iPhone vs. Android: Rivalry plays out with iOS 6 release

The latest casualty of Apple’s war with Google in the mobile-phone market is one of the most widely used features of the iPhone: maps.

New mapping software Apple is introducing this week with the iPhone 5 was criticized by technology gadget reviewers, who said it doesn’t provide directions for public transportation and sometimes gets confused when navigating users.

"Apple believes that they can deliver a better experience for customers than Google," said Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst at Forrester Research. "But in the short term, Google has a better mapping application, and iPhone customers will suffer." Apple, which is touting the map features as a key software change in the iPhone 5, built its navigation application amid a growing battle with Google, which had provided its Google Maps program since the iPhone was introduced in 2007. Apple built the replacement app because it wanted to scale back its relationship with Google, not because of any product flaws, said two people familiar with Apple’s development of the mapping features.

The company’s rivalry with Google was born after the owner of the world’s largest Internet search engine developed the Android mobile operating system, which runs devices from manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics and HTC that compete with Apple’s iPhone. Android is now the world’s most popular smartphone software.

As the competition escalated, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt exited Apple’s board in 2009. Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple also traded patent-infringement lawsuits with several smartphone manufacturers who use Android, including Samsung.

The fallout from the feud extends beyond mapping. Customers also won’t find Google’s YouTube application preinstalled on the iPhone for the first time since 2007. Google’s e-mail and document software also haven’t worked as well for iPhone customers as on Android phones, Rotman Epps said.

From a business perspective, Apple’s decision on mapping is important because its software ecosystem for providing music, apps and other services to customers helps to differentiate its products, said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Gartner.

"It doesn’t make sense for Apple to outsource a key part of their entire ecosystem to Google," Gartenberg said. Customers aren’t likely to find as much fault with the mapping features as the reviewers did, he said.

The reviews for the iPhone 5 were mostly positive, especially for its faster data speeds and lightweight body design. Walt Mossberg, the technology critic for the Wall Street Journal, called it the best smartphone on the market, while singling out the maps as a shortcoming.

"The biggest drawback I found is the new Maps app," wrote Mossberg. Bloomberg’s Rich Jaroslovsky also criticized the mapping features.

Not all reviewers were disappointed by the new mapping software. Ed Baig of USA Today didn’t note any flaws with the feature, and Macworld called it "stunning." Trudy Muller, a spokeswoman for Apple, declined to comment, as did Nate Tyler, a spokesman for Google.

Customers haven’t shown any hesitation about adopting Apple’s new technology. Apple received more than 2 million orders for the iPhone 5 in 24 hours, more than double the previous record set with the iPhone 4S last year.

"Mapping is probably the biggest weakness of iOS 6, but it’s still a relatively minor weakness," Gartenberg said. "Two million customers have already said it’s not an issue."