When Scott Forstall demoed iOS 6 way back in June, he showcased the new Apple Maps as the single biggest addition to iOS’s latest iteration. Backed by TomTom and with novelty features like 3D, Apple’s hopes were to replace the existing Google Maps with a better alternate. We all know how badly it eventually turned to be. So much so that it cost Scott Forstall his job. The hopes of iOS users are for a Google Maps app for iOS. We’ve heard rumours about this much awaited app before but nothing concrete.
Wall Street Journal reports that Google is currently working on a Google maps app for iOS and that the company has distributed a test version of this app to some people outside the company. Google is currently putting on the finishing touches on this before they put it on iTunes for approval. When that will happen is unclear at this point though previous speculations pointed towards a December release.
What’s even more important is whether Apple will approve this app or not. Google Maps app for iOS will compete directly with the built in Apple Maps, and we all know how Apple feels about apps replicating built in functionality. As an iOS user, fingers crossed.