Garmin capitalises on iPhone 5 mapping disaster

Apple’s mapping failure couldn’t have come at a better time for Garmin. With public transport options ready to go, Garmin have updated their Navigon app for iOS 6, complete with support for the iPhone 5’s taller 4 inch display. Garmin StreetPilot Onboard will also follow shortly with an iOS 6 update in the near future, complete with their alternative to Street View.

The public transport options include support for trains, trams, buses and water taxis, as well as Garmin’s new ‘Last Mile’ feature, demonstrated at the IFA: consumer electronics trade show in Berlin earlier this month.

According to the Official Garmin Blog: “Users will be guided to a transit stop by foot and be able to look up detailed information on what line to take and where to get off. The new Last Mile function automatically saves the location of the user’s car when continuing by foot, making it easy to find it on the way back.”

Apple’s own mapping app provides links to third-party navigation and mapping apps to provide the missing public transport features. Garmin’s updated apps join the list of supported services, so you can jump from app to app as painlessly as currently possible. It’s not the ideal situation, but it’s currently the best option available until Apple’s native mapping experience is up to scratch.

It’s surprising that Apple didn’t choose to licence these features from the likes of Garmin in order to make their native mapping experience more feature complete, instead of delivering a half-baked app like they have this week. It’s possible that they may have tried and failed to partner with third-party mapping companies, although no rumours of such talks have ever leaked. Surely, Apple has some plans in the works other than to leave users wanting until Apple themselves catch up.

Based on the current negative attention iOS maps is attracting, Apple may be forced to strike a deal with a third-party to quickly bring the native experience up to parity with the competition. Google have already stated that they want to bring Google Maps to every possible platform, so it’s only a matter of time before we see an official Google Maps app in the iOS App Store. There have been rumours that Google already have an app awaiting approval from Apple, but this has not been officially confirmed.

Until Google or Apple bring a more complete mapping experience to the iOS ecosystem, it looks as though Garmin might be the best port of call for the time being.

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• stonedwolf

  Funnily enough all the reasons you like the i-Phone are all the things Unix is missing.

• Chris Tuckey

  @Trisul – Missed the point completely. A computer & it’s OS is a tool. Phone, tablet and other household appliances are just that, appliances. You want them to be integrated, aesthetically pleasing and work well without having to screw with them right?

  In saying that I’m pissed off with the maps app but pleased with everything else.
  Hopefully it’s not all downhill without Steve.

• trisul

  You are quite right, I never thought of it this way. Maybe the reason I like Apple operating systems, is that they have completed the work that was missing in Unix: a really good user interface.
  The other reason I support their approach is that I have notice that ordinary people are completely lost using Windows, it is too complicated, they barely understand what is going on and they feel helpless … they also blame themselves. They think they are just stupid, while in fact, the system has been intentionally designed to make them feel stupid, so they will never dare ask for anything else.
  I have experience with 70-year olds who rejected computers completely, but they felt at home with an i-Pad, immediately, on first touch. And it is the same with children. The reason is that things are simpler, more intuitive. Apple has broken the evil spell we call “featurism” and returned the focus to people and simplifying things. This is excellent, and something difficult to do in the open source movement, as it needs psychological studies and someone giving focus, as Jobs was.
  However, they are just a company, and they do want loads of money and they will do whatever to get their share. Which is why we really need a healthy, completely open alternative, such as Linux and Android. But this does not mean that Apple products stink, that everyone using them is a brainwashed zombie, or in it just to be cool.

• HUMMDRUMM

  The new app form the iOS store ,the ”Inception Maps” ,you may find your self in Steve Jobs mind or Ego ,its a whole different world in there !!!

• HUMMDRUMM

  But its organic ! hahahahaha

• HUMMDRUMM

  So are you saying that your iPhone is not cracked so you can upload your own crap on it ?

• stonedwolf

  Then again, I like open nature of Windows, so for me it would have to be Android. Erecting a corporate pay and censorship wall around software is just … icky.

  I don’t mind Jailbreaking a handheld console to run lots of interesting software, and no not pirating games – I do buy my software – but running all sorts of apps. But I don’t fancy having to do that for my phone.

• trisul

  “Then again, I like open nature of Windows, so for me it would have to be Android. Erecting a corporate pay and censorship wall around software is just … icky.”

  Yeah, it really rubs against the grain. I sort of accepted after downloading a free app and seeing it incapacitate the phone functionality, I realized that loss of control could lead to a non-functioning phone for which Apple would be blamed. A lot of the flakiness of Windows is due to Microsoft’s absence of control over the hardware. Apple decided a long time ago not to go on that road. They want absolute control over their products and I understand this, although I do not like it one bit. If anything will get me to switch, it will be this.

  b.t.w. I am still using an uncracked iPhone 4, without a plan, as I am in Europe. I have no plans to upgrade to iPhone 5. I see the maps fiasco as a good opportunity for companies providing such software e.g. a Google app. What are they waiting for? After all, they knew a long time ago that Apple was ditching them.

• trisul

  I sure you look really cool, dude!

  When the iPhone was designed, Jobs reportedly told the crew “We all have a phone, but no-one is happy with it. Design a phone that will make you happy, not a phone with someone else in mind”. When they came back with the final product, he rejected it, saying it did not make him happy and they went back to review other designs. That is what I meant by “people for people” instead of drawing up a list of “features” that marketing has found out will entice people to fork out cash, which is how Microsoft does it. Or Motorola’s approach, which used to be developing software that exposes to the user the capabilities of the underlying hardware, without ever thinking about the user interaction.

  I have not tried the iMaps yet, I hear it is a real fiasco. Especially in Burkina Faso, if I go there, I will make sure that I do not count on iMaps to lead me.

• http://www.facebook.com/ray.harrison.7967 Ray Harrison

  Some like the iPhone 5, some don’t. I personally don’t see the point of upgrading to this. But just in case, this is just an FYI: the iZettle card reader won’t fit the iPhone 5. You will have to use an adapter which will be released in October. The mPowa card reader and others so far I have not known to have any issues with it.