If you own an iPhone, one of the toughest decisions you’ll have to make is whether to use Apple Maps or Google Maps for navigation. At one time, even Apple would have told you to use Google Maps over Apple Maps. That was in 2012 after Apple Maps was launched and some countries were mislabeled, some weren’t given a name at all, some directions were screwed up, and following Apple Maps’ turn-by-turn directions could have been dangerous to your health.
Apple CEO Tim Cook not only apologized, he told users, “While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest, and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.” But now Apple Maps is just as good and perhaps even better than Google Maps. One big difference in favor of Apple Maps: while Google Maps might tell you to turn right in a third of a mile, Apple Maps is more apt to say, “At the next stop sign, turn right” which is easier to follow.
Apple Maps is the default navigation app on iOS
Apple is planning on giving some iOS users the option to change their default navigation app when iOS 18 is released next September. As Apple wrote in a “Non-Confidential Summary of DMA Compliance Report” released last week, “Apple also plans to introduce a new default control for users in Settings for navigation apps. Apple aims to make this solution available by March 2025.” This option will be limited to those using their iPhones in the 27 EU countries and is being forced on Apple by the Digital Markets Act (DMA).
Once Apple gives EU iPhone owners the green light to change their default navigation app, we could see Google Maps or even Waze used to replace Apple Maps. And there is always the possibility that Apple will allow iPhone users in other markets outside of the EU, maybe even those in the States, to change their default navigation app next March.