Charles Arthur, for The Guardian:

“Apple’s maps have turned out to be a hit with iPhone and iPad users in the US - despite the roasting that they were given when they first appeared in September 2012.

But Google - which was kicked off the iPhone after it refused to give Apple access to its voice-driven turn-by-turn map navigation - has lost nearly 23m mobile users in the US as a result.”

This is such a disingenuous opening paragraph. Apple's Maps app has hardly been a 'hit', as Arthur himself concedes. Tim Cook, Apple CEO, was forced to make a public apology, such was the extent of the mistakes in their map data. Indeed, he fired the man responsible for the Maps app soon after the release.

What is more, whilst Google was no doubt "kicked off the iPhone" for not providing turn-by-turn directions, it is unfair to present this as the only side of the story. Apple too was being witholding, refusing to allow Google to collect more data from the app. Arthur wants to be part of the Apple blogger crowd, but he should remember that he is not writing for his own site, nor for a trashy, tech news, internet-only publication.

The reason that Apple Maps is used more often than Google's app is simply down to integration. Apple is well known for saving all of the best treats for itself (*cough* same-as-Google-and-turn-by-turn-directions *cough*), and this includes making its own apps the non-negotiable default. If a user is sent a link in an email, it will open in Safari. If a user taps an email address in an text message, it will open in Mail. And if an address or postcode is tapped then it will open in Maps. Mystery solved.