Study Finds iPhone Users Prefer Apple Maps Over Google Maps

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Apple Maps may have triggered a PR disaster at launch, but a year after it became public, its usage, which has been put into numbers by comScore and the Guardian, reveals a completely different picture: Google has lost 23 million iPhone users in the US for Apple’s mapping software.

You may recall that Apple decided to kick off Google Maps as a built-in app with the launch of iOS 6, so the Internet giant had to go through the app review process and launch its well-known maps app in the App Store. And yeah, it was taken up by 10 million users in the first days. But what happened afterwards?

According to comScore’s data, there were a total of 81.1 million users out of the total of 103.6 million iPhone and Android phone users of Google Maps in September 2012. But a year later, the total number of Google Maps users is much lower; it stands at 43% of iPhone and Android users, or 58.7 million, according to comScore’s data. Meanwhile, its user base has grown to 136.7 million.

Also, the comScore data reveals that, this September, 35 million used Apple maps at least once per month, which is more than half (58%) of the total iPhone population of 60.1 million.

ComScore’s data shows that in September 2013, 35m used Apple’s maps at least once during the month, out of a total iPhone population of 60.1m. The 58% usage on the iPhone is reckoned to reflect the growing number of younger users who do not use mapping services; the proportion of iPhone users who use any mapping service, including Google’s, has been dropping since April 2012, according to ComScore’s data.

Wood said: “The thing is, on an iPhone all roads lead to Apple’s maps. They’re putting this front and centre for users, and getting more confident.” For Google, he said, “They’re very fortunate that Android is a big source of data – they will be very relieved at that.” He cautioned that US iPhone users might be more eager to use Apple’s maps because there seem to be fewer errors there compared to other regions, including Europe.

Which one do you prefer: Apple Maps or Google Maps?

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