BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

iOS 6 Map Flap: Should Apple Let Users Select Alternate Default Apps?

This article is more than 10 years old.

Yesterday, Apple CEO Tim Cook admitted that the company had taken a wrong turn by releasing its new Maps app before it was ready for prime time. "We strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers," Cook wrote in an open letter. "With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment."

Cook went on to recommend some alternatives to the built-in app, "While we're improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app."

As unprecedented as it is for Apple to recommend alternatives to its built-in apps, the company could have gone one better. If Apple is really serious about "make[ing] world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers," they should add a field to the Maps preferences settings that would allow users to select an alternate default mapping app.

Of course, this is the last thing that Apple wants to do, because once users begin to question the primacy of the built-in apps, the spell is broken on the invincibility of the iOS platform. Like marks on the surface of a beautiful painting, once you are aware of the imperfections, it is hard to re-enter the illusion of the image.

But since this is about the user's experience (supposedly) not the company's market share, it's worth considering that on iOS, not all apps are created equal. The default apps have a "home-field advantage" that goes beyond an icon on the home screen. As Cook helpfully pointed out, you can put a different map app (or in the case of Google or Nokia, a shortcut to their web apps) on your home screen.

But, what happens when you get an email with an address in the body of the text? Or find an address in Safari? Or look up a contact in your Address Book? Through the wonder of micro-formats, iOS recognizes these (for the most part) as addresses and creates a hyperlink to the location—in the built-in Maps app! So, you can put as many alternative choices as you want on your home screen, but you will still find yourself in the default Maps app as a normal part of your iOS experience.

Providing users with the ability to specify alternatives to the default built-in apps would go a considerable way towards making iOS a more open platform. If Apple ever got in trouble about monopolistic practices, that's the kind of fix that regulators might suggest. Apple would probably argue that one of the things that makes its mobile platform superior to Android is the uniformity and consistency of its built-in apps. But if the company fails to live up to those standards—as Cook has admitted they have in this case—what then?

The truth is that Apple could have it both ways—if it's willing to give up a little control (I know, this is a big "if"!) Just as Apple has an approval process for inclusion in the App Store, they could have a more stringent approval process for "approved alternative default apps" for its core offerings. The short-term risk to the company would actually be quite low, because research shows that users in all kinds of situations overwhelmingly choose default options. The early adopter types that would be likely to specify their own defaults are also the kind most a risk for leaving the platform in search of more control of their experience, anyway.

This is an idea that, frankly, didn't occur to me before this whole map flap, but I think it could make a lot of sense, not only for users, but for Apple, too. Giving users control of their defaults would both show them respect and create a more "convivial" app ecosystem between Apple and its developers. Apple would be in a position of having to continually maintain its position of having the best app for a given function, and ambitious developers would have an incentive to rethink core aspects of the iOS user experience. And if someone (other than Google) comes up with a better core app, Apple could always, you know, buy it.

So, although I think Tim Cook's recommendation of Bing, MapQuest, Waze, Google or Nokia as temporary work-arounds is admirable, I don't think it really goes far enough to really solve users' problems with the built-in app. This could, in fact, be an opportunity for the company to adopt a more open approach to its app ecosystem (similar to what Adobe is attempting with their new HLML 5 tools) that will continue to engage both power-users and the masses. How about it, Tim?

- – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – -

To keep up with Quantum of Content, please subscribe to my updates on Facebook or follow me on Twitter.