With all the back and forth news about whether or not Google is working on a Google Maps app for iOS, and plenty of speculation about Apple catching Google with their pants down by opting out of a Maps contract one full year earlier than they had to, it’s no surprise that many are wondering exactly when Google’s Maps app will be back on iOS. According to the New York Times, Google’s working on a standalone application, but it won’t be available for a couple more months. From the sounds of it, Apple caught Google off-guard.
Google is developing a maps application for both the iPhone and iPad, according to reports. Despite public posturing from Eric Schmidt in Tokyo earlier this week, evidence seems to point directly to Google not only working on a new Maps application for iOS, but that they’re also burning the midnight oil to get it done. That said, there appears to be a couple of complications with getting the application out sooner rather than later at this point.
From the New York Times:
According to a person with knowledge of Google Maps: Google would likely prefer to release a maps app that includes 3-D imagery so it is comparable to Apple’s. But Google has 3-D images in Google Earth, which is a separate app with a separate code base from Google Maps, so it would take some time to combine the two.
Combining the two applications would be a smart starting point for Google. Having one application for maps and another for Google Earth doesn’t make much sense. It barely made any sense when Google’s Maps was the de facto Maps application in iOS, and it makes even less sense to keep them as separate entities at this point.
Can we just get one Maps app to rule them all please? Honestly, it doesn’t matter if the Maps app is from Apple or Google at this point. Heck, if neither of these companies can get their act together, a switch to Waze may be in the cards. They’re doing a lot of really cool things with their maps these days.
