Contextualising dataīoth Apple and Google know that this burger restaurant is currently closed and that it opens at 12.00 tomorrow.īut context is the foundation of great UX-not raw data-and Google contextualizes this better by also showing you when it next opens.

While the issues raised below may be relatively minor, it demonstrates that there is still room for improvement, within two world-class apps. Source: īut assuming that you live in a densely-populated city-where both Apple and Google have similar amounts of data-how do these services compare? The breadth of data is the primary differentiator-of which Google has a significant advantage.įor example, I use Street View to quickly contextualize where a destination is, and it has huge broad value, like identifying if there’s on-street parking available.Īpple’s version, called ‘Look Around’, is still about a decade behind (in terms of miles driven, which should be positively correlated to the availability of the feature). I often ponder why I typically use Google Maps, given how much I love Apple, and how easy it is to access on my iPhone.Īnd if one small poll on Twitter is representative, you largely agree. In 2012, just months after Google Maps first hit one billion users, Apple Maps was set as the default mapping application on IOS.Īs a result, it’s estimated that Google lost 300 million IOS users. Apple and Google have been fighting for map dominance for nearly a decade.

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