In the context: Apple has always kept its map application locked in its enclosed garden. The company recently began to extend access to it. Last year, he launched a beta version of Apple Maps for web browsers – although it is a work in progress.
Initially, users could only access the MAPS web application from offices or tablets. Now Apple has quietly abandoned the beta tag of the URL and has opened the service to other mobile devices, including its rival – Android.
The question of whether Android users will want to use Apple Maps is a completely different question. The web application works more as a website than the native maps application. We tested it and found no inherent advantage on the MAPS application on the Google market. It is a fairly limited experience and does not support connections for recorded data, transit cards, 3D buildings and other advanced features.
He feels below Apple products. It looks like a minimum effort to soothe regulators. The Cupertino power plant has faced an intense antitrust pressure at the national level and abroad. The regulators, especially in Europe, prompted the company to open its ecosystem. So now Apple Maps has a web application. No one said it should be good, and Cupertino has no interest in participating in the web space.
Whatever the patterns, any user on any device can now access Apple cards from any browser by going to “Maps.apple.com”. The web application supports search and navigation functions. He also has an Apple overview around the street images (added a few months ago), similar to the Street view of Google.
Users who want a more transparent native-application experience can add the web application to their home screen. Just press the “Add to the home screen” button on Chrome. This creates a shortcut quickly accessible on the website for those who plan to use it frequently.
Apple recently widened its service footprint, gradually bringing products like Apple TV + and Apple Music to compete with Windows and Android Systems. So who can say that an Apple Maps native for Android application is not in the cards? However, Cupertino would probably need a monetary incentive to make this movement.
