Apple has been continuously improving its Maps app and data since the service was launched in iOS 6, but for city dwellers one core weakness remains: a lack of public transit directions. Apple Maps will suggest third-party transit apps for use on particular systems, but doing it that way requires hopping between apps with inconsistent designs and features just to find out where you're going.
A pair of Apple job listings spotted by MacRumors indicates that the company is working to improve this situation. The Maps Public Transit Engineering Manager and Maps Public Transit C++ Software Engineer job listings mention "the next generation of Maps services" and call Public Transit "one of the most anticipated features of Apple Maps." It's not exactly a confirmation that public transit directions are coming to Maps, but the listings strongly suggest that Apple is working to implement the feature—the Transit Routing team will apparently be responsible for "build[ing] the world's best Transit Routing platform at massive scale."
Public transit directions were last a part of iOS in version 5, back when Apple was still using Google Maps data to power the app. As Google and Apple have gotten more competitive, Apple has worked to distance itself somewhat from Google's services. Google Maps and other Google-made apps are all available for download in the App Store, however, and Apple still uses Google as its default search provider in iOS 7.
reader comments
39