Update: Following OP's advice I was able to get to the Google, Inc page where the Maps app is listed. Still no luck. This is gonna be a waiting game :(
Possibly. I found it by chance on the page which lists all the apps by "Google, Inc." in the App Store. It's listed there, but agree it doesn't show up in search results yet and I can't download it. It just seems this is definitely the permalink to it.
Would be interesting to see how large this would be. I remember a few years ago (3-4?) when there was a project for mobile devices that would cache Google Maps for your city onto your device.
On the android version of google maps, I saved the route from Philadelphia to Kentucky (~675 miles) without a problem. You loose voice turn by turn, however.
Does voice navigation work on iPhone 4? I currently use a telenav app due to them having voice nav. I'm not in a position to upgrade my phone yet, so my girlfriend and I are stuck with the 4 for a bit. I downloaded the app and gave it a test but it didnt seem to do any voice -- that may be because I wasn't moving, though. It did give me the option to mute the voice navigation -- which I found odd.
Thanks! You were right. Apparently it didn't do anything when I wasn't moving but I finally had a chance to try it on the move and it worked flawlessly. Thanks for correcting my initial assumption.
I'd rather they put another designer on the project and develop both interfaces simultaneously from the beginning. Other companies manage it, but apparently not Google.
Notice the last screenshot preview of the app? Interestingly, it is the iPad aspect ratio. So I'm sure it's just simply not yet ready for public release.
Your smarminess is cute, but Apple eased up on the "duplicate functionality" stuff a long time ago. You have to look no further than the fact that Chrome exists.
Which is still just a UIWebView in the Chrome dressing because Apple won't permit Google to run their own Javascript or document rendering engines on iOS.
That's a totally separate issue, with completely valid security concerns (although sounds like an implementation issue that should be rethought).
It very much duplicates the core functionality of Safari, just as Google Voice does for the Phone and Messages apps. And GV was what both started and eventually ended that whole "duplicate functionality" debacle.
I have a web browser for iOS that does its own HTML rendering, and has been available in the store for many years now. Before CoreText was available, even. It doesn't deal with Javascript though, so you may have a point there.
Yeah, I copy pasted the link into Chrome on iPhone 5, it opened the install page on the iTunes app (instead of the App Store app). Possibly because of the itunes.apple.com/... in the url. What are regular app link domains anyway?
Wow! This is a very slick and sexy app, I am impressed. I am going to give it a try for my commute to work tomorrow. Very fast, responsive, and the voice is nice (but a little too fast as compared to iOS)
Now police in Colac, west of Melbourne, say faults with Google maps are putting people's lives at risk along the Great Ocean Road and in the southern Otways.
Sergeant Nick Buenen says trucks, buses and tourists are being directed down Wild Dog Road, which is a one-way track, not built for heavy traffic.
He says VicRoads has denied responsibility and Google Maps has not responded.
"Update, 12:41 p.m. PT A Google spokesperson said that Google Maps routes drivers onto Wild Dog Road only if the driver searches for a destination located on that road. For directions to other nearby locations, Google Maps routes drivers onto Forrest-Apollo Bay Road/Skenes Creek Road.
"
Not seeing this in the Australian App Store either. Can't wait, my girlfriend will be especially pleased she relies on having maps on her iPhone because she's a hopeless navigator and the iOS 6 maps frustrate her.
Thanks man. I just realised the app is so new Apple's app store search index probably hasn't been refreshed just yet, so went onto the HN homepage on my phone and it opened up in the store.
The app does not show up on search yet. However, I was able to install it by:
* Open up App Store
* Search for Chrome
* Click on Chrome to bring up the app page
* Select Related tab
* On "More By Google" section, click see all
* On the list of Google Apps that appear, Google Maps is at the very bottom... Click on the "FREE" or "INSTALL" button to install. Alternatively, click on the item to bring up the app page for Google Maps
Apple had an interesting choice here, they could allow it, or they could not allow it. If they didn't, Google had a very good opportunity to slam Apply publicly and get users riled up, and enemies more ammunition. They chose the latter, which I think is the best choice as they now have real competition and they'll have to step up their game. This is app number two that will probably take place over the natively installed apps now by Google.
It's actually Chrome, I use it 90% of the time. The other 10% is when things open in Safari. Apple could be a little looser about setting which apps to open by default.
Google Voice for example. Apple felt that another app having a dialer would be confusing to users. I'm not sure what excuse they'd have to block Google Maps, given the large selection of mapping apps available, but I wouldn't put it past them to come up with something.
Google Voice is in the App Store these days. It's pretty clear that they've worked to come up with a fairer and more consistent set of approval guidelines.
I think what you're talking about is just that: history. There is a slew of email, weather, web browsers etc. All in the App Store competing with their native versions. There have been for a while.
It will be interesting to see - Google Maps is pretty darn good and has a great brand. I'm willing to wager that, because people are incredibly lazy (and, honestly, the vast majority probably don't care as much as we do) - that a small majority will continue to use IOS6 maps - but I don't think it will be way more.
Why people insist Apple made their own map app because they wanted to take Google out?
Hasn't it been stated already that the original Google-backed apps weren't being updated anymore and the contract expired?
It's the same situation as the YouTube app. Why would Apple not allow the Google Maps app?
If anything, this was actually good, now we have 2 map apps and Google is forced to make a good one, just riding on the superior mapping data won't cut it.
This is leaps and bounds better than Apple Maps and even the original maps client on iOS that used Google Maps. I didn't even think Apple maps were 'that' bad. The huge hole was POI data, in London at least. Most POI's seemed to be approximated and the rest of them were missing, old or incorrect.
After playing with this app for 10 minutes I think this is far superior to the iOS5 Maps experience. It's an extremely refined and clean app that is extremely fast with lots of features. Start typing a street or location and it'll know what you mean within a few letters.
It is positively beautiful for public transport. It shows the next service leaving and how far (time) it is.
I'm still looking to see how the option to save Home and Work addresses helps me - it makes home and work function as search terms but there must be more to it?
> It is positively beautiful for public transport. It shows the next service leaving and how far (time) it is.
It's quite amusing to see how excited people are about this when this has been available with Google Maps on Android since 2009 (IIRC). I remember I used my Galaxy Nexus to navigate NYC for a whole week with public transit without ever asking a person for directions.
My impression is the opposite - Google Maps' data is so much better that it hardly matters, but this app seriously lacks polish. For instance, it's laggy - iOS 6 Maps doesn't always make 60fps, which is a shame, but this app doesn't even try. Simply panning around (on my 4S) is enough to produce serious stuttering; even the simple transition to the side menu is not smooth. Or consider Street View, which is missing the signature transition as you "move" from one place to another.
edit: Opening the side menu, for its matter, visually seems to depend on hitting a tiny tap target; there is hidden space to the left of the target but not above it, which is the natural place I tried tapping. The menu itself is weirdly designed (giant spacing) and prone to accidental dismissal by someone trying to scroll it.
For the side menu, try swiping left near the icon, like it's a "handle" to pull out the menu. Works for me, and it seems to be how they're distinguishing "open the menu" vs. "pan the map left"
I think for bookmarks, you have to sign in (with your Google account, or a dummy one) and save them in your account. Not sure though, haven't tried yet (and probably won't, as I don't need it).
And I agree about polish. You have a 4S. I have a 4. It barely makes 20 fps.
Animations in built-in apps are buttery smooth, and always have been, ever since the first iPhone. The problem is with newer iOS apps that are either unoptimized or heavily UIWebView based. The newest Gmail app is definitely mostly HTML5, and I suspect this one is as well.
Is Apple Maps even Apple for iPhone 4? Because if it's not, then it would've probably had the same issues. iPhone 4 had a really slow GPU - one of the slowest around at the time it launched, especially with the "retina display". It consistently scored at the bottom of GPU benchmarks. Remember the iPhone 4S GPU was 7x faster according to Apple.
You're certainly right about its CPU being very slow, but still, all other apps that use Apple's UIKit (standard visual elements, like menu bars, sliders, buttons, etc. - it doesn't matter if they're "stock", or are heavily modified/themed) are just as fast as they are on iPhone 5 or iPad 4.
GMaps uses something else for the UI (the "slide from side" thing) and that's the problem.
Still, I'm not really complaining. As a developer I know it's hard to write something that both pleases you aesthetically, and is performant on all devices!
Wow, my jaw is on the floor because of a huge, but sorely lacking feature in this app: the ability to edit the name of a starred location. This isn't a problem if I want to star "Steve's Pizza" since that's how it shows up in their directory, but what about my grandmother's house? I can star her location, sure, but it'll appear in the search history list as a random address once it's one of many other such entries. Am I wrong to think this is a massive oversight over a common use-case? Let's put the Google praise parade on hold and reflect on this for a second.
TL;DR You can't edit the name of your starred locations from the iOS Google Maps app.
Doesn't seem like a 'massive oversight' to me. Definitely a 'should have' feature, but not something that needed to be in this release from an MVP perspective.
You can't do this from the Android version either, it's an annoying oversight. I've resorted to taking all important locations and putting them into a custom map; the location markers in custom maps /can/ be named.
This was one of the first things I noticed as well. It seems like such basic functionality (the maps app in iOS had this since at least iOS3), I was amazed to find you can't edit them in the app (thankfully you can see @andrewaylett's comment for a way to do it).
There are several serious bugs in the saved locations functionality.
I found that if you 'pin' a location (say a building) on the map (by pressing and holding) it will show the address. But when you 'save' it, the details of the address get 'lost' when looking at your search history. I ended up with multiple entries in my list titled 'Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan' (which is the equivalent of, say, 'Manhatten, New York, USA'. Clicking each one still takes you to the correct location on the map, but they are impossible to tell apart in the list. Also then when using the 'directions' widget on the map and picking the destination, these saved locations appeared as longitude/latitude!
I wonder if these issues are specific to Japan? I submitted feedback about this.
That being said, overall the app is quite impressive, and I'm sure it will improve.
It's very smooth on my iPhone 5, but it does have moments where you can notice a bit of frame drop (only if you've read this comment thread beforehand).
From a UI/UX perspective:
+ Fonts and text entry are great
+ Search speed and interface speed are fantastic
- The pull-out menu on the right (akin to a hamburger menu) feels a bit odd and it's not immediately clear as to what it does (they are layer toggles for traffic/transit routes/satellite)
- I can't figure out how to bookmark my home or work addresses (whilst being logged in) - if there is a way it is not intuitive.
You're right - it's not intuitive. To set your work and home while logged in, click the person on the upper right and then the gear then edit home or work?
Bookmarks (while logged in) require you to find a location, and then slide-up to reveal the "save star". You use the slide-up option to "Share" and "Switch to street view" as well. If it's a business, the "Call" / Website / Zaggat(?) rating is available from slide up.
I don't have a 4 or 4s to compare with, but I haven't noticed any significant lag on iPhone 5 over Verizon LTE. Even satellite and street view are pretty responsive.
Although when I typed in a POI it actually found what I was looking for, so I say that makes up for being short maybe 1-2FPS (I used to say Apple Maps was reasonably decent until searching for "logan" in Boston and having to try about 15 different search terms before getting the Airport when I was two miles away; Google Maps got it right with "logan boston" while I'm sitting in Palo Alto)
boston logan airport was the second suggestion when finished typing boston logan. logan boston also gave an instant result although i suspect it the earlier search contributed to it.
Usability? In this app you can actually switch different modes of navigation (car, on foot, public transport) after the route is displayed to you. That, at least, is something this app has over Apple’s app.
That's a nice feature I guess but I agree that the UI is quite bad. Tapping on a spot does nothing. To get a pin you have to tap and hold. Tapping on your new pin again does nothing but make the stupid toolbar bounce. Tapping on the toolbar brings it up partially. You have to swipe it to get the full view.
And getting options took me 30 seconds to figure out. There is that stupid tab with 3 little dots.
Public transport data is available for Sydney on the web but curiously missing in the app.
And asking me to sign in on start up. Really? Get out of my face unless I explicitly ask to sign in through the standard iOS settings app.
Of course correct data and great search trumps all complaints.
I retract my complaint about dropping pins. iOS maps requires tap and hold too. What threw me off was that Maps gives you the pin first then loads data. Google maps starts loading data then gives you the pin.
That's what threw me off.
Lack of POI data? The mapping data appears equivalent to the web app. Maps has more POI data it seems, or at least shows it without have to zoom in too near.
I'm also on a 4S and it doesn't feel laggy to me. In particular I'm feeling much fewer "hiccups" as new data comes in than I do with Apple Maps.
Now, at the same time, it does seem to be locked at 30fps rather than 60 (as in Apple Maps). So it's not quite as silky smooth in that respect, I suppose, but it'll also drain battery more slowly.
Can you elaborate? If you are drawing to the buffers at half the rate (and correspondingly swapping them out at half the rate), how would that not be easier on the graphics processor?
Triple-buffering allows for arbitrary relative speeds. The result is, you draw to the buffer as fast as you can in total disregard of the actual refresh rate. So they're both at "100%" CPU/GPU, but that simply isn't enough for Google Maps.
I think Google actually locked Google Maps at 30fps though. In other words, I don't think it is actually drawing as fast as the processor would allow, were Google to remove that lock.
Otherwise I'd expect to see more fluctuation in the framerate of the app, especially when there isn't much detail on the screen (similar to Apple Maps, which is obviously not locked to 30fps).
I've been playing with both of them, side by side for about 30 minutes. Google maps feels about 2x faster. Unlike IOS 6 maps (this is on my iPhone 5), I can't seem to scroll fast enough to get ahead of the map cacheing. I definitely feel like I'm getting a more FPS than IOS 6 Maps. This suggests this is a CPU/Graphics issue?
Re: Side Menu - Unlike those stupid tiny x marks in the notification tray which I can never hit on my first try, I can't seem to miss opening the side menu. Are you swipe-in opening it? It's not a push, but a swipe.
Bookmarks are there - you just have to click "save" when you open the item. Then clicking on an empty search bar will bring them up.
Not sure how you're getting the 2x fps sensation. On a 4S, using the OpenGL ES analyzer in Instruments while browsing similar neighborhoods at similar zoom levels, I average ~35fps in Google Maps and ~55 in Apple Maps.
Not terribly surprising though - Apple Maps would have access to all the private APIs that AppStore apps can't use.
I've been playing with it for about an hour - and I think one of the interesting tricks that the Google Maps plays is that, in addition to making aggressive use of cacheing (which the IOS 6 map application does as well) - The Google Maps displays low-resolution version of the map you are moving into, before display the high res. The IOS 6 Maps app tends to display a blank background, so you may be more aware that the entire map hasn't been displayed.
It will be interesting to see if there is any server impact, as millions of people start using this Map Application tomorrow. (In both directions - it may be the case that the Apple Map servers will see a drop in use, and increase in performance)
I have a 3Gs running 5.1 and the new version is much slower than the original. I'd guess about about 5FPS, and 2-3x slower. This app needs some performance optimization.
I upgraded my iPad to iOS 6, and left my iPhone 4S at iOS 5 and compared the navigation results in India. Apple maps were a letdown in this part of the world. I have used iOS 5 Maps application a lot in Northern India and had far better (if not perfect) results.
Now finally I can upgrade to iOS6.
Nope. In order to rename starred places in Google Maps you apparently need to use the Google Bookmarks service on the web and manually edit the names that way -- not very intuitive considering how much they got right with the app.
I hope this get's more use than the "Open in Chrome" button does. Both are awesome, my only gripe with iOS 6 is not being able to set default apps for browser, email, and maps. (coincidentally I'd switch them all to Google or google owned items)
I don't think it is coincidental; I think that is precisely the main reason why Apple chooses what apps can be used for these purposes, instead of the user being allowed to choose.
As long as you buy Apple hardware, I don't think they care what default mapping software you use. I think there is a different reason why they don't have settings for this.
I think you may be able to now. Yesterday I did a backup of my phone, then erased the phone, selected the restore file, and ran through the questions it asked me.
I had Chrome installed on my iPhone for the first time since I have ever performed a restore like this. ( I was getting jumbled cover art on albums and a restore seems to have solved it ) During this process, I was asked to setup the phone, first I think I had to unlock it, then wait some time, then set my location, then some security questions, and then a new screen I had not seen before, where there was Safari and Chrome listed, and I needed to pick one.
The problem is I was rushing, waiting for a phone call and didn't want to miss it. While in this setup mode the 3G radio icon was not on so I wanted to get back up and running. I didn't read what this screen does, chose Safari, and moved on.
I remember thinking to myself, hmpf, odd, Apple asking what default browser I want to use, that's a first. But it was what first came to mind. I can't say for sure that is what it was, as I didn't take the time to read the screen.
It's such a painless process, I may restore my phone again to answer this question. If I do, I will report it back here.
Interesting. I will have to do another restore and see what in the heck it was. Maybe I was being asked to import settings/bookmarks.
One thing can do — a cheap trick that takes an extra step I feel we shouldn't have to take — make a Javascript bookmarklet. When selected it will fire that url open in Chrome.
The problem for me is it takes too many steps to get to bookmarklets. Not as simple to get to as in a desktop browser.
If you want to give it a try, add a bookmark/boomarklet withthe following:
Yes, but keep in mind you can't make Google Maps the default mapping application, so links to addresses (e.g. in calendar, web browser, contacts) will open in Apple Maps.
The first thing I did after reading the headline was go to the app store on my iphone and search for "google maps" - 328 results, and google maps isn't one of them.
Maybe a small bump. They hit over 60% adoption in October, and when you take out devices that can't upgrade to iOS6 and people who don't even realize updates are available (my grandma, for one), I'd have to think people who have intentionally held out this long make up a small but vocal minority.
A bit of a hyperbole...it's been fine everywhere in Georgia. I've been using iOS6 Maps since the first beta, and I honestly didn't notice any of the issues people have with Apple Maps until people pointed them out after the public release.
It isn't hyperbole at all. Tim Cook himself apologised for its shortcomings. The fact that Google is getting so much attention for their maps app speaks volumes as to how problematic Apple Maps is.
Tim Cook responding to bad press makes sense, but having bad publicity doesn't necessarily mean a product is awful. "Apple Maps fail hard after Steve Jobs dies" is a big headline, and it's no surprise that news agencies pick up on that regardless of how much substance it has.
And realistically, I don't think it says much. First, tech sites are obviously going to pick up on this release. It continues the narrative they've had going for months. Second, even if there had been no stories about Apple Maps, we'd be seeing tons of stories about this release. Very few people had issues with mobile Safari before Chrome came out, but the response to that was huge as well.
There's no getting around it. For most of the world Apple Maps was truly awful, it was particularly bad here in Australia to the point that it was useless and even life threatening. I'm not sure why you're even trying to argue the point, it has been written about and commented on everywhere around the world, and the overwhelming consensus is; Apple Maps was a step backwards.
You can't just dismiss the criticism because it made for a good headline.
All right. Outside of the US, it may have been bad. I don't have any personal experience with that, so I'll concede that point. The original comment was "It had real difficulty everywhere except (parts of) California". I pointed out that that was a hyperbole. Apple Maps is fine in the vast majority of the United States, and fine with a significant portion of iOS users.
I am in Florida and use Apple Maps to travel all over the state. It was wrong countless times, from location of restaurants to taking me to wrong addresses because I did not spell "northeast" as NE. Worst of all it did not find most local businesses. Unless you have personally used it to travel all over the US, how can you say it works everywhere?
I can say it's been fine in Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. I've been using it since June, and I just haven't encountered any problems that seem to plague everyone else on the Internet. Maybe it's just good luck on my part, but whatever. At least everyone can be happy now :)
I'm wondering if Japanese carriers will pre-install google maps on iphones they sell, and maybe even figure out a way to get it wedged in as the default maps app...
464 comments
[ 0.25 ms ] story [ 291 ms ] threadUpdate: Following OP's advice I was able to get to the Google, Inc page where the Maps app is listed. Still no luck. This is gonna be a waiting game :(
Now to see about offline access.
It very much duplicates the core functionality of Safari, just as Google Voice does for the Phone and Messages apps. And GV was what both started and eventually ended that whole "duplicate functionality" debacle.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/technology/news/article/-/15610781/...
Now police in Colac, west of Melbourne, say faults with Google maps are putting people's lives at risk along the Great Ocean Road and in the southern Otways.
Sergeant Nick Buenen says trucks, buses and tourists are being directed down Wild Dog Road, which is a one-way track, not built for heavy traffic.
He says VicRoads has denied responsibility and Google Maps has not responded.
"Update, 12:41 p.m. PT A Google spokesperson said that Google Maps routes drivers onto Wild Dog Road only if the driver searches for a destination located on that road. For directions to other nearby locations, Google Maps routes drivers onto Forrest-Apollo Bay Road/Skenes Creek Road. "
Worked for me on a an AT&T 4S. (Maybe it hits a different CDN server?)
Also, app is only 6.7MB, pretty svelte!
* Open up App Store
* Search for Chrome
* Click on Chrome to bring up the app page
* Select Related tab
* On "More By Google" section, click see all
* On the list of Google Apps that appear, Google Maps is at the very bottom... Click on the "FREE" or "INSTALL" button to install. Alternatively, click on the item to bring up the app page for Google Maps
1. Google now gets stats from millions of iPhones. Which can be used to infer important sales information in different regions.
2. Maps improve as more people start using them. If more users are on Google Maps, Apple's own product improves at a slower pace.
Which is 1?
Hasn't it been stated already that the original Google-backed apps weren't being updated anymore and the contract expired?
It's the same situation as the YouTube app. Why would Apple not allow the Google Maps app?
If anything, this was actually good, now we have 2 map apps and Google is forced to make a good one, just riding on the superior mapping data won't cut it.
After playing with this app for 10 minutes I think this is far superior to the iOS5 Maps experience. It's an extremely refined and clean app that is extremely fast with lots of features. Start typing a street or location and it'll know what you mean within a few letters.
I'm still looking to see how the option to save Home and Work addresses helps me - it makes home and work function as search terms but there must be more to it?
It's quite amusing to see how excited people are about this when this has been available with Google Maps on Android since 2009 (IIRC). I remember I used my Galaxy Nexus to navigate NYC for a whole week with public transit without ever asking a person for directions.
edit: Opening the side menu, for its matter, visually seems to depend on hitting a tiny tap target; there is hidden space to the left of the target but not above it, which is the natural place I tried tapping. The menu itself is weirdly designed (giant spacing) and prone to accidental dismissal by someone trying to scroll it.
No bookmarks either.
I think for bookmarks, you have to sign in (with your Google account, or a dummy one) and save them in your account. Not sure though, haven't tried yet (and probably won't, as I don't need it).
And I agree about polish. You have a 4S. I have a 4. It barely makes 20 fps.
I'm not entirely surprised, admittedly - and depending on your use case (for me, anyway), it doesn't so much matter.
GMaps uses something else for the UI (the "slide from side" thing) and that's the problem.
Still, I'm not really complaining. As a developer I know it's hard to write something that both pleases you aesthetically, and is performant on all devices!
TL;DR You can't edit the name of your starred locations from the iOS Google Maps app.
There are several serious bugs in the saved locations functionality. I found that if you 'pin' a location (say a building) on the map (by pressing and holding) it will show the address. But when you 'save' it, the details of the address get 'lost' when looking at your search history. I ended up with multiple entries in my list titled 'Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan' (which is the equivalent of, say, 'Manhatten, New York, USA'. Clicking each one still takes you to the correct location on the map, but they are impossible to tell apart in the list. Also then when using the 'directions' widget on the map and picking the destination, these saved locations appeared as longitude/latitude! I wonder if these issues are specific to Japan? I submitted feedback about this.
That being said, overall the app is quite impressive, and I'm sure it will improve.
From a UI/UX perspective:
+ Fonts and text entry are great + Search speed and interface speed are fantastic
- The pull-out menu on the right (akin to a hamburger menu) feels a bit odd and it's not immediately clear as to what it does (they are layer toggles for traffic/transit routes/satellite) - I can't figure out how to bookmark my home or work addresses (whilst being logged in) - if there is a way it is not intuitive.
Although when I typed in a POI it actually found what I was looking for, so I say that makes up for being short maybe 1-2FPS (I used to say Apple Maps was reasonably decent until searching for "logan" in Boston and having to try about 15 different search terms before getting the Airport when I was two miles away; Google Maps got it right with "logan boston" while I'm sitting in Palo Alto)
And getting options took me 30 seconds to figure out. There is that stupid tab with 3 little dots.
Public transport data is available for Sydney on the web but curiously missing in the app.
And asking me to sign in on start up. Really? Get out of my face unless I explicitly ask to sign in through the standard iOS settings app.
Of course correct data and great search trumps all complaints.
That's what threw me off.
Lack of POI data? The mapping data appears equivalent to the web app. Maps has more POI data it seems, or at least shows it without have to zoom in too near.
Now, at the same time, it does seem to be locked at 30fps rather than 60 (as in Apple Maps). So it's not quite as silky smooth in that respect, I suppose, but it'll also drain battery more slowly.
Doesn't really work that way, especially in a triple-buffering system.
Otherwise I'd expect to see more fluctuation in the framerate of the app, especially when there isn't much detail on the screen (similar to Apple Maps, which is obviously not locked to 30fps).
Great release, you can swipe from the outside edge of the display to open the sidebar, not a big deal.
This release is fantastic and will only get better with time
Re: Side Menu - Unlike those stupid tiny x marks in the notification tray which I can never hit on my first try, I can't seem to miss opening the side menu. Are you swipe-in opening it? It's not a push, but a swipe.
Bookmarks are there - you just have to click "save" when you open the item. Then clicking on an empty search bar will bring them up.
Not terribly surprising though - Apple Maps would have access to all the private APIs that AppStore apps can't use.
It will be interesting to see if there is any server impact, as millions of people start using this Map Application tomorrow. (In both directions - it may be the case that the Apple Map servers will see a drop in use, and increase in performance)
You can also get there with a two-finger horizontal swipe.
Thus Apple has achieved its goal of upgrading the map experience on iOS!
I had Chrome installed on my iPhone for the first time since I have ever performed a restore like this. ( I was getting jumbled cover art on albums and a restore seems to have solved it ) During this process, I was asked to setup the phone, first I think I had to unlock it, then wait some time, then set my location, then some security questions, and then a new screen I had not seen before, where there was Safari and Chrome listed, and I needed to pick one.
The problem is I was rushing, waiting for a phone call and didn't want to miss it. While in this setup mode the 3G radio icon was not on so I wanted to get back up and running. I didn't read what this screen does, chose Safari, and moved on.
I remember thinking to myself, hmpf, odd, Apple asking what default browser I want to use, that's a first. But it was what first came to mind. I can't say for sure that is what it was, as I didn't take the time to read the screen.
It's such a painless process, I may restore my phone again to answer this question. If I do, I will report it back here.
One thing can do — a cheap trick that takes an extra step I feel we shouldn't have to take — make a Javascript bookmarklet. When selected it will fire that url open in Chrome.
The problem for me is it takes too many steps to get to bookmarklets. Not as simple to get to as in a desktop browser.
If you want to give it a try, add a bookmark/boomarklet withthe following:
I did a quick search over youtube to see if anyone had recorded the restore process of an iPhone... Nothing.Was your restore of version 6? Mine was version 6 -> version 6. I was not doing a version 5 -> version 6.
Later tonight I will backup/restore and record the process to see what the Safari/Chrome selection screen was all about.
Sorry I could not be more of assistance.
But seriously, this is just great news for us folks outside the US and who use public transit. I can now get an iPhone 5 today! :D
Is this feature in any other app? Maybe I just haven't seen it yet.
I expect Apple to see a drastic increase in iOS5->iOS6 upgrade over the next few days. Hahah!
And realistically, I don't think it says much. First, tech sites are obviously going to pick up on this release. It continues the narrative they've had going for months. Second, even if there had been no stories about Apple Maps, we'd be seeing tons of stories about this release. Very few people had issues with mobile Safari before Chrome came out, but the response to that was huge as well.
You can't just dismiss the criticism because it made for a good headline.