Apple Maps has been around for some time, and thankfully is nothing like its awkward early days of spotty information and so-so accuracy. Today, Apple wants to make its Apple Maps part of the bikesharing landscape by facilitating the sharing of information.
How Apple Can Help Bikesharing Through Its Apple Maps Software
Apple here, Apple there, but Apple has not always been first in line with EVs. Today, the company is claiming that its mapping software can potentially help the way we use bikesharing.
The Google/Apple race for the infotainment business has been lopsided from day one, with Android taking a fair share of the pie, Eventually, around 2012 we started to spot Apple representatives going up and down media days at international car shows talking to people about cars. Although we spoke at length unofficially, officially, it was just talking, nothing else. What was really happening was Apple noticed the lag in the transportation industry and decided to catch up to Android before it was too late, leaving the likes of Garmin and others even behind the adoption curve.
The catch-up game Apple has actively engaged with means its Apple Maps got a few welcome upgrades with more bikesharing information, not necessarily for cars.
Is Apple Branching Out Into Electric Bicycles?
The Apple rumor mill would have a field day with this one. Could Apple really be working on an electric bicycle? The latest partnership with Ito World could be an indication, according to The Verge. Apple Maps supports bikesharing information for no less than 175 cities in 36 countries. By gathering, curating, and integrating the bikeshare data it gathered around the world, Apple Maps has access to a lot of information and experience, thus raising the competition bar with Google.
Apple Maps is not a finished product, but an evolving one. In fact, it still doesn’t show how many bikes are in a location. And from its awkward early release of public embarrassment and finally open apology from the almighty Steve Jobs, Apple’s decision to focus on information for shared-bike services in various cities is an interesting turn.
So far, Apple Maps supports Citi Bike, Ford’s GoBike, and Biketown, as well as a few more.
Can Apple Decisively Break into The Shared-Bike Market?
The shared-bike growth potential is promising for Apple, which will continue to invest and develop its own map platform. In the end, Apple also faces other types of competition from your local GPS vehicle app too, of course, Google. Which one do you prefer in the end? We end up going back and forth with Google Maps and Waze.
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