Apple Ditches Google Maps For Own Software In Find My iPhone Beta On The Web
July 8, 2014
The Find My iPhone Web service now uses Apple’s in-house mapping program — at least on the beta version of iCloud.com. The change comes two years after Apple stopped using Google Maps on iOS devices.
First noticed by German blog iPhoneBlog.de, the change has yet to carry over to the public iCloud.com site.
AppleInsider notes:
Functionality remains the same between the two versions, though Apple's vector-based maps do appear more lightweight. AppleInsider tests revealed the Google Maps-powered version transferred some 4 megabytes of data for a single request, compared to just over 400 kilobytes for Apple's.Apple stopped using Google Maps beginning with iOS 6. However, Cupertino has continued to use Google's product through the Web version of iCloud. The switch made today on the iCloud beta site suggests that will soon change. You can take the new version of Find My iPhone for a test drive by logging into your iCloud account at beta.iCloud.com. See also: Apple Begins Implementing Two-Step Verification For Its iCloud Web App Suite, Apple Updates iWork For iCloud To Remember Your Last Used Document Settings, and Apple To Implement iCloud Email Encryption In Transit Between Service Providers.