Google Maps for iOS was downloaded 10 million times during the first 48 hours of release. Google was kicked off the Apple iOS platform with one year left on the company’s contract. Apple quickly replaced Google’s mobile mapping platform with a solution of its own. The Apple Maps solution was quickly panned by critics and users after it left users stranded, mislabeled various venues and failed to provide fluid mapping.
Just seven hours after Apple placed the Google Maps software on its App Store platform, the program was the top free downloaded mobile software.
When Apple Maps failed to impress, company CEO Tim Cook was quick to apologize and offer customers various alternative mapping platforms. Google was not a suggested platform at the time of Apple’s apology because it was still being developed for iOS 6.
The new version of Google Maps includes many features that were previously left off the built-in Google Maps software. The biggest change may be the introduction of turn-by-turn voice guided directions. Rumors have stated that Apple dropped Google Maps one year early because the platform lacked voice guidance.
The Google Maps fiasco led Apple to fire iOS head Scott Forstall.
Google Maps continues to remain atop the Apple App Store’s free apps market one week out, and the platform shows no signs of slowing.
Only time will tell if Apple Maps can catch up with Google’s mobile offering. In the meantime, Apple has been actively hunting down and hiring former Google Maps employees in the hopes of creating a worthwhile competitor.