Maps have become the latest battleground in the war for mobile supremacy - and Apple clearly won the day.
The tech giant announced a built-in map app for iPhones and iPads at the Worldwide Developers Conference on Monday that includes free turn-by-turn directions, 3-D "flyover" views and real-time traffic alerts. When the next version of Apple's iOS becomes available, likely in the fall, the new app will supplant the one that Google powered on the iPhone for years.
The move gives Apple control over what's become a fundamental feature of smart phones, while undercutting its partner-turned-rival.
As Apple users upgrade their devices or software, Google will lose a portal to millions of people and the substantial local advertising opportunities that go with it. If Apple's new app works well, the company will also have neutralized one of the few reasons for consumers to consider Google's competing Android devices (other than price).
Android has included free turn-by-turn directions for years, wrapped into its intuitive and attractive navigation app. The feature is the one Android advantage I've highlighted when friends seek advice on their next phone, and it was the lone thing I missed when I switched back to an iPhone last year.
But if Apple has matched Google's functionality, they've taken turn-by-turn directions off the table.
Apple once partnered tightly with Google, putting the company's maps app on the default home screen of the first iPhones in 2007. But the Silicon Valley partnership frayed after the Mountain View search company released its own mobile software the following year. The late Steve Jobs, former chief executive of Apple, clearly considered Google's move a betrayal.
"I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product," he told his biographer, Walter Isaacson. "I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this."
Google now controls 50.8 percent of market share for smart phone software, compared with 31.4 percent for Apple, according to ComScore.
Over the years, Google has retained certain mapping enhancements strictly for its own mobile software, notably the turn-by-turn directions and 3-D city views. For its part, Apple has rejected several Google apps and introduced Siri, the voice-controlled personal assistant some see as a direct competitor to Google's mobile search.
In that light, Monday's announcement in San Francisco was just the latest in a series of steps that have minimized Google's presence on Apple's devices.
"It does not surprise me to see Apple purposely moving away from anything Google," said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies.
But it's not just about a business rivalry, of course. There are real strategic advantages to controlling mobile maps. They are one of the most heavily used features of smart phones. Yet until now, Apple, which is famously obsessed with controlling the user experience, has been forced to rely on a third party for that functionality.
"Google was substantially in control of this key piece," said Greg Sterling, senior analyst at Opus Research. "Apple needed maps, because it was very important to their users."
The Cupertino company was also relinquishing marketing revenue to Google, which includes sponsored links among map search results. Consumers frequently use mobile maps to look up nearby restaurants, stores, salons and more, queries that can be advertised against.
"Ninety-five percent of retail is offline," Sterling said. "There's a big stake in being found in these applications if you're a local business."
It's unclear how or whether Apple, which is far less dependent on ad revenue than Google, plans to include marketing in the app. The company did say Monday that it would feature local business information from Yelp, the San Francisco review site that highlights nearby deals in its mobile app.
Much of how this plays out in the marketplace will depend on how well Apple's new app works and how Google responds. The company tried to get ahead of Apple's news last week by announcing several forthcoming map improvements of its own, including offline viewing and similar 3-D flyover views.
So far we don't have much information to evaluate the offerings, beyond staged demos. But Bajarin said that Apple is clearly harnessing its product-design expertise, as well as the tight integration of its hardware and software, to deliver at least a visually superior app.
"Apple is playing to their strengths and in the end creating an incredibly rich experience for the user," he said.
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