Google Denies Rumors It's Bringing Its Maps App Back to the iPhone Discussion

[Michael Wall]

After Apple put its own mapping app in iOS 6 -- resulting in loud complaints -- it was rumored that Google Maps may be making a return to the iPhone. However, Google's chairmen Eric Schmidt today denied the rumor.

Read the full content of this Article: Google Denies Rumors It's Bringing Its Maps App Back to the iPhone

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[questionfear]

Could be that "brining" just isn't as popular a cooking technique as it used to be. (Sorry, I couldn't resist making a silly joke about the typo! Feel free to remove this when it gets fixed.)

Serious comment:

I think Google is in the driver's seat here. Most people either didn't care or liked Google Maps but never really thought about it either way. Now Apple's mess has made everyone worship Google maps by comparison. When/if they swoop into the App Store, they'll be heroes.

[headcronie]

I sense that Google is all smiles behind the scenes. I can almost hear them snickering and say "Oh, look at the pie in their face now!" And rightly so. They made their bed, now they get to sleep in it. Let Apple come begging for help and give more positive PR to Google, or let Apple try to hash out a fix, for a worldwide issue. Don't forget, it has taken Google years and years of work to get where it is now. Apple won't be able to simply make a fix and be usable.

[r0k]

This reminds me of what they said when Apple was about to release the iPhone. The guys at Nokia, Palm and RIM were snickering saying to themselves, "I bet the guys at Apple are saying 'How hard can this be'? Soon they will fail and this whole iPhone thing will be just a memory."

I guess we see how that all turned out.

This maps thing is a bit different. The original iPhone was crippled by today's standards but there wasn't already something better on the market for people to compare it to. I suspect the guys working on Apple Maps won't be getting a day off until some time in late 2013.

Meanwhile, I'm sure back channel communication has started in order to bring back Google Maps to iOS and "exempt" it from the "iPhone already does this" restriction. I doubt we will see it unless Apple Maps is still fumbling and bumbling a few months from now. And the longer Apple waits to ask, the more Google will demand in return for bringing their app back to iOS.

[headcronie]

Apple in another sense, has painted themselves further in a corner. For many people, the default mapping when browsing the web, is Google Maps. It is going to be a massive mindset change to have people go to maps.apple.com or whatever site it is, to do online browsing. Apple isn't a search provider, or at least they haven't been. Trying to overcome that hurdle seems equivalent to Yahoo and Bing trying to stay relevant in the search industry. Not saying people won't, but the market share they'll command will be tiny in comparison. With results that have been offered by the maps app, people won't long give it second thought. Much like Bing. You can spend countless dollars on marketing, but in the end, what your product provides as a result or service, is what ultimately sells the product. Google has this one nailed.

[questionfear]

r0k, I would be shocked if Apple rejected a GoogleMaps app. There are already plenty of free and paid maps apps in the App Store.

I would not be at all surprised if Maps gets a few updates to bring it to "mostly usable" and then Apple lets it quietly languish in the corner...

[headcronie]

I don't see how people are expecting to see a GoogleMaps app. Apple removed Google Maps in favor of their own offering that they can monetize. I wouldn't expect them to bring it back, except in the face of utter failure.

[Varjak]

I think there are many conflicting issues and feelings going on here. Google probably doesn't want to have the app rejected (although they might see it as an opportunity to highlight Apple's intransigence and closed system with some monopolistic/anti-market attributes). They also have to weigh whether they win in the long run by helping Apple by introducing an app, or whether they benefit more from perhaps gaining 'conquest' sales for people who go from iOS to Android partially because of the mapping advantage. Apple also has conflicting issues. They want to do the mapping themselves and need people to use their service to improve it. OTOH, it's such a travesty (apparently), that they look bad and perhaps sales are affected.

[questionfear]

Google DID supply a YouTube app...so maybe they will try. Who knows.

[Mitlov]

I'm almost wondering if Google will choose not to release a maps app for the iOS6 to help sway people from iOS to Android. It wouldn't be the first time that an exclusive app is used as a selling point for a particular operating system (iTunes and Zune Pass both spring to mind).