Thread: Developers Give Apple Maps the Thumbs-Up

Despite all the stick Apple got for its new iOS 6 Maps app when it was launched a few months ago, it seems to be settling in nicely now, with numerous reports showing how Apple is doing its best to improve the app, which, in most cases, seems to work quite well. Now, according to a new story on AppleInsider, it seems that Apple’s in-house Maps app has even managed to find favour with the usually hard-to please bunch of people that are developers! AppleInsider explains that the reason that developers looked more favourably on iOS Maps was because it kept the “maturity” of Apple’s Map Kit software development kit (SDK), which Apple has been working on for the past five years in the life of iOS, and which is used by third-party developers to insert maps in their apps. Essentially, AppleInsider notes, despite the well-publicised glitches with the actual content of the maps, the feature set underneath the maps in fact got better. And, what’s more, AppleInsider says that Apple’s Maps SDK is actually better than the new rival Maps API that Google built for iOS developers to use in their apps. The story is sourced from a new report by Michael Grothaus of Fast Company, which looks closely at the work of two British developers who are trying to integrate Map SDKs in their apps. The very thorough report notes, for example that Apple’s Map Kit has many advantages over Google’s, including support for “map markers, polylines, and overlays.” The article expands on this further, with much more detail, but basically, in a nutshell, it’s a “yay” for Apple’s Maps SDK.


Source:
Developers prefer Apple's iOS Maps SDK over Google Maps