Apple is set to get some new competition in the mapping space following the news that a group formed by Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon intends to add a new option to the market.
The trio will join forces with former sat nav heavyweight TomTom to give others the tools needed to build their own map and navigation apps.
Currently, Google Maps and Apple Maps are the two big players in the app-based mapping market, but that could be about to change.
Points of interest
CNBC reports that the Overture Maps Foundation, which has been around since late 2022, has now captured 59 million different points of interest including restaurants, streets, landmarks, and more. That data has now been formatted in such a way that it can be used as a free option for anyone else looking to build their own maps.
The data is often difficult to collect and has now been handed over to Overture by Meta and Microsoft, and it can be used for free. By contrast, app makers have to pay Google per thousand lookups using its own Maps API. And that isn't always a cost that can be carried by apps or their developers.
However, the only question now is whether the map data provided will be kept up to date at a reasonable enough pace to ensure it remains useful in the future.
"One big challenge is keeping the map data up to date, as businesses close and roads change," CNBC notes. "The foundation hopes its members can contribute enough real-time information to enable the regular release of accurate updates instead of a one-time data dump." It's also thought that AI could be used to help there, too.
It's important to remember that not that long ago Google Maps was the only real option for people wanting to use such an app but Apple has improved its own mapping data considerably in recent years. It's now a very real option, but there could soon be more alternatives.
