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A huge number of iOS users had apparently refused to update to iOS 6 because of a lack of Google Maps. And now that a Google Maps app for iOS is here, these users seem to be making the switch rather rapidly. Ever since the app was released, there has been a 30% increase in unique iOS 6 users.

In earlier iOS releases, Google Maps has been a part of the firmware by default. However, in iOS 6, Apple decided to ditch the mapping solution and replaced it with its own Maps app, which eventually turned out to be a disaster.

Google waited a while before it launched its own Google Maps for iOS app. The app launched the iOS users into a downloading frenzy and had been downloaded more than 10 million times within 48 hours of release. It seems that the app is also beneficial to Apple in more than one ways. For one, a huge chunk of iOS users who had been waiting until now have finally made the switch to iOS 6.

This has been noticed by the mobile ad exchange MoPub. According to the CEO of MoPub, “We observed since the launch of Google Maps for iOS 6 a 30 percent increase in unique iOS 6 users, and we think it’s related to Google Maps. It verifies the hypothesis that people were actually holding back to upgrade until Google Maps was available.”

This trend is beneficial to Apple because it reduces the fragmentation in its iOS user base, which is good for both the company and the developers. Moreover, many new users are also gearing up to lay their hands on iPhone 5 now that they know that they can use Google Maps on the new handset without any qualms. Although this is a loss for Apple on the mapping front, the company has certainly gained on many other counts.

Source: MoPub

Courtesy: TechCrunch

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