Google iOS Maps app will be ready by 2013, if Apple will have it
A three-dimensional view of San Francisco on Google's digital mapping service. Google/AP
It is unlikely, however, that Apple will accept the mapping app
Google is on track to have an Apple compatible Maps app ready by the end of the year, a source tells The Guardian's Michael Grothaus, matching reports from earlier this year. That is, if Apple will accept the app, which these sources claim is an "unlikely event." Though, it's unclear how Google employees would know anything about the inner workings of Apple's app approval process, these mysterious sources point to a change in the App Store as their evidence. "Specifically, they point to the lack of any mapping app in the 'Find maps for your iPhone' section of the App Store - accessible only via iPhones or iPads - that use the Google Maps APIs to call wirelessly for location, routing or point-of-interest (POI) data," writes Grothaus. The featured apps highlight solutions to Apple Maps from MapQuest, Bing and Garmin, but not a one that uses Google Maps. These sources think Apple purposely left them out.