iPhone owners, rejoice, for your long national maps nightmare is almost over. According to AllThingsD, a standalone Google Maps app is going to hit the App Store sometime tonight. So long, Apple Maps. It's been... something.
Hard as it may be to believe, it's been nearly three months since Tim Cook & Co. jettisoned Google as a maps partner in favor of the apocalyptic horror show known as Apple Maps. Since then, Apple was ridiculed, the Eiffel Tower got flattened, long-standing executives were fired, apologies were issued, and lots and lots of people got lost. So, you know, all in all not a great outing.
For its part, Google has remained coy about if and when it would grace iOS with its Maps once again. Four weeks ago the WSJ reported that the restoration was "imminent," then silence until now. Finally, though, it appears the prodigal app is ready to return, and in but a few hours.
It's not all gravy and rose hips, though; Apple Maps will still live on your iPhone, forever, and will still be the default navigation/mapping product on your handset. And while AllThingsD says Google will "release" Google Maps tonight, it's not entirely clear if that means it will actually pop up in the App Store, or if it still has an Apple approval process to struggle with. Given how eager Apple has been to give its customers alternatives to its egregious offering, one might assume that there won't be much red tape.
So there you have it. A reasonably strong expectation—AllThingsD doesn't mess around—that your Google Maps has found its way home. Something Apple Maps never reliably could. [AllThingsD]