This seems pretty good from a first glance; provides a "Standard" or "Classic" option to select between Apple's and Google's Maps. If you just care about tiles (rather than e.g. transit directions) then this should be a good stop-gap until Google releases their own version. It's a nicer experience than the mobile Google Maps site.

Direct link to App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/app/classicmap/id566173771

Neat for a demo/concept, but what's the purpose?

The web version of Google maps is already more powerful. No directions, layers, no streetview, no auto-matching, no reviews etc. Loads slower. How is this nicer than the web version by google (other than the obvious, ie lack of a URL field)

If you haven't in a while, look at the latest google web version they've made some changes, e.g. look up Brooklyn Bridge, NY.

Am I missing something?

I guess it's personal preference but I find the Google Maps web app to just feel clunky and slow in scrolling around and that bothers me.

It's in the Apple App Store ( http://itunes.apple.com/app/classicmap/id566173771?mt=8 ). I presume that means Apple have looked at it, and approved it, and it won't be yanked in a while for breaking any terms of service,

right?

No, it'll get removed; the App Store Approval process is a sham, and this is absolutely breaking the Google Maps TOS.

In this case the breach may be very obvious - but Apple's review process is not about compliance with third-party TOS.

Hi tmcw. Two questions for clarification

1) How is the review process a sham?

2) How is the app breaking Google's TOS?

1) Because there's very little evidence that malicious applications are successfully filtered (many get in), and much evidence that nitpicky comments keep 'good' applications waiting.

2) https://developers.google.com/maps/faq#tos_tiles

Don't know about no 1 but Google's TOS explicitly forbids the rendering of Google tiles outside a Google application, you can only use them in conjunction with Google's own Maps API.

Pretty cool. I wish it had the transit stuff left over, though!

Is it authorized to download map tiles form Google? Is there a limit? Can there be any reason to fear that it might stop working a few days later?

I had been holding off upgrading to ios6, not to miss google maps. But if this app gets removed after I upgrade, that will be devastating.

Any one knows, is there any reason to be concerned?

It doesn't credit Google as far as I can tell (the legal section just seems to be for the new iOS maps). The link to "Legal" is really small and there's no Google Logo (as Google had required previously)

Still it works if you all you need is map tiles (which I highly doubt what most people use Maps for)

> But if this app gets removed after I upgrade, that will be devastating.

You can grab the app now and still be able to use it after it's pulled. Just save the .ipa and sync it over.

What you'll find even more devastating is that whilst this app uses the Google map tiles, the search isn't any better than Apple's.

The search seems to be quite limiting. It only seems to recognise place names, the thing I miss most about google maps is searching for POIs.

That's because it doesn't do that search on Google's servers. It only grabs the Google map tiles and renders them...

It actually does hit Google for the search:

https://github.com/kishikawakatsumi/ClassicMap/blob/master/C...

Here's the URL it's hitting:

    https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address=[whatever_you_entered_in_the_search field]&sensor=true

Does Google actually allow you to use the tiles, as long as you credit them? Could I do something similar in a commercial app?

So does this actually populate the local information data as well from Google? Or is this strictly a visual thing?

Looks like it might be both. It's inserting Google's tiles as an overlay on Apple's map view, and it's also hitting Google's API when you search for something: https://github.com/kishikawakatsumi/ClassicMap/blob/master/C...

What I like most is that it's open source. So maybe this will lead to interesting improvements.