“Apple Maps was so bad that people refused to upgrade to iOS 6 until they could get Google Maps, says data from massive mobile ad exchange MoPub,” Josh Constine reports for TechCrunch. “The 12,000 apps it supports saw a 29 percent increase in unique iOS 6 users in the five days after Google Maps for iOS was released. Chitika reported just 0.2 percent growth immediately after the launch but it seems people waited for the weekend to do the long install.”
“MoPub monitors over 1 billion ad impressions a day across more than 12,000 apps and a dozen ad networks, making its data set more reliable than individual ad network Chitika,” Constine reports. “MoPub provided TechCrunch with data showing a 13 percent increase in iOS 6 users just from Monday to Wednesday, indicating many people switched to the newest Apple mobile firmware as soon as Google Maps’ standalone app arrived in the App Store.”
Constine reports, “MoPub’s CEO laid it out for me, explaining ‘we observed since the launch of Google Maps for iOS 6 a 30 percent increase in unique iOS 6 users, and we think it’s related to Google Maps. It verifies the hypothesis that people were actually holding back to upgrade until Google Maps was available.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Bzzt! This fails our logic sensors. It’s a bit too much for us to believe that so many users would hold off on all of the iOS 6 goodies simply due to a whole bunch of Maps FUD (some issues, yes, but 95% of the debacle was concocted FUD amplified beyond recognition in the Internet echo chamber).
Logically, you’d think that if these maps addicts were savvy enough to hold off on a major iOS upgrade over some perceived issue, they’d easily have had the fortitude to simply visit Google Maps via Safari, tap “Add to Home Screen,” and then proceed to update iOS as usual. For that reason alone, we’re not buying it.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “Fred Mertz” and “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
Related article:
iOS 6 adoption after Google Maps release stays flat, any negative impact of Apple Maps highly exaggerated – December 15, 2012
Even IF it was true….it is 3 people out of 10. Seven people called it just right, mostly FUD and Baloney built on something that should have had a beta label!!!!
It is true, but only among those who were active in Internet those days, and those who installed Google Maps obviously were.
So while this 29% surge might be real, this does not really shows real-life statistics.
Google maps were downloaded up to 12-15 million times, according to statistics. Such increase obviously is nowhere close to being capable to equivalent of 29% increase of iOS 6 adopters increse.
3 out of 10? I don’t think that that’s the correct application of the reported Statistic.
What is far more likely is that the ongoing *rate of adoption* of iOS6 increased by 30%. For example, if the “before” rate was 100,000 users per week, it went to 130,000 users per week.
Note that such a metric has **no bearing** on what percentage of iOS customers have already upgraded, because it is a measure of the “Rate of Change” to the conversion rate of the older-than-iOS6 customers.
To use a lousy automotive analogy, it is like saying “average highway speed increases by 30% after passing a police speed trap” – – the metric has nothing to do with how many cars are on the road, nor what the posted speed limit is.
-hh
As it turned out, Apple fixed their maps about the same time that Google offered their maps app on iOS. It was a good time to upgrade for a number of reasons. I waited until they were fixed.
The release of Google Maps is an impetus for those that weren’t early adopters of iOS 6 to consider it again.
In our household NO ONE has adopted iOS 6 yet. Part of the reason why was that the original iPad was never really happy with iOS 5…
…and part of the reason why was the Maps **apology** from Tim Cook, which indicated that it wasn’t merely FUD.
Now that Google Maps has shipped, I expect that my iOS devices will be sacrificed …, er, “upgraded” as a test case. If all goes well, then the rest will follow…well, except for the iPad-1 (not supported).
-hh
Tim Cook made a mistake with the apology. He’ll know better next time.
Sorry, I didn’t realize that “althegeo” was the nom de plume of former Apple Exec Scott Forstall…
-hh
Let’s be clear: Google Maps, before getting bounced, didn’t offer turn-by-turn voice navigation for iOS and the maps themselves were not vector based. Apple bounces them, introduces a serious alternative, albeit with less-than-optimal mass transit advice, critics go bullshit. Google is then forced to respond with a voice-by-voice navigation system and vector-based maps for free through the app store.
Speaks volumes.
Meh, they can all jump off the cliff like sheep.
Geek Rage!
Weren’t there 2 million iPhones sold in China over the weekend? Could these numbers reflect that?
Probably the more realistic explanation but that wouldn’t support the author point that was probably published back when iOS 6 first came out.
What else were they really missing? Passbook?
Noogle
Well, the availability of the Google Maps app is a big reason why I came around to updating my iPad to iOS 6 last night. I usually wait until the first maintenance update anyway before major OS upgrades, but the Apple Maps issues gave me pause.
The first time I used Apple Maps, I called up my home address and instantly flagged two nearby businesses that were in the wrong location. This product was clearly not ready for prime time when it came out, so I figured I’d give it a little while to work more of the bugs out and let more users populate correct mistakes in the database. The flyby feature looks great and is a compelling feature in its own right, but its coverage remains very limited at best. New features don’t mean anything to me if getting them requires stepping back basic functionality.
The Google Maps web app was simply not as good as the native Maps app that came with iOS 5.1, and while Google’s iOS Maps app also has its shortcomings (for one thing, Google still hasn’t yet issued an iPad optimized version), it’s now close enough to the functionality of old Maps app that I can dispense with that app and update the entire OS. Hello Siri …
“…..“Apple Maps was so bad that people refused to upgrade to iOS 6 until they could get Google Maps…”
How about “FUD ABOUT Apple Maps was so bad that people WERE MISLED AND THEY refused to upgrade to iOS 6 until they could get Google Maps…”
How many of the people who waited to upgrade to iOS 6 until now actually used Apple’s Maps app enough to know that it was SO bad? On what were they using it if they didn’t upgrade?How many of them just listened to idiots and in doing so deprived themselves of an exceptional map experience, along with all the other advantages of iOS 6? I tend to be highly suspicious of those who claim to have tested Apple Maps, found it to be terrible, and waited to upgrade. I don’t believe many of them really tried it at all.
@uncleotto – – there’s plenty of people who were “scared off” of iOS 6 because of the Apple Maps fracas … and what it really comes down to is that iOS6’s *new* features weren’t compelling enough to take the risk.
As another poster commented, their opinion of OS6 was that the main feature change (obviously, other than maps) was “Passport”. To advertise stuff like “tigther integration” into Facebook isn’t a new capability – it is an incremental improvement of the old one.
And to clarify, I’ve not personally “tested” Apple Maps – – I’ve simply waited to upgrade because despite however much of the issue really was FUD, the fact that Tim Cook apologized lends some credence to the concerns – – AND – – from my consumer’s perspective, there weren’t any profound new features in iOS6 that were a “Must Have” worth the downside risk of adoption prior to Apple getting the Maps issue adequately sorted out.
Now that the “risk” of Apple Maps has been alleviated by both time (for Apple to fix) and Google’s Map App, I’ll venture upgrading to iOS6 … “when I get around to it”.
FWIW, I’m still running Lion (not Mountain Lion) too… the question is always going to be what are my self-serving benefits versus what does the same OS upgrade break?
-hh
How about the idea that many people are getting iPhones for Christmas and couldn’t wait to use them so there would be a spike in IOS 6 use.
Apple Maps was so bad that people refused to upgrade to iOS 6 until they could get Google Maps, says data from massive mobile ad exchange MoPub,” Josh Constine reports for TechCrunch.
Apple Maps isn’t so bad. The wildly inaccurate media coverage was so bad it scared 29% of people who might otherwise have updated.
No MDN. No. You know that the 10 million downloads of Google Maps in the first 48 hours is absolutely what drove the surge in IO6 upgrades. C’mon you sound like some of the fanboys on here that make excuses for Apple no matter what they may have done wrong. Deny,deny,deny. No matter what, Apple is right. It’s silly. Why would normal adults defend a company? Okay, maybe normal doesn’t apply to some here. I guess adult isn’t applicable many times either. Ok, nevermind.
Not as silly as saying Apple is wrong all the time. Or as silly as making it sound that Apple maps is 0 stars out of 5. Or making it sound as if the antenna is not working….when it was as good as any other cellphone on the market. Then they said Apple would never make an external antenna again ….espeacially one that can be shorted by a touch…..because it was OBVIOUSLY the wrong way to do it. Apple proved everyone wrong. The 4s was the same design, so is the 5. So it was FUD all along. And it is FUD again. Apple maps is actually not as bad as you or the media make out.
Ridiculous finding, but why would they make this up?
Oh wait “MoPub founded in 2010 by a team of ex-Googlers”.
Got it.
Tim Cook apologised for Maps, perhaps (once the bugs ARE really squashed) he should say – “Maps are fixed”? or run an ad showing them working? something? anything?
Over here in the UK Apple Maps have almost become a standing joke in the media (we are even getting fun made of Maps on satire shows now) – the inaccuracies are simply regurgitated over and over without anyone actually testing to see if anything has been changed – it makes for hard listening.
Apple clearly did themselves no favours at all releasing something as obviously untested as Maps, makes you feel a little let down somehow. Probably because we are so used to Apple’s normally high standards – to release an app with so many flaws came as a bit of a slap in the face. It’s not like Apple don’t have the resources….what happened to quality control? Were they under any serious time pressure to get Maps released?
Apple definitely shot themselves in both feet with this one and its going to take a lot of work to change the media perception now. I think that Apple will just stay silent and try to ride it out – however its going to be one thing making Maps work and totally another to convince everyone that its been fixed.
I’m one of those who waited for Google Maps before upgrading. The reason was not because I hated Apple’s version, but because I didn’t want to lose Streetview, which I find indispensable. Many writing here have not considered this and think it must be because we were taken in by the FUD. This just shows their limited ability to consider other alternatives. And yes, MDN, I did try adding the Safari version to my home screen but it was sub par in terms of usability (I’m assuming MDN knows the importance of UI and a good user experience). I’m as big an Apple fanboy as they come, but I know a good app when I see one, and both new and old versions of Google Maps have features I enjoy.
IF this is true, I would suspect those are the same people that after upgrading thought the new apple maps WAS the new google maps.
I just deleted googles maps I have used Google maps and I find it inferior I think Apple has a great platform they have beautiful graphics and although there are new to this I think it’s more user-friendly than Google maps
I am baffled by the way that you lot feel so lost without an electronic map. I mostly just look at my surroundings, no need for maps, chaps. Read the signs, guys. I keep paper maps in my backpack when I am on foot or travelling by plane. No reason to whip out the iPad Mini or iPhone when out and about overseas. Oh, closer to home, in my car, I can always look at the in-car maps (courtesy of Daimler) which are very accurate, within a metre or so. Again, no reason to get out the iPad (Retina version) or MacBook Pro just to look at a map. But mostly I read street signs and store signs. Can’t you lot just look up for your screens and look around once in a while to determine where you are?
Oh brother! This could be a hard slog……never mind.
Yeah, cool. I’ll just drop you blindfolded into the middle of Dartmoor with a paper map and let you look for the store signs to orientate yourself.
Smartass.
didn’t Google just announce 10m downloads?
for the about 200m of iOS6 devices out there, this is just 5%.
Supply of the devices opened up. Best Buy and Walmart put iPhones on sale. The spike, or a large part of it, is due to adoption of the iPhone 5 itself – with iOS 6 in tow.
There’s a TON of iPhone 5 being sold right now. A ton.
Or, could it be that those who installed and just tried Floggle Gaps App activated more ad traffic, simply because they were using the new ad-approved App? Don’t know myself, and I have no intention of finding out.
I am no longer surprised by any reports of idiocy- we are surrounded by it.
Depends how you use maps.
For me it’s mostly interesting for Google Street View sightseeing, as I simply don’t need a maps app for daily use.
On that basis, I’ll be going over to IOS early 2013.