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Comment by marknutter | Hacker News Reader

You know what else sucks on the iPhone? The notes app - That's why I use Evernote. And the tasks app - that's why I use Clear. And the mail app - that's why I use Gmail. And iBooks - which is why I use the Kindle app.

Point is, you can download an app that works better for you if you're not happy with Maps anymore, just like you could with all of the other built in Apple software. I think Apple really needed to control their own destiny with the Maps software, and most non-geeks are probably not going to notice that their Maps app is getting it's data from somewhere else now. They probably didn't realize it was coming from Google Maps in the first place.

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>> Point is, you can download an app that works better for you if you're not happy with Maps anymore, just like you could with all of the other built in Apple software.

Unless it “duplicate features that come with the iPhone” (http://m.techcrunch.com/2009/07/27/apple-is-growing-rotten-t...) or requires its own rendering engine (http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2008/11/02/opera_m...) or competes with a profitable arm of Apple (http://m.lifehacker.com/5614752/grooveshark-iphone-app-pulle...)

None of those things apply anymore.

They don't? I thought you still couldn't run your own JIT-capable JS implementation on iOS.

That's because "executes arbitrary code" is still a reason for rejection, unlike "duplicates core functionality."

Not because Apple has changed their policy, but because people found workarounds or Apple made exceptions.

This illustrates another pain point for Apple: the inability to change default applications.

Say Google releases a maps app for iPhone. Every time you get an address in a text, email, Facebook, Yelp, etc it's going to open up in Apple Maps requiring you to manually copy/paste everything in another app.

I agree completely, this is a significant problem.

Mobile Safari is slow and crashy, good thing I can replace it with… waitaminute. As far as I know there's no decent replacement for Maps either; it remains to be seen if Apple will permit a direct replacement. If Google doesn't release one themselves, it could be problematic for a third party to create an app using Google's map API - that's centered around use in web apps, although their "Maps for Business" might be suited. Still, it's a hell of a risk to take. (but possibly with a handsome reward)

You can replace Safari with Opera, Chrome, Dolphin, or several others. You can't set them as default but you can replace them. There are plenty of map alternatives too - Open Street Map, TomTom, Google Earth, etc.

Those alternative browsers either use the Safari rendering engine or render offline, so are significantly crippled compared to something like Firefox for Android.

Maps on Chrome mobile :-)

In case you're not aware: Chrome on iOS uses UIWebView, which is Safari without the fast JavaScript engine.

The web interface for Google Maps certainly works on Safari, but it's certainly not as slick or as fast as the app. Maybe this is due to connection speed, not browser speed, but the bottom line is the user experience is worse (though the features are much better).

I use Nitrous.

chrome

I am aware that I am free to use UIWebView based browsers, which are slower than Safari and just as crashy. Freedom!

Yep-- the problem is that apps competing with a native app are pretty hamstrung. Any address you click on on a web page, in an email, in a calendar event etc-- are going go the Apple App. The alternative is an awkward copy-paste. It's similar to the power the IE used to destroy netscape before the DoJ stepped in and forced them to allow people to change their default browser. Apple isn't anywhere near a monopoly, so won't be forced to change this soon.

None of those apps are competing with Apple on a level playing field, because all four of the Apple apps update in the background (via iCloud or special privileges) and third parties either get a restricted version (eg no web API for iCloud) or nothing at all (background mail polling).

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