When Windows Phone was my daily driver, I relied heavily on Here Maps, because Google never launched Google Maps for Microsoft’s phone operating system.
After switching to Android, I quickly learned Google Maps, and it felt so complete for what I needed the app for that I never had to look anywhere else.
Several years have passed since I first tried Google Maps, and I still rely on it when I commute. However, the daily commute doesn’t feel so smooth even with Google Maps when I’m carrying my iPhone 16e.
I heard lots of praise for Apple Maps, so I tried that one on my iPhone, but I was still missing out on what’s common with pretty much any map apps on Android.
That’s a major reason why I haven’t ditched my Android phone in favor of the iPhone 16e. The lack of one tiny Maps feature is the reason I haven’t fully switched to Apple.
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I can’t stand that Maps on my iPhone is missing this useful feature
When I first tried iOS, I was shocked to learn how limited it felt because of its lack of robust multitasking abilities. My iPhone can’t even run two apps simultaneously, and that’s the case with every iPhone model that exists.
Forget about quality, it doesn’t even allow something as basic as Picture-in-Picture (PiP) to work as good as it does on Android. Of everything on the iPhone, the map experience on the iPhone takes the biggest hit because of this.
I am not sure who to blame here, because neither Apple Maps nor Google Maps support PiP on the iPhone. This means your navigation screen disappears when you switch to another app.
Not only that, when you minimize Maps on your iPhone, all you see is a tiny pill-shaped status indicator at the top of the home screen. It isn’t of much help other than going back to the app.
This is certainly not the case when I’m using Google Maps on my Android phone. In addition to PiP, I also get a status indicator that’s actually useful when I’m on my homescreen or using another app.
It’s not just me. Many users on Reddit have been raising this issue for a long time now, but nothing has changed, and the map experience on iPhone devices is still lackluster.
What’s also worrying for users like me who use map apps for their daily commute is that neither Google nor Apple acknowledge this issue. So, there is no update on when, or whether this will be fixed in the future.
It won’t be unfair to put the blame on both. If they can work together to make Android’s Quick Share work with AirDrop, bringing support for PiP to Maps appears to be a much easier job.
The problem is we haven’t seen the intent from either side to fix it.
I don’t want to choose between navigation and everything else
I was already aware of many of iOS’ limitations when I bought my first iPhone, but little did I know it’d be of this magnitude, where it limits the ability to use a navigation app properly.
The lack of PiP means I need to choose between Maps and whatever else I need.
The navigation app will continue to work in the background, giving me instructions on when to turn left or right, but it feels awkward and inconvenient to commute that way.
Regardless of the map app you use, it’ll enter PiP mode automatically when you minimize or open another app. Still, you’ll need to enable PiP from the settings for it to work.
On some Android skins, like the One UI, you can do even more with that floating map window. For example, you can zoom in or out, change the size of the floating window, and launch Maps directly from the PiP view.
I used the iPhone 16e as my daily driver for a month, and I missed PiP on Maps almost every day.
I am not switching to Apple until this Maps feature is fixed
I love how fluid iOS feels, but for someone who’s coming from Android, an iPhone feels extremely limited in what it can do.
I’m not even talking about strong customization features like the ones that we have in One UI, which could be much harder to pull off. This is simply lazy from both companies to not have done enough to fix it.
For someone who relies on navigation almost daily, multitasking is something that’s hard to give up on. I need the directions while checking something like WhatsApp status quickly.
Until it doesn’t get PiP support, I can’t even think about replacing my S21 with an iPhone.
