iPhoto for iOS Map via Google Maps

A lot of people have noticed that the new iPhoto for iOS does not use Google Maps. Some people are even wondering if this is the first sighting of Apple's long rumoured replacement for Google Maps in the Maps app of iOS.

Refnum Software have managed to import the new Apple Map tiles into the Google Maps API. Their map, Apple Map Tiles, allows you to view the new Apple Map using the Google Maps interface.

Having a look at the iPhoto map I doubt that this version will end up replacing the Google Maps in the Maps app for iOS. First off I don't think it is aesthetically pleasing enough. Secondly at the moment the map tiles aren't detailed enough to be a full replacement for Google Maps (although it is possible that Apple are holding back on a few zoom levels for the iPhoto map).

You can bet that Apple Maps is coming but it looks like Apple still have some work to do before they replace the Google Maps app in iOS.

iPhoto 2009 Embraces Google Maps

iPhoto 2009

Apple's iPhoto 2009 has a great new feature called 'Places' which uses Google Maps and the ability of modern digital cameras to geotag your photographs to show the location of your photo album on a map.

iPhoto imports location information from your digital camera and can then show you this location on Google Maps. If your camera doesn't have GPS capabilities you can simply add locations manually with iPhoto.

iPhoto is also able to tag your photos by location and by nearby points of interest. For example if your location data shows that a photograph was taken near the Eiffel Tower iPhoto will automatically tag your picture 'Eiffel Tower'.

Yuo can use Places to navigate your photos by location. You can navigate through all of your photos via Google Maps, or use the column browser to click through location names from country to state to city or by points of interest.

iPhoto ’09 can even create travel books of your photographs with custom maps that illustrate your journey. iPhoto uses the location data from your photos to generate a map showing the countries and cities you visited. Every map is fully customizable. Show a point-to-point path of your travels, change the order of the cities, and mark points of interest.

iPhoto 2009 is also introducing another new feature called 'Faces'. Faces lets you select faces in photographs and give that face a name. It then finds other images in your album with the same face and automatically tags them.

________________