Apple Transitions 'Find My iPhone' Web Maps for iCloud.com From Google to Apple

Earlier this year, Apple ceased using Google Maps for its Find My iPhone web app on the beta iCloud.com site in favor of its own Apple Maps, and as of today, the main iCloud.com site has also been updated to utilize an online version of Apple maps.

applemaps

Visiting Find My iPhone on iCloud.com will now display Maps rendered using Apple's own mapping engine, cutting out the company's final bit of reliance on Google Maps. Apple first began shifting away from Google Maps in 2012, when it introduced an in-house mapping solution.

Though iOS apps like Find My iPhone and Find My Friends began using Apple Maps data shortly after the release of iOS 6, iCloud.com has continued to use Google Maps data up until now.

Apple Maps was highly criticized for its inaccuracy and poor implementation at the time, but since 2012, Apple has made a vast number of improvements to the mapping service and continues to work to this day. Currently, Apple is said to be working on adding indoor mapping and transit features to Apple Maps with iOS 8, but internal politics have allegedly delayed the launch of Maps updates.

Top Rated Comments

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ButteryScrollin

48 months ago

Now it's 'Can't Find My iPhone'.

Rating: 23 Votes

maflynn

48 months ago

Makes sense. I've had almost no issues with apple maps, so I'm not concerned. Of course I live an area that Apple seems to be on their game with keeping things accurate.

Rating: 8 Votes

greekappi

48 months ago

Google just does maps better. End of story.

I've tried and tried to use Apple Maps for my turn by turn directions, but Google Maps simply outperforms it.

I want to love and use Apple Maps, it just isn't as good.

Rating: 8 Votes

Icaras

48 months ago

Finally! One less Google product in my life. Happy to see Apple Maps take over.

Rating: 7 Votes

lincolntran

48 months ago

Time is the key here. Google got at least 10yrs head start. In time, Apple will catch up and surpass Google map.

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Cue the same old complains about Apple map...

Rating: 4 Votes

avanpelt

48 months ago

I used to love Google Maps and have used them exclusively up until the past two months or so. Somewhere along the line, Google Maps introduced a nasty bug where the app will reroute you to a slower or longer route without giving you any audible indication that it has done so.

I was on a recent trip from Ft. Lauderdale to Atlanta and somewhere around Orlando, Google Maps began adding 60 to 90 minutes to my ETA. At first I thought it was a strange fluke so I cancelled navigation and restarted it and the ETA went back to normal for about 20 minutes and then all of a sudden it was pushed back again with no audible or visual notification about what was going on.

Upon closer examination, I discovered the problem: Google Maps was directing me to get off I-75 in middle of nowhere south Georgia (about 300 miles up the road from my current location at the time), drive 80 miles in the wrong direction (away from Atlanta), and then get on I-85 and continue toward Atlanta. There was no reason for Google Maps to do this. I-75 was not closed, nor was there any road construction going on at the time.

On another recent trip, Google Maps automatically rerouted me to a slower, longer route through the Georgia mountains without any audible notification that it had done so -- all while showing me on its own map that there was another route (my original route) that was about 30 minutes quicker than the route it had decided I should take for no apparent reason. This has happened with my iPhone 6 as well as my wife's iPhone 5s. It's a nasty bug and Google needs to fix it pronto.

Rating: 3 Votes

nutmac

48 months ago

For POI, public transit, and traffic data, Google is better.

But for turn-by-turn and address lookup, Apple caught up quite a bit. It's still lacking in some places, of course, but Google gets things wrong from time-to-time as well (although not as often).

And I just much prefer Apple Map's user interface.

Rating: 3 Votes

RedOrchestra

48 months ago

Using Apple Maps ... your iPhone will be lost FOREVER.

Rating: 2 Votes

lincolntran

48 months ago

People have been saying the same about every Apple entry into the cloud market, and years later they are still hopeless at it. After years of trying to perfect their skill in this space, iCloud Drive still lags years behind the competition.

Sir, I admire your blind optimism.

It's not blind optimism. I'm a dev so I know the challenges they're facing. We all know that their "old cloud services" are not as good as competition. So, in order to be competitive, they have to replace lots of legacy codes/architectures with modern systems and implementation.

iCloud is a new foundation for anything cloud-related for Apple. For anything as huge and new as iCloud, you don't want to implement everything in one go. You do it incrementally. So, in saying iCloud Drive is still lags years behind others, I once again remind you that "time" is the key. I've been watching iCloud development very closely and they're doing a very good job at it. iCloud was laggy and buggy when it debuted, but it's working flawlessly now. Everything sync pretty fast and seamless. In time, they will add more features that are missing. So yes, I'm pretty optimistic about iCloud. I think the only valid complain about it is the pricing structure but technology wise, iCloud is solid.

Rating: 2 Votes

nickcliborne

48 months ago

Now it's 'Can't Find My iPhone'.

Funny you say that but my house doesn't show up on gmaps. It's only been there for 13 years.

Rating: 2 Votes

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