're the only ones immune and who have seen the light.

I don't give a shit about marketing. I trust marketing people as much as the next liar. I went around, tried devices, and bought an iPhone because I liked what it did. Just that. I recently bought a Google Galaxy Nexus as a new phone. Its was a waste of money. Not because its bad. Just because I don't get on with it and prefer my iPhone. BTW I bought both of them out of contract and they cost the same.

I'm not buying an iPhone 5 because the 4 does everything I need it to do. I wont be buying another Android phone because they don't work how I like and the 4 does everything I need it to use.

One day the hardware will fail and I'll have to make a decision. When that day comes I'll go and assessed the hardware again. There are people who will buy stuff just because its Apple just as there are people who wont buy stuff just because its Apple. But there are also a lot of intelligent individuals who have compared, contrasted and bought Apple because the like them. Oh and different people have different priorities and they may not be the same as yours so don't judge them based on your requirements.

Voluntary upsetment

[drunkle j]

Umm, doesn't this only affect those who voluntarily upgrade to iOS6 or the iPhone5? It surely is annoying, but at least they're not pulling a sony (e.g. upgrade-to-iOS6-or-you-can't-use-apps kind of update).

Re:The biggest losers will be Brazil, India,

[Anonymous Coward]

5% of India is still what, 50 million people? That's a fair bit of money.

Re:Like any of them poor countries can afford Appl

[Nushio]

On the plus side, between the new iPhone connector and the loss of features like Google Maps, Android's just looking like a nicer alternative. :-)

Was Google banned from Appstore?

[ugen]

Was Google banned from Appstore? If not, their mapping app will be (if not already) available as a free download for all.

Google stands to lose more in the long run than Apple from this. While I appreciated being able to use public transportation schedules in Bangkok and Hong Kong on my iPhone, that's a small convenience. At the same time having my location, movements and destinations sent to Google in exchange for this convenience is not particularly desirable. I went along with this for the lack of reasonable choice.

Now that a different mapping solution is available, my location will "only" be sent to Apple and their partners. As long as they don't sell this information to Google (that's what competition is good for) this is one less element of comprehensive profile on me that Google can build.

As far as features go, I am sure in time Apple's own maps will get public transportation info for other countries.

BTW, Google public transportation info was off quite a bit (both in US and elsewhere) making it sometimes less than useful. Hope Apple does better. As far as traffic goes, in my experience Google is wrong more often than not (other than generally painting everything yellow-red during rush hour, which is self-evident). They apparently use returned data from mapping apps on mobile devices to gauge traffic conditions (here, another reason they need app on iPhone) I stopped using their traffic information a while ago.

Disclaimer: I don't *like* any large enterprise or product. I use iPhone because it best fits my requirements for mobile device. I am also a Windows and Mac user, and develop software for Windows, Mac, Linux, FreeBSD and a few other platforms. :) In case any of the "anti apple" crowd pull out their usual fanboy slogans.

Re:Like any of them poor countries can afford Appl

[OffaMyLawn]

I am currently an iPhone user, but never bought into the whole "Apple can do no wrong" aspect of things. It was a functional device that allowed me to do what I wanted with it.

But I'm not going to buy an iPhone 5 when my upgrade comes around in November. I was honestly considering a Lumia, but not if all I'm going to be given the option of (being on Verizon) some lower end model. If they do pick up the 920, then I may seriously consider giving it a purchase.

Otherwise, I'll end up with an S3. I'm not married to any particular type of phone (had the original Moto Droid, with no real complaints) but I do tend to dislike when companies do things that just don't seem to make sense from a consumer standpoint. I am aware they don't want Google anything on their phones anymore, for obvious reasons, but I don't like anything done at the cost of experience. Being petty and spiteful really does not serve others well.

Re:Like any of them poor countries can afford Appl

[Anonymous Coward]

BULLSHIT!

There is NOTHING forcing you to upgrade to iOS6 other than getting access to the new features in iOS6.

You can still connect to iTunes, iCloud, etc.

For fuck's sake, I know we fucking hate all things Apple, but can we stop spreading bullshit?

Re:Like any of them poor countries can afford Appl

[tysonedwards]

Amazing how Apple can risk upsetting 65% of the world's population when they've only sold products that could be effected by this change to *up to* 4.6% of said world population, with the likely number falling well below that due to repeat sales to the same individuals.

Let's do the math:
World Population: 7 Billion
Number of iOS Devices Sold: 400,000,000

iPhone 2G Units Sold: 6.1 Million
iPhone 3G Units Sold: 20.25 Million
iPod Touch 1st - 3rd Generations Units Sold: 32 Million
iPad 1St Generation Units Sold: 19.48 Million

Total iOS Units that will not get the "New Maps": 77.83 Million
Total Effected iOS Devices: 32,617,000

Does it suck that their offering is less mature than Google's, of course, however Google has also announced that they will be providing an updated version of their Maps app via Apple's App Store, so if you aren't happy with what the mighty Apple provides, than give it a couple weeks and let someone else fill the void.

It is just amazing to think that people really think that companies like Apple really have the power to impact the lives of 65% of the world population through changing a back-end web service on a small subset of their devices.

Re:Like any of them poor countries can afford Appl

[postbigbang]

Mod parent up, not down.

If I didn't know better, sometimes I'd believe that 3/4ths of slashdotters were astroturfers fighting the battles of their overlords.

Will Apple make their clientele suffer the death from a thousand cuts by cutting the quality and openness of their devices? That's for Apple to decide. Apple is by no means a democracy.

As for Google, you sacrifice most of your personal info to get the juicy maps. Is there a solution where locational privacy and great maps intersect? Not in the "free" model, but perhaps there is in the "open" model.