Design Details of Google Maps for iOS
sachagreif.com
sachagreif.com
This is what I'm finding to be most exciting. Gone are the days of Google's barely-there, browser default-ish "designs" for their web apps. There's a visual language the company has started to adapt that isn't half-assed and actually has a lot of thought put into it.
It's the same reason I appreciate Metro from Microsoft. I don't necessarily like Metro, but the consistency not just within singular products, but across their entire product portfolio is something that makes their alternative to Google or Apple seem appealing.
Apple's had a consistent design language for years and that's why we've all gravitated towards them to some extent. I've been a fan of Google for the functionality for years, but now I can finally say I appreciate their product design just as much.
I wish they'd move more of their properties over to the new design though. Case in point: https://www.google.com/a/foo.com
"I don’t have a car, so the lack of public transportation in Apple’s Maps app pretty much makes it useless to me"
Apple’s Maps app is still a searchable, zoomable easy to use map of the whole world that knows where you are! A few years ago this would have been the most comprehensive, user friendly anyone had ever seen. We are all characters in a Louise CK bit. 5 minutes between discovering some incredible futuristic technology that we didn't know was possible to feeling like we deserve it and getting angry at the incompetence when it doesn't work perfectly.
This is not a case of "it doesn't work perfectly", it's a case of "it doesn't work at all" (for my use case, at least).
Also, I have used both (iOS 6 Apple Maps, iOS 5 Google Maps) side by side heavily in Rome (urban) and Sabine Hills (countryside), and found Apple Maps far faster to navigate, easier to find my place and food POIs as a pedestrian, and noted the vaunted iOS 5 Maps had no transit knowledge whatsoever, neither busses, nor trams, not even metro. (I preferred Navigon over either of them for driving.)
Similar comparisons hold true in Manhattan (except of course it does support transit as long as you're not underground), rural western North Carolina, and SoCal. Seems evident the “Apple Maps are Useless!” meme is overblown.
iPhone owners were missing turn by turn for driving ("point a to point b"), and iOS 6 maps provided that. It had to be done.
Then there is also the issue of bad searches, which is quite common from my experience, where dots are in the wrong place or POI data is outdated.
Ill be the first one to say my distaste for iOS/iPhone, but the point is here that these products must be compared to what the are competing against. Sure the iOS Maps app is beautiful in its own right, but compared to Google Maps it appears to be inferior(i am going of reports and downloads, as i have no used ether iOS Maps or iOS Google Maps).
This seems very true with the Holo look on Android as well - Google is going very heavy with the 'roadsign' style (flat, colors for emphasis, icons convey meaning, text looks similar to government forms, etc). I'm guessing there is a design name for this type of look?
On the surface you might confuse the Metro style with Holo in that they both use similar design elements - but while Metro tries to go towards 'digital minimalism', Holo/iOS maps seems to go more towards 'paper minimalism', as used by official forms and the like.
Also as a note: Apple did originally use the vertical transition in a lot of their apps - it was part of the original iOS design guides, etc. You can use it easily in any app with the popup screen call.
tldr version of the article: http://tldr.io/tldrs/50c993061bfffa6a5e000730
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.and....