Well, it helps that Apple maps is in many ways a better experience than using Google maps. And I don't just mean the OS-level integration (e.g. showing directions on the lock screen). I mean the Google maps aesthetic is very inconsistent with the platform conventions (even more-so since they went all heavy on material design). It just feels annoying to use, which is why I don't bother with it anymore. Especially since Apple maps seems to have caught up on the quality (at least here in the bay area).
Here in some parts of Canada, unfortunately, Google Maps app is still superior in finding locations. Also there's a nice feature where if you have a Google Calendar event coming up with the location specified, when you do a search, it will try to match with that first, which was a nice surprise for me.
Apple Maps actually does that too. If you have an upcoming event with a location in your iOS calendar, when you tap the search field in Maps, it suggests the location of the upcoming event right at the top of the list, before you've even typed anything.
I'm not sure the exact rules it uses for this. An event of mine at 2pm tomorrow wasn't sufficient to show it, but I added a test event in 1.5 hours and it showed that one. It might be the same criteria that Notification Center uses to determine when to show an upcoming event.
I don't know if it prioritizes explicit searches in any way, but automatically suggesting my upcoming event's location without having to type anything at all is pretty good.
(Note: I tested this on the iOS 9 beta, but I know I've seen this behavior in iOS 8.3 in the past)
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Put more concisely - Apple maps is used 3.5 times more often than Google maps on iPhones.
Well, it helps that Apple maps is in many ways a better experience than using Google maps. And I don't just mean the OS-level integration (e.g. showing directions on the lock screen). I mean the Google maps aesthetic is very inconsistent with the platform conventions (even more-so since they went all heavy on material design). It just feels annoying to use, which is why I don't bother with it anymore. Especially since Apple maps seems to have caught up on the quality (at least here in the bay area).
Here in some parts of Canada, unfortunately, Google Maps app is still superior in finding locations. Also there's a nice feature where if you have a Google Calendar event coming up with the location specified, when you do a search, it will try to match with that first, which was a nice surprise for me.
Apple Maps actually does that too. If you have an upcoming event with a location in your iOS calendar, when you tap the search field in Maps, it suggests the location of the upcoming event right at the top of the list, before you've even typed anything.
I'm not sure the exact rules it uses for this. An event of mine at 2pm tomorrow wasn't sufficient to show it, but I added a test event in 1.5 hours and it showed that one. It might be the same criteria that Notification Center uses to determine when to show an upcoming event.
I don't know if it prioritizes explicit searches in any way, but automatically suggesting my upcoming event's location without having to type anything at all is pretty good.
(Note: I tested this on the iOS 9 beta, but I know I've seen this behavior in iOS 8.3 in the past)