Last week, Google finally launched their native maps app for iOS and users rejoiced. Apple Maps, the map product the company introduced with the launch of iOS 6, has been plagued with a variety of issues – most recently being accused of posing a risk to users’ health. The launch of the undeniably superior Google Maps for iPhone was seen as a positive for users and for Google, who can now develop an ad product for the app (if they so chose).
But we also told you how Google Maps could be good for Apple in one particular way. Some analysts believed that the introduction of Google Maps for iOS could boost interest in iOS 6 and possibly spur adoption rates. Maybe, we thought, people who had been holding out on downloading the OS update because of Apple Maps would now do so considering they now have a viable alternative.
Well, that idea is being busted. Four days after the launch of Google Maps for iOS, there has been barely any boost in iOS 6 adoption – definitely not enough to call it significant.
The data comes to us from Chitika, who says that iOS adoption is at 72.94% not that Google Maps is available. Sounds high, right? I mean, it is a pretty high adoption rate. But the rate before the Google Maps iOS app was released stood at 72.77%. So at least for the time being, Google Maps has pushed the iOS 6 adoption rate up less than 0.2%.
So, either people updated to iOS 6 once they knew Google Maps was on the way (it was widely publicized) or it simply hasn’t had an affect on iOS 6 adoption at all. A previous study determined that Apple Maps wasn’t really a problem for most users, and it looks like the deterrent effect of Apple Maps and the promotional effect of Google Maps may have both been exaggerated.
[via TechCrunch]