Image: From Mashable.com, modified
Given the time it has taken (3 months, we have had to endure Apple Maps and countless alternatives from Apple app store) for an official Google Maps for IOS (iTunes Link) to finally appear and much to the rejoice of all iPhone users, is the app really that good? Let’s read on and find out.
Google has reworked the app to their own liking, as the previous inclusion of Google Maps in pre iOS 5.1.1 version was a packaged Apple bundle with Google map data and so far it definitely is an improvement.
Firstly, the features list
- Get voice guided, turn-by-turn driving directions.
- Find your way by train, bus, subway or walking directions.
- Access live traffic information in cities across the world.
- View 360-degree panoramas of places around the globe with Street View.
- See inside more than 100,000 businesses worldwide.
- View high resolution satellite imagery of locations around the world.
- An entirely new Google Maps experience on your iPhone.
- Newly designed and streamlined interface for even easier navigation of your world.
- Use gestures to explore the map and browse results.
Layout and Interface
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Google Maps for iOS layout is nice and clean. When first loading the app, the entire screen is occupied by vector based maps which helps the loading of maps much quicker and less data intensive which was missing from the previous Google Maps incarnation with Apple.
Immediately on the top you’ll see a search bar, that you can start typing in an address, next to that you’ll see a arrow icon, click on this and you’ll be presented with a clean layout of your current location and option to choose your destination and 3 options of transport i.e. car, public transport or your own legs.
Gestures is another nifty way working your way around the app, most anticipated feature that was sorely missing from pre iOS 5.1.1 Google Maps and Apple Maps was street view and with Google Maps for iOS it is finally here, you swipe up from the bottom screen on your destination address and you can save, share and see the street view.
Navigation
When you have chosen a destination you’ll be immediately given a few alternative routes with very valuable information including the flow of current traffic (chosen car option) tap on any of these routes then you’ll get the map navigation with highlighted route and a start button.
When in navigation turn by turn mode, you have a couple of options:
- Cancel existing route
- Show step-by-step list of your turns to your destination
- Mute voice guidance
You can sign in using your Google account, and this allows you to set your home and work addresses (much like favourite places on traditional GPS devices) so you can quickly navigate to these destinations rather than searching the addresses every time.
Overview
Image may be NSFW.
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The whole app is well designed and works very smoothly (tested on iPhone 4S) with nicely integrated gesture controls that are simple and minimal menus.
First glance the search box is prominently shown up on the top of the screen and additional route information is conveniently presented once you’ve set in an address.
There was one little quirk and I am unsure whether this is isolated to our Australian shores or it is Google Maps for iOS in general, swiping on the right bottom corner to bring up a additional options and tapping on Public Transit I keep seeing “Public transit information not available in this region” which is odd given this information was readily available in Google Maps data, perhaps an update will fix this or switched on Google’s end at some point later.
All in all, definitely a welcome addition to all iPhone owners who sorely missed the reliability and functionality of Google Maps, when Apple Maps came into the picture. The top free app in the Apple app store clearly shows that as of right now.
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The post Google Maps for iOS: Review appeared first on Just Kevin.