

Ask HN: Why would Google release IOS maps? - danielna

Someone with more business savvy than I please chime in:<p>It seems that the maps functionality was a non-trivial trump card when it came to the Android vs. iOS debate from the consumer side.  I personally was even considering switching back to Android from my iPhone, partially because the nav functionality was so underwhelming.<p>What's the reason that Google would go ahead and bring that functionality to their single biggest competitor?  Is it just a matter of showcasing their own technical capability re:maps (relative to Apple's incapability)?
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dragonwriter
The new Google Maps app on iOS -- unlike the pre-iOS 6 Apple Maps app using
Google Maps data, is a Google-branded application that integrates with Google
Accounts for cross-platform history and other purposes, provides feeback
mechanisms that helps Google gather information to improve the Google Maps
experience for all users and all platforms, and integrates with Google's
reviews and other Google services.

Android, for Google, is a way to drive the entire mobile marketplace in a
direction which supports Google's online services, which by design are not
tied to a particular platform. Apple may use services to sell the platform,
but for Google its the other way around.

If people go to Android instead of iOS, that's good for Google, sure, but its
almost as good for Google much if people use Google services on iOS. Heck,
that's why Google was best friends with Apple when the initial iPhone with its
everything-is-web approach was released.

Google Maps on iOS exists for the same reason that Youtube on iOS, Google
Chrome on iOS, and other Google apps on iOS exist.

