Friday, September 21, 2012

mapping failure

the iOS 6 map app is turning into a real debacle for the company. i wonder if this will finally mark the beginning of the end of apple's dominance of the smart phone market. at least one of my friends is planning to get an android because of this map issue.

if apple were smart, it would get a better app out right away, or switch the default map app back to the google based one. the problem is that the indiginous apps on the iphone only update with operating system updates. i'm not sure why, but but while all my other apps have periodic updates, patches and improvements, the apps that come with the phone only change when i install a new operating system. which means that in order to really fix the map problem, apple would have to rush out an iOS 6.1, which some people won't bother to download because upgrading the operating system is more of a pain in the ass than a run-of-the-mill update. also a rushed update is likely to have other bugs and problems.

which makes me wonder why apple doesn't update the apps that come with the phone like allows updates of third party apps? a quick few second download that only targets the app in question rather than the whole operating system. that would make fixing this problem much easier.

instead, apple's fix will likely be to authorize a google based map app, like the old iOS 1 to 5 app that came with the phone, to appear in the app store. that would basically kill apple's chances of getting into the map business (especially if the alternative app is free). if the google app updates whenever google wants and the apple app only updates with a 1-2 times per year operating system update, i don't see how the apple app could ever keep up.