Indeed. Google could have implemented it on iOS if they had wanted to, but that was a pretty big selling point for some people to get an Android phone over iOS.
At least it was for me when I bought my Nexus One unlocked after eBaying a free-on-contract HTC Pure instead of getting the iPhone 3G(S? not sure if it was out back then)
"Indeed. Google could have implemented it on iOS if they had wanted to, but that was a pretty big selling point for some people to get an Android phone over iOS."
No they couldn't, Apple controlled the app, Google was just the pipe. A recent WSJ article claims that both Google and Apple wanted feature parity/turn by turn, but Google wanted an increased amount of Google branding in exchange which Apple refused so they ultimately couldn't come to terms.
Maybe they didn't want to take the risk of it being rejected as 'duplicating existing functionality'. I know that some apps have got through nowadays, but has the policy changed to allow this, or is Apple allowing these on a case-by-case basis?
No, they didn't do it because Apple was already paying them to use their maps.
If they came out with their own Google Maps application that had feature parity with the Android app, I would imagine that most iOS users would switch immediately to that app instead of Apple's built-in one.
That could have potentially cost Google a lot of money, assuming that Apple was paying on a per-use basis.
At least it was for me when I bought my Nexus One unlocked after eBaying a free-on-contract HTC Pure instead of getting the iPhone 3G(S? not sure if it was out back then)