Feature Showdown: Apple Maps for iOS vs. Google Maps for iOS

11.06.2012
As expected, Apple has announced its featuring real-time traffic conditions, turn-by-turn navigation, Yelp integration, vector graphics, and 3D flyovers. The new Maps app, due out this fall with , means the end of the Google Maps-powered app that iOS devices have used since 2007.

For iOS users, this news comes not a moment too soon--many of the features Apple announced Monday have been available on Google Maps for Android for years. Apple's break with Google means the iPhone maker can finally offer significant improvements to Maps on iOS instead of relying on a reluctant partner/competitor to bring new maps features to Apple devices.

If you have an iOS device, chances are the new Maps app will be arriving on your handset, since nearly every popular iOS device in use today (with the exception of the original iPad) is getting iOS 6. Apple introduced the new Maps app during the keynote address at the company's Worldwide Developer's Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco.

Here's how the new Apple-designed Maps app matches up to the old Google-powered one.

The New Stuff

There are several new additions to the iOS Maps app, including a visual redesign that uses vector-based graphics instead of bitmap images. Vector graphics are drawn by the device based on a set of instructions, instead of loaded from a remote server. This change means that it will be easier for users to pan across a map quickly, without having to wait for new map images to load every few seconds. Google introduced vector graphics for Google Maps for Android in 2010.