Google Maps (application)
A screenshot of Google Maps on Android Lollipop
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|
| Original author(s) | |
|---|---|
| Initial release | September 23, 2008 |
| Stable release |
9.49.2 (Android), 4.29.0 (iOS) / March 29, 2017
|
| Development status | Active |
| Operating system | |
| Website | maps |
Google Maps is a mapping mobile app developed by Google for the Android and iOS mobile operating systems; it uses Google Maps for its information.
The Android app was first released in September 2008, though the GPS-localization feature had been in testing on cellphones since 2007. Google Maps was Apple's solution for its mapping service on iOS until the release of iOS 6 in September 2012, at which point it was replaced by Apple Maps, with Google releasing its own Google Maps standalone app on the iOS platform the following December.
The Google Maps apps on Android and iOS have many features in common, including turn-by-turn navigation, street view, and public transit information. Updates in June 2012 and May 2014 enabled functionality to let users save certain map regions for offline access.
Google Maps on iOS received significant praise after its standalone app release in December 2012, with critics highlighting its detailed information and design as positives. However, the apps have received criticism over privacy concerns, particularly a location history tracking page that offers "step by step" location logging, with privacy advocates advising users to disable the feature, and that an April 2014 privacy policy change enabled Google to have a unified login throughout its iOS apps, helping it identify each user's interactions within each app.
On November 28, 2007, Google Maps for Mobile 2.0 was released. It featured a beta version of a "My Location" feature, which uses the GPS / Assisted GPS location of the mobile device, if available, supplemented by determining the nearest wireless networks and cell sites. The software looks up the location of the cell site using a database of known wireless networks and sites. By triangulating the different signal strengths from cell transmitters and then using their location property (retrieved from the database), My Location determines the user's current location.
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