A brilliant interface and an extremely intuitive Directions feature

Dec 13, 2012 07:30 GMT  ·  By

After being kicked out of iOS, Google Maps is finding a way back onto people’s iPhones via a native application available today as a free download from Apple’s iTunes App Store.

Capitalizing on Apple’s numerous Maps blunders, the most recent of which has been deemed “potentially life threatening,” Google Maps offers search, directions, Street View, imagery, and a brand new interface.

The application allows users to log in with their Google ID to speed up the process of finding addresses, places and businesses with Google local search.

Users can discover places based on ratings and sync their searches, directions and favorite places between their computer and their iDevice.

Google Maps offers voice guided, turn-by-turn driving directions; train, bus, underground or walking directions; and live traffic information in select cities.

Street View puts 360-degree panoramas back in iOS, and users can pinch to zoom out and see high-resolution satellite imagery of locations around the world.

Other features listed by Google include:

* An entirely new Google Maps experience on your iPhone. * Newly designed and streamlined interface for even easier navigation of your world. * Use gestures to explore the map and browse results.

Our preliminary tests show that Google’s solution is indeed superior to Apple’s, with a brilliant interface, spot-on mapping information and a pretty awesome Directions feature that lets you see every turn from a 3D perspective.

You can basically envision a route before setting out to find the respective location which translates into fewer visits to the screen, allowing you to keep your eyes on the road.

Requirements include iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation), iPad, and iOS 5.1 or later. The app is optimized for iPhone 5. An iPad-native version is not available.

Download Google Maps iOS (Free)