Apple shifts to OpenStreetMap in iOS iPhoto

A week ago, we reported on Foursquare ditching Google Maps for OpenStreetMap, a move that surprised the web industry, but that the social network suggested was logical from a flexibility and financial standpoint. Now, OpenStreetMap has revealed Apple is the latest company to make this shift, albeit tentatively and not yet on a worldwide basis.

Apple's relationship with Google has soured in recent years, largely through Google's creation of Android. The recent unveiling of OS X Mountain Lion showcased new Share Sheets that send content to a number of social networks. Notably, YouTube is not an available option, with Apple instead using Vimeo for videos. And now it looks like Apple has taken the first step towards removing Google's mapping services from its operating systems and software, starting with the iOS release of iPhoto.

Curiously, OpenStreetMap said the "data that Apple is using is rather old (start of April 2010) so don't expect to see your latest and greatest updates on there," and added that it's "missing the necessary credit to OpenStreetMap's contributors; we look forward to working with Apple to get that on there". Apple is also using alternative data in the USA, from an undisclosed source.

It remains to be seen if Apple will indeed credit OpenStreetMap, move entirely to its own mapping data at some point, and drop Google Maps entirely. But it appears that a trend away from widespread reliance on Google is in progress, and that's something that should alarm the search giant, which has to date thrived through the near ubiquity of its online services.