Google’s iOS Maps app is here after 3 months absense, but as GigaOm points out it’s not going to be the same as before because there is no longer a single, default mapping service for the device that all other apps will use.
The next logical step is to treat maps apps as browsers are treated on PCs. The user chooses a default browser and developers can then launch this browser with a simple API call. For example, you can type this in the terminal on a Mac:
$ open http://www.google.com
and the default browser, chosen by the user, will open on the Google home page.
But even if iOS went down this path, it would not bring us back to the golden age of pre-iPhone5. Before, iPhone 5 consumers had a device that perfectly combined the best hardware and OS from Apple with the best data service from Google without any configuration or decision to be made by the user. It just worked.
The two companies worked together to build the best experience for consumers for the first couple of iPhone years. Nominally, it is a win for consumers that Google launched Android and gave us more choice while giving Apple more competition.
But we’ve clearly also lost at the same time. We can now choose between two devices, neither of which are as good as what the two companies could have built in a partnership.