Everyone knew that people were going to rush toward Google Maps when the company finally released their native app for iOS. There have been plenty of disappointed iOS users since Apple unveiled the Google Map-less iOS 6, and most of them have been waiting impatiently for Google to restore the status quo. After all, iOS users had been content with using Google Maps for years, before Apple went and replaced it with a vastly inferior product.
So we knew it would be popular, and popular quick. We now have to first download figures from Google, and they are as impressive as you would expect:
Over 10 million downloads in the first 48 hours in the App Store.
“We’re excited for the positive reception of Google Maps for iPhone around the world. Congratulations to the Maps Team on the recognition for the passion and hard work they poured into it, for this release and over the last 7+ years,” said Google’s Jeff Huber in a Google+ post earlier today.
Google Maps for iPhone is still the #1 free app in the App Store, a position it has held since around 7 hours after its initial release. It’s currently a 4 and 1/2-star app with over 20,000 reviews posted.
Although it’s clear that current iOS 6 users were quick to jump on the Google Maps app, it doesn’t appear that non-iOS 6 users have made the switch simply because Google Maps is finally available. In fact, there’s been a less than 0.2% increase in iOS 6 adoption since Google Maps for iPhone hit the App Store.
But that’s not really Google’s problem, as they can celebrate that fact that iPhone users really missed their maps. Now, with users continuing to make the switch back to Google Maps, the company can start thinking about ads – something that’s been a part of their Android app for a while and something that they couldn’t do when they were built into the iOS framework.