14 DAY TRIAL // If you want to gauge how Google’s mapping service stacks up next to Apple’s, all you need to do is to look at the downloads scored by the new Google Maps app in its first two days as a third-party native iOS client.
According to Jeff Huber, senior vice president of Commerce and Local at Google, the new maps app scored more than 10 million downloads in less than 48 hours since its debut in the App Store.
“We're excited for the positive reception of Google Maps for iPhone around the world. Congratulations to the Maps Team on the recognition for the passion and hard work they poured into it, for this release and over the last 7+ years,” Huber wrote on his Google+ account.
Previously bundled as a stock (first-party) iOS application, Google Maps is now officially out of Apple’s mobile operating system as a standard service.
Replacing it is Apple Maps, the beleaguered solution that failed to live up to today's standards.
Apple continues to repair the glitches in its own solution as Google continues to improve its already reliable Maps, especially on the iOS, as if it was intentionally seeking to gain the public’s attention.
In fact, Google told the New York Times’ David Pogue that its Maps developers indeed put more effort into the iPhone port than they did in the Android port.
Android, as many of you should know, is Google’s mobile operating system. The fact that Google has put more effort into building a better maps experience for a competing platform says a lot about the company, and its relationship with Apple.
Google Maps is compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation) and iPad, and requires iOS 5.1 or later. You can download it at the link below.