This morning we woke to a nice little surprise: reports from users that Google Maps via the maps.google.com web address is once again now working on your Windows Phone. Heading to the site (in “mobile mode” not “desktop”) it asks to use your location and it loads up just as it should.
Over the last few days a brouhaha has exploded over Google unceremoniously dumping maps.google.com for Windows Phone users on top of confessing no desire to make a dedicated mobile app. The move was explained away at first under the guise of the Webkit theory, notably that Internet Explorer is a non-Webkit browser and ergo not optimized to run maps.google.com though not many of us took them seriously...
The argument fell short of believability though since IE9 and IE10 on Windows Phone are their core the same as the PC version. Instead, arguments about optimization etc. were used instead though it was never really believed by many users who saw this yet-again as another finger in the eye by Google.
Google Maps via Internet Explorer for Mobile though is once again working and while we still prefer to use Maps for Windows Phone or Nokia Maps on certain devices, we also like having the option especially when doing web searches to use Google’s services. It’s more about principle than actually using their services. Evidently it wasn’t too hard either for Google to “fix” Maps either as it was literally just days for them to make some optimizations for our devices.
We’re not sure when Google became so testy towards people who want to use their services but it sure does make it difficult to like them these days. Anyway, if you want to use Google Maps now via the browser, you can now do so. Now the question is when, if ever, will we see some dedicated apps? Thanks to all who sent this in…
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