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Comment by __blockcipher__ | Hacker News Reader

I suspect that they know that the average user won't actually change it back. Just like how, IIRC, Apple Maps is (or at least was as a few years ago) the most commonly used mapping software purely due to the reach of iphone's userbase

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Apple Maps is actually competitive with Google Maps and has walled garden integrations so it's not really comparable to me as Google Search versus Bing/DDG/whatever. Not to say the other search options are so terrible people would definitely switch, more that's definitely not the case with maps.

Well the thinking by google has surely been that Apple Search (iSearch?) would be competitive if Apple percieved it would be in their interest to build it / work with another partner. It's not impossible that someone else would build a good / better tool. Since all these tools also significantly improve with use and feedback, switching the default would probably have a massive impact

I actually think its better than Google Maps now. Seems like google is following apple maps new features (e.g. stop signs everywhere).

It didn’t start that way though. It took a lot of time and money; version 1 was terrible by most accounts.

That being said Apple is a company with enough cash and time to throw at Search. People also said that it would be hard to break Google’s dominance of maps.

I guess that's why Apple's being called to witness - Google also throws a significant amount of cash at Apple over search, and Apple has not developed a search engine.

As of right now, Bing is also competitive with Google.

It's not the point, but I significantly prefer the Apple Maps turn-by-turn UI, especially now that they have cycling directions, and I notice no real difference in the quality of directions for my use.

After Apple Maps being awful for years I’ve finally switched to it. The last straw is all the paid locations on Google Maps, it looks like a giant ad now.

I originally switched to Apple Maps because Google Maps was a privacy nightmare, and the main thing I missed was "search along route". Apple Maps has something like it now, so I haven't missed Google Maps much. I also like that it buzzes my watch for upcoming turns, and can auto notify my wife when I'll navigate home (I'm sure Google has this too but I never noticed / used it on theirs before)

Same. Started using Apple Maps years ago when I would occasionally hop on a Lyft ebike and have used it ever since

I prefer the lack of advertisements in Apple Maps.

That's nice but I hate everything besides the maps. I don't want to click on a photo and be redirected to the app store to download yelp. I don't want curated lists, or city guides. And there is no way to hide this trash. It's cluttering the only thing I care about, the maps!

Not only this, but a user who understands how to switch their default search to Google is likely not being fooled into clicking on search ads anyways.

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