It looks like Apple is shifting its mapping services from Google Maps to OpenStreetMap (OSM). This comes after a price increase of Google’s Maps API.
StreetEasy and Foursquare have both made the switch from Google Maps to OSM, but have officially announced the switch on their official blog sites. Apple seems to have made the switch without prior notice, making use of outdated map data.
According to Venturebeat, the map data used by the Cupertino firm were from April of 2010. The data will be used for “adding geo-data” in Apple’s new iPhoto service, which is an app for devices such as the iPad 2, iPhone 4, and iPhone 4S. Apple’s switch from Google Maps to OpenStreetMap was first discovered by Alistair Aitchison, which he posted on his website.
OpenStreetMap said in a statement on their blog site, “The OSM data that Apple is using is rather old (start of April 2010) so don’t expect to see your latest and greatest updates on there. It’s also missing the necessary credit to OpenStreetMap’s contributors; we look forward to working with Apple to get that on there. But we’re delighted to see another prominent map user make the switch to OpenStreetMap, and look forward to many more.”
As expected, Apple failed to comment on the switch from Google Maps to OSM.
