Google: No iPhone 5 Map App YetGoogle: No iPhone 5 Map App Yet

Don't expect to see a standalone map app from Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) for Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL)'s iOS 6 mobile operating system anytime soon.

A spokesman from Google told Light Reading Mobile last week that Google is open to doing maps for the new Apple operating system and iPhone 5. But Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt told reporters in Japan Tuesday that it hangs on whether Apple allows the app on the app store.

"We have not done anything yet," Reuters quotes Schmidt as saying.

"We think it would have been better if they had kept ours. But what do I know?" Schmidt reportedly continued. "What were we going to do, force them not to change their mind? It's their call."

Apple users and commentators have been complaining about the quality of the new, homegrown map app in Apple's iOS 6. Apple had been using Google Maps since 2007.

Why this matters
The map app -- not the phone's browser -- is increasingly becoming the search mechanism of choice for users searching for places in the local vicinity. Thus the map app becomes an important tool for user loyalty and ad revenue generation.

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— Dan Jones, Site Editor, Light Reading Mobile