A new report out today on navigation app trends sheds some light on how far Google Maps could be ahead of Apple Maps and other services. Included are the top reasons why almost 70% of users are sticking with Google Maps.
In its survey, The Manifest asked roughly 500 smartphone users about their favorite navigation app and what factors led them to their choice. Google Maps was the clear favorite with 67% of respondents choosing the app.
Google’s own Waze app was much less popular with just 12% saying it was their favorite, with Apple Maps coming in third with 11%.
Apple announced at the end of last month that it is working on a major overhaul of its maps service.
Cue says Apple is now focused on building the “best map app in the world” which requires “building all of our own map data from the ground up.”
However, the majority of Apple Maps users won’t see big improvements in the short-term as the first changes will be rolling out this fall for San Francisco and the Bay Area and then expanding to Northern California later in the year.
As for the factors that led to picking their favorite navigation app, users said that clear directions were number one. Preferred features and user-friendly design/interface came in second and third.
Interesting enough, 14% of respondents said they have never used another navigation app besides their favorite.
Notably, The Manifest didn’t share what percentage of the users surveyed were using an iPhone vs. an Android smartphone, so the results could naturally skew to show a higher Google Maps popularity. However, it’s no secret that Apple Maps has a lot of work to catch up with and surpass Google Maps as the king of navigation.
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