It’s been just over 12 years since Apple launched Apple Maps with iOS 6, its own map service, with which it intended to replace Google Maps on all its devices, but especially on iPhones. Those who experienced it back then actually remember that Google maps stopped being integrated into the operating system because Cupertino was (strangely) convinced that its own mapping service would offer a better experience for its users.

Another thing… well, if you’ve lived through it, you’ll remember it, otherwise it’ll surely surprise you, and that The launch of Apple Maps was simply disastrous. But disastrous to the extent that Tim Cook himself had to publicly apologize for what happened and, as a sign of humility and honesty, had to recommend competing map services to his users. Besides, of course, Cupertino had no choice but to pull together and try to reverse the disaster.

This failed launch caused a bad image of the service to persist for years, although the truth is that the problems began to be solved quickly and quickly, For years, Apple Maps has been a good service, with some very interesting features and that of course takes advantage of the integration levels in iOS. Now, it’s also true that because of those early days, many iPhone users at the time quickly returned to Google Maps, and we’ve kept it that way until now.

Apple is aware of this situation, and in addition to continuing to improve its services, it seems that it has decided to go one step further, a step that seems somewhat surprising at first, but may work in its favor. And as you can see from this link, Apple has launched a web version of Apple Maps available to everyone. However, it’s currently in beta and doesn’t require an Apple account to use (in fact, it doesn’t even offer a sign-in option, at least for now).

In general, Google Maps offers a lot more features than Apple Maps, but Cupertino offers some interesting features, such as the editorial selection of tour guides that are directly integrated into the service, and which are also available in the web version. Now, to significantly improve its usefulness, in addition to adding new features, a key step would be to link the web version of Apple Maps with an Apple user account to explore and plan routes in it, and later search are ready to start tracking them on the device.