Abstract
- Apple Maps is now obtainable on cellular browsers for non-Apple units.
- Apple Maps confronted criticism however has improved over time as a decent different to Google Maps.
- No native Apple Maps app for Android is anticipated as a consequence of strategic concerns, however different providers might develop.
Apple isn’t identified for supporting platforms aside from its personal, which is why it was no shock when Apple Maps launched solely for the iPhone and iPad. Slowly, Apple has loosened it is grip, and now it lastly works on extra telephones due to cellular browsers.
Apple Maps formally launched in 2012, and it was met with a stable quantity of criticism for inaccuracies. In any case, Apple was attempting to compete with one of the vital highly effective and common apps of all time, Google Maps. It took Apple a number of years to even get near rivaling the sheer quantity of knowledge Google Maps has amassed. Slowly, it is turn out to be a decent different.
In 2018, Apple launched the MapKit API that allowed builders to embed Apple Maps into webites. DuckDuckGo was one such web site that took benefit of this, which made it the most effective technique to make use of Apple Maps outdoors of an iPhone or iPad for some time. Nevertheless, that modified barely final June when Apple launched a public beta for Apple Maps on desktop web browsers.
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Apple Maps Brings Street View to the Web App
Apple has made some enhancements to its web-based Apple Maps beta. The brand new replace provides the Look Round characteristic, which lets customers see 360-degree views of sure places, very similar to Google Road View. Apple added this characteristic in a restricted beta model again in June, however it’s now obtainable on internet browsers for Home windows PCs. Based on an internet site that tracks map providers, the Look Round characteristic appears to have been added round December 11, 2024.
You possibly can go to beta.maps.apple.com and use Apple Maps in Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, and Safari. It was not obtainable on cellular browsers, although. That modified this week when Apple Maps on the net left beta and have become obtainable on cellular browsers. Sure, which means you should use Apple Maps on an Android cellphone in a extra official capability.
All you need to do is go to maps.apple.com in an online browser in your cellphone. I used to be ready to make use of it in each Chrome for Android and Firefox for Android. Whereas “beta” has been faraway from the URL, the precise web site does nonetheless have a “Beta” label on the Maps brand. Various options from the native utility can be found, with turn-by-turn navigation being the plain omission.
Does this imply something for a local Apple Maps app coming to Android sometime? That is most definitely a tough no. If “inventory” apps like Apple Maps and iMessage can be found on Android, that is much less purpose for somebody to purchase an iPhone. Nevertheless, providers equivalent to Apple Music and Apple TV+ depend upon having as many paying prospects as doable, so it is smart for them to develop to Android.
In actuality, Android customers are most likely not chomping on the bit to make use of Apple Maps, native app or not. However it’s good to have a practical internet app for these instances if you get Apple Maps hyperlinks out of your iPhone buddies.
Supply: 9to5Mac
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For about 5 years, Google Maps the undisputed king of mapping apps obtainable on smartphones. Then Apple Maps got here alongside and changed Google Maps on the iPhone, placing Apple squarely in competitors with Google. So which service is the most effective?