Google finally delivered the release everybody (on iOS 6) had been waiting for by unleashing its sorely-missed Maps app to the App Store, and having used it a little myself, it’s as if the native offering never went away. For those jailbroken, a little tweak has been made to help truly brand that feeling of native-ness, by allowing you to open maps links automatically with the new app. Similar to the tweak that allows you to make Chrome for iOS your default browser, MapsOpener helps you truly do away with Apple’s sketchy Maps app, by making the third-party download version the go-to for all map links.
The tweak is available, as is often the case, over at the BigBoss repository, and leaves no home screen icon upon installation. You simply head over to Cydia, download, respring, and from then on, all of your links open via the shiny new app. Similarly, there are no configurable settings, but that should be the case for an app with only one function. If you want – for some bizarre reason unbeknown to the rest of us – wish to revert to using iOS Maps for opening links, you need only to uninstall the tweak.
For those on iOS 5, the tweak allows you to use the new Google Maps over the older one for opening links from Google Maps. Considering the App Store version offers a refreshed UI, turn-by-turn navigation, and is even considered by the search giant to be superior to the version made of its own Android ecosystem, you may want to download and install this tweak. iOS 6 users get the perk of opening links in Google Maps instead of Safari itself.
Of course, you will indeed need the new app in order for this little diversion to come off, and if you want more details and that all-important download link, please check out this post for more further info.
To download the tweak, navigate to Sources in the Cydia app, search for, or scroll down to, MapsOpener, and download the tweak.
Maps has been a notable disaster from Apple’s point of view, but as the Cupertino continues to make improvements, the rest of us no longer have to suffer the insufferable.
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