Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution
Apple is investing aggressively in Apple Maps and its strategy of building a better Google Maps competitor, but the firm is now preparing to leave behind some users.
For Apple Maps, every user counts. Compared to Google Maps, it severely lacks in terms of adoption, especially given it's exclusive to Apple devices. As such, Apple working around the clock on the new detailed city experience is critical in the long term. Thanks to the new maps, the 3D buildings, and the rich details, the likelihood of convincing users to refuse jumping ship is much higher.
The American firm is now preparing bad news for some of its users.
The company will drop support for some services on old versions of iOS. As such, users who are still running them would no longer be able to connect to certain services, including the App Store and Apple Maps.
Apple won't shut down Apple Maps on these platforms overnight. The company will reach out to the customers to prepare them for the change starting this month. Eventually, Apple Maps and the rest of the services will stop working on iOS 11, macOS 10, watchOS 4, and tvOS 11 in May.
Apple’s new policy is different from a standard end-of-support software cycle. The company won’t only drop support for these services on iOS 11 but will also restrict access to them completely.
In regard to Windows, when a version of the operating system reached the end of support, users can still run them with the features already available. When Apple’s change comes into effect, accessing Apple Maps will no longer be possible, as the device would be blocked from connecting to Apple’s services. The company will conduct a quick check to determine the iOS version, and if it’s an unsupported release, it’s blocked from connecting.
Abandoning old software is mandatory for significant upgrades. New-generation updates for its services, as well as infrastructure upgrades, require technology that is not supported in old versions of iOS. As such, the company must enforce the switch to newer versions of the operating system. This is why, before pulling the plug on services on iOS 11, Apple will also attempt to update devices to a newer operating system release.
Apple Maps is making good progress in the race against Google Maps. The detailed city experience, however, is still rolling out slowly to users across the world. At the same time, the main reason for switching to Google Maps has until now been the lack of support for essential features, such as offline maps. Apple Map does not allow users to navigate without an Internet connection. Google Maps enables them to download maps for offline use, with updates then performed automatically in the background when the app is running.
The American firm is now preparing bad news for some of its users.
The company will drop support for some services on old versions of iOS. As such, users who are still running them would no longer be able to connect to certain services, including the App Store and Apple Maps.
Apple won't shut down Apple Maps on these platforms overnight. The company will reach out to the customers to prepare them for the change starting this month. Eventually, Apple Maps and the rest of the services will stop working on iOS 11, macOS 10, watchOS 4, and tvOS 11 in May.
Apple’s new policy is different from a standard end-of-support software cycle. The company won’t only drop support for these services on iOS 11 but will also restrict access to them completely.
In regard to Windows, when a version of the operating system reached the end of support, users can still run them with the features already available. When Apple’s change comes into effect, accessing Apple Maps will no longer be possible, as the device would be blocked from connecting to Apple’s services. The company will conduct a quick check to determine the iOS version, and if it’s an unsupported release, it’s blocked from connecting.
Abandoning old software is mandatory for significant upgrades. New-generation updates for its services, as well as infrastructure upgrades, require technology that is not supported in old versions of iOS. As such, the company must enforce the switch to newer versions of the operating system. This is why, before pulling the plug on services on iOS 11, Apple will also attempt to update devices to a newer operating system release.
Apple Maps is making good progress in the race against Google Maps. The detailed city experience, however, is still rolling out slowly to users across the world. At the same time, the main reason for switching to Google Maps has until now been the lack of support for essential features, such as offline maps. Apple Map does not allow users to navigate without an Internet connection. Google Maps enables them to download maps for offline use, with updates then performed automatically in the background when the app is running.
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