Google maps for iPhone some personal observations

I really like the new Google maps app. I've noticed that you do not need a net connection completely. i.e. if you want to plan a route with the app you can and it will still give you turn-by-turn directions. However, if you are without a net connection you cannot initiate another search and routing without the "servers" to set it up for you.

The app is a battery drainer. On a full battery doing nothing but have the application running I was losing a percentage point of battery reserve about every ten seconds. It's way better than the included Google maps that came with iOS before iOS 6. With that one you couldn't see street names for your location since the app needed to redraw the screen to get the places where you were going. I'm not sure how Google maps gets around this, but it seems to.

 

Err, what do you mean "is no more in the iPhone 5 and iPad mini?" I downloaded it from the app store and it's still working.