Comments on: Stuff it, Cupertino

Question: Stuff it, Cupertino

mwhybark — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 14:48:54 -0800

Any way to disable the iOS 6 update prompts and badges in the handset without a jailbreak? I have an iPhone 4 and there's no way I'm letting them remove Gmaps.

By: chazlarson

chazlarson — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 17:48:08 -0800

Not so far as I know.

By: pahalial

pahalial — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 18:02:16 -0800

Possibly filling the phone to where you have less than 2.5 GB free? Mine hasn't prompted me at all yet despite having manually checked to see the update is there, and I suspect that's why.

By: alms

alms — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 19:03:53 -0800

I've only gotten prompted to upgrade once. Are you getting bugged repeatedly? In what circumstances?

By: alms

alms — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 19:04:50 -0800

BTW, you know you can still access Google Maps through the web browser. It's not quite the same as the app, but it is a nice little HTML5 interface with access to transit &etc.

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 01:30:10 -0800

I hate seeing the little red badge on my settings icon.

By: wnissen

wnissen — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 08:51:23 -0800

I've been looking around too, and there doesn't seem to be an easy way to do it. Unfortunately, the likelihood of the all-but-confirmed native Google Maps app being approved quickly is extremely unclear. The YouTube app was approved in advance of iOS 6 being available, so there was no gap in functionality. However, the Google Voice app was delayed for a year.

Arguably, the situation here is closer to YouTube case, where an existing functionality is moving from built-in to third-party, rather than Google Voice, which was entirely new and no doubt caused the carriers significant heartburn. That comparison would suggest that approval would be quick. However, Apple is really pushing the new Maps functionality, and I can see them being anti-consumer enough to hold off approval in order to get better uptake for the first-party app. Hard to say.

If you want to try using the mobile Google Maps site, you might try adding a shortcut to it on your home screen. It's reasonably responsive, but not the same as the native app. And, naturally, not integrated with Siri, Contacts, etc., etc.

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 17:26:38 -0800

Just understood iOS deletes YouTube app too. Now considering upgrade.

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 09:55:51 -0800

Not really. Still hate the freaking little red badge. Will it drive me to jailbreak?

By: chazlarson

chazlarson — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 10:37:23 -0800

If you do jailbreak, the thing you want to install is Software Update Killer. I've saved a copy of the GMaps app, so when there's a jailbreak available for 6 and I upgrade, I can try to put it back.