Apple Does The “Miracle On 34th Street” Thing, Promotes Third Party Maps In App Store

In the beloved holiday film Miracle on 34th Street, people at Macy’s department store in New York begin sending shoppers to rival Gimbels and other stores when they haven’t got what customers want. That’s essentially what Apple did today — first with its apology letter and now with its promotion of third party maps in […]

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In the beloved holiday film Miracle on 34th Street, people at Macy’s department store in New York begin sending shoppers to rival Gimbels and other stores when they haven’t got what customers want. That’s essentially what Apple did today — first with its apology letter and now with its promotion of third party maps in the App Store: “Find maps for your iPhone.”

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Apple is not equally calling attention to the many public transportation apps available for iOS, but they also can help compensate for the current deficiencies of Apple Maps.

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Danny writes that had Google been ready with its Maps app it would have been one of the chief beneficiares of Apple’s third party maps recommendations. But by the time Google Maps for iOS is out Apple may have greatly improved Maps on the iPhone — though it remains to be seen.

I haven’t experienced the kinds of problems that others seem to be having with Apple Maps and navigation, especially when one includes Siri as the starting point for local search.

Postscript: Google tells everyone (in Google+) how to add Google (browser-based) Maps to the homescreen on iOS devices.


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About the author

Greg Sterling
Contributor
Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land, a member of the programming team for SMX events and the VP, Market Insights at Uberall.

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