After somehow managing to survive life without it, Google Maps is back and better than ever for iOS. That means no more melting world of Apple Maps, no more false listings, no more getting lost and no more map inferiority on your iPhone. Get rid of Apple Maps and go download Google Maps in the App Store.


This is good. And though you can't dole out the punishment that Apple Maps deserves (full on execution/delete), you can excommunicate it to the folder where all the crappy Apple iOS apps go to rot. You know, the one you put stocks and contacts in. And though Apple Maps will still likely be the iOS system default mapping system, there are few things more comforting when you're out than seeing that familiar Google Maps icon on your home screen.

Google Maps for iOS has all the things you've missed so much like public transit directions and Street View plus features it never had on the iPhone like turn by turn navigation. Basically, it's better than it has ever been on the iPhone. Which means, just like with what happened to the YouTube app, Apple kicking out Google Maps for Apple Maps had the side benefit of iPhone users eventually getting a better version of Google Maps.


Along with Google Maps for iOS, Google is releasing a Google Maps SDK for iOS and a URL scheme to get third party applications to launch the Google Maps app and perform searches, direction requests and display map views. That's a workaround that could allow Google Maps to act like the primary mapping system on the iPhone (clicking something in another app would launch Google Maps and not Apple Maps, for example). Also, the new Google Maps' maps are vector-based (like Apple Maps) so it should be snappier and speedier than the old app. So yes, this is awesome news all around. We can now all pretend that the three month stretch of using Apple Maps never happened. [iTunes, Google]

Update: Some users are reporting that they're having difficulty downloading Google Maps on the App Store right now. What a tease! It's right there in front of our eyes! We'll update when it's fixed


Update: Should be working fine now. Let us know down below if you're still having trouble