And they did.   And now people are upgrading to iOS6.

Here is what I read in techcrunch. “We observed since the launch of Google Maps for iOS 6 a 30 percent increase in unique iOS 6 users, and we think it’s related to Google Maps,” MoPub’s CEO told TechCrunch. “It verifies the hypothesis that people were actually holding back to upgrade until Google Maps was available.

and from TUAW

MoPub CEO doesn’t think this jump is random and attributes it to users who were waiting to update until Google Maps became available.

We observed since the launch of Google Maps for iOS 6 a 30 percent increase in unique iOS 6 users, and we think it’s related to Google Maps. It verifies the hypothesis that people were actually holding back to upgrade until Google Maps was available.

There is no better proof that maps was holding people back then this.

And actually, these are good questions to ask despite John Gruber inference that I should be writing disclaimers in my headlines.  Sigh.  Moving on, these are pretty stark numbers and so more information on how they came up with it, where they looking at traffic or application load counts, or could there have been anything else that would make these numbers so stark?

I followed up with Snappli with these points (especially the question about traffic vs app load events) and they responded.

We were keen to provide visibility into actual usage rather than anecdotal evidence. To that end, we were looking to see if we could detect any anonymized traffic from the Apple Maps app on any given day. We were not looking at the total amount of data used by the app. Our goal was to measure popularity, not how data hungry the app was, nor the impact of vector graphics.

Some of you have asked us whether we accounted for variability in traffic over days of the week – the answer is yes, we made the effort to look at usage for the five days before and the five days after a day zero (with day zero being the day each user updated to iOS 6).

Good enough?  Seems data flow has nothing do with it according to Snappli. Still not convinced?  Well lets add to that some data from Google Surveys.

According to Google Surveys, it looks like a 12% drop in usage.  Depending on how you interpret the Snappli data, this does not line up with the drop from 1 in 4 to 1 in 25, but still, significant although at a sample of 1000 and further bia possibility must be questioned since this data is based on people who found the survey and took it.  So I’m not going to put as much faith in the Google data, however, the fact that this survey is also indicated a measurable drop in usage make me more confident that the general point; Map is so bad people are not using it; holds true.

This story has taken a live of its own and I’m sure Snappli will be pressured to provide more raw data to back up their assertions.  Here is a question though, can Google get these numbers as well?  They must know if there has been a raise in the amount of calls from their web based app vs native app.

Now before you get all excited about ‘going back’ to iOS5, there are few things you should know.  First, this is a ‘TETHERED’ Jailbreak.  That means every time you restart your phone you have to go through this jailbreak again. This is not as bad as it sounds since it only a matter of time before an untethered jailbreak comes out and then you do not have to worry about it.  Personally I only restart my iPhone perhaps once every few months. Also I really hope you saved a copy of your iPhone before the upgrade, if not you need to download the older versions.

BTW:  if you have NOT upgraded,  for those devices capable of running 6.0, the 5.1.1 SHSH blob signing window will soon close, so it’s very important that you backup your 5.1.1 blobs now while you still can. Do it for every device you have (see tutorial sites like iClarified if you don’t know the process).

Here are detailed steps laid out from Redmond Pie, my go to source.  All links go to their site.

Before going through any jailbreak process it is always good housekeeping to perform a full backup of all information on the device. It is unlikely that anything will go wrong during the process but when undertaking any process that modifies the internals of a file system it is always prudent to err on the side of caution.

Compatible devices:

• A4 based iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch 4th-gen only.

Notes:

• This a tethered jailbreak, and is limited to the above mentioned devices only. There is currently no untethered jailbreak available for iOS 6 yet.
• iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPad 2, iPad 3 and iPod touch 5th-gen are not supported by this jailbreak. (Author note: You may still want to do this. Its only a matter of time before there is a hack to replace apple maps with bing or some other map app.)
• If you rely on unlock, do not update to iOS 6 yet.

How-to jailbreak iOS 6:

Step 1: Download iOS 6, and then update to this latest version by following our instructions posted here. (Author note: OK, I’m going to stop you right now.  If you have already upgraded to iOS6, just dont ok?)

Step 2: Download the latest version of Redsn0w for the relevant operating system from the iPhone Dev Team (Windows/Mac).

Step 3: Extract the contents of the downloaded compressed file and save it to a familiar location on your PC or Mac.

Step 4: Run the executable Redsn0w file, making sure to run in administrator mode if using a Windows based machine. If you are on OS X Mountain Lion, start Redsn0w by Ctrl-Click on the icon and then selecting Open from the new menu.

Step 5: Select the Extras option from the main menu of the Redsn0w interface and point it to the desired IPSW file.

Step 6: Redsn0w has advanced dramatically with the last few major revisions and now has the power to whip through the jailbreak without much interaction. Follow the onscreen instructions (Redsn0w might ask you to enter DFU mode) to complete the jailbreak process.

How-to boot tethered on iOS 6:

As already mentioned above, this is a tethered jailbreak, therefore you will be required to boot into tethered-mode every time you reboot your device. This can be done by starting Redsn0w: click on the “Extras” button on screen and then simply click on “Just Boot” option and follow the on-screen instructions. Once done, you will be rebooted back into tethered-jailbreak mode.

How-to install Cydia on iOS 6:

The current release of Redsn0w doesn’t install Cydia by default. To install cydia, follow the steps below:

(Author note: This last step is not easy.  If you feed you are not up to it, just wait a few more weeks, and 1 click untethered full jailbreak should be out.)

The following steps to install Cydia is done using Terminal on Mac. You can use the same commands on Windows using a SSH program like WinSCP.

• Note down the IP address of your device.
• Make sure your device is connected to your PC or Mac. Start Terminal on Mac and type:

ssh root@<IP address of your device goes here>

• It will now prompt you to enter the root password. Type: alpine
• Once done, type:

wget -q -O /tmp/cyinstall.sh http://downloads.kr1sis.net/cyinstall.sh && chmod 755 /tmp/cyinstall.sh && /tmp/cyinstall.sh

Once done, the device will reboot and the extremely familiar looking Cydia icon will be sitting on the home screen in all of its glory. Jailbreak complete.

end.

So there is a lot here right?  Well for all you non iPhone 5 users, I hope you learned a lesson here, never upgrade right away.  EVER!  Always wait a few weeks to see how it goes.  A further note; I have been thinking of writing a post on ‘do we really need jailbreak anymore?’ given how much Apple (heck even Android) have been stealing from the work the jailbreaking community has done?  Heck, I only really on 2 apps that I cannot live without, thus I keep my phone jailbroken, but after the maps failure, I’m more convinced then ever.  Got an iPhone?  Jailbreak that puppy!

A company called Snappli, which just launched a few weeks ago (see coverage here and here) is a free mobile app that helps users stay within their mobile data limits by compressing and optimizing mobile data as well as video — a huge mobile data suck. Today they pulled some pretty interesting data around Google/Apple Maps, based on data from Snappli users in the UK and US.

So as we are all aware, the new iPhone 5 was announced yesterday with a lengthy list of new specs, by apple, along with the new iPod 5g (the first of which to be released with a multi color color display option).  Both of which are going to have the anticipated iOS6 on them.  According to Apple, more than 400 Million devices have already been sold as of 3p.m. on Wednesday September, the 12th.  What does that mean?  Well according to economists, these large scale sales may actually help boost our economy.

So lets take a look at some of the new specs available on the new iPhone5.  Also, if you like me, your thinking “yeah, a new iPhones cool. But can we jailbreak this bad boy yet?”  And the answer is yes!!  Thanks to your friends over at RedsnOw.com, the makers of Absinthe have done it again. The only draw back being that Cydia is not yet on the jailbreak.  But you will still be able to download 3rd party apps from the web.  But first lets look at a quick run down of the new specs to the iPhone5.

With the new iOS6 being released, you will be able to take full advantage of it new updates best on the new iPhone5….

•    New iOS6 on the larger 4.87×2.31xo.30 body, and 4 inch display, weighing in at just under 4 ounces 3.95 oz.
•    A 640×1136 pixel screen at an amazing 326 ppi density, with multi-touch availability, and an updated light sensor, and as well as an updated proximity sensor.
•    The battery has been updated to an great 22h hr stand by time and 8 hour talk time
•    With the new A6 doul-core ARM cortex A15 processor, the new iPhone will be lightning fast, even while gaming on its new built in graphics excelarator and

The New A6

processor
•    Even the camera has been tweaked up a little with an 8 MP camera. And a plethora of new updates on the image capturing system.

I strongly believe that, yes the new iOS will be better.  But is it worth is to shell out the extra “dough” for the new iPhone 5?  I dont think so.  The only people that will benefit with the new iPhone and its A6 processor will be gamers.  For that reason and its slightly and i do mean SLIGHTLY larger screen.  If you have a 4S, then i suggest you just do the update and save the money.

But if you still want the new iPhone 5 with all the new updates and its O.S., how can you take full advantage of the device?  JAILBREAK!!!! Thanks to all the Beta releases of iOS6, the jailbreaking community has been able to stay on top of this.  As a result, you will be able to Jailbreak your new iPhone5 or newly updated iOS6 device as soon as you update.  The device update will be available on iTunes or your devices’ updating system on September 18th.  If you previously Jailbroke your device on iOS 5.1.1, then you know how quick and easy it was.  And thanks to everyone who worked around the clock on the Jailbreak, it will once again be that simple.

So here is a nice and to the point “how-to” on updating to iOS6 and Jailbreaking the iDevice right after. Just remember there is still currently no Cydia.

Supported devices are
•    Iphone 5
•    4s
•    3GS
•    iPad 3 (The New Mini)
•    iPad 2
•    iPod Touch 4G
•    iPad Touch 3G

1)    You are going to want to update your 5.1.1 iDevice to iOS6, by either plugging into iTunes and updating. Or, going in to the devices settings>general>update. Nice and simple
2)    Go to Http://www.AbsintheJailbreak.com
3)    Download Redsn0w 0.9.13DEV4  (available for both OS X, and WIN admin)
4)    unzip the program
5)    Connect your device
6)    Open the program (your device will be detected by the program)
7)    click on “JAILBREAK”
8)    Follow the simple on screen directions and your …
9)    DONE

*NOTE* i suggest you save your previous version on iOS5.1.1 due to the fact that you may not like the fact that Cydia is not available yet.  This way you will be able to switch back to 5.1.1 and regain your jailbreak
And that’s all folks!! Nice and simple.  Let me know what you think by sounding off in the comments below.  And as always you can follow me on Twitter @ichuckydee for more updates on iOS6 and the iPhone5.

“Apple went out and partnered with the weakest player,” he said. “They’re now coming out with the lowest, weakest data set and they’re competing against Google, which has the highest data set. What’s going to happen with the Apple maps, is that you’re literally not going to find things. When you do find them, they might be in the wrong place or position geographically. And if you do have it, the route to it may not be the optimal route.”

This lines up with what I have found when I finally got the beta working and tested it.  Shame.  Right now I rely on google map search to find almost anything and it works great.  For driving directions I use motionX which is a great turn by turn navigation app.  I do not know what motionX uses for search, but I really hope its google.

I have a hard time imagining that Apple is not aware of this limitation and thus must have a plan in place to try to improve the dataset, but I imagine this will take time.  In that time they may manage to piss off a number of users like myself who fell in love with Maps before anything else on the iPhone. In fact, it was Maps on the iPhone 1 that really impressed me, impressed me enought to become an iphone fan boy.

I still have hope though.  One of my MAJOR complaints with google maps on the iphone is how messy the traffic display is.  If you need to see what is going on with the freeways, I do not need to see every little side street as well making it almost impossible to see what is going on at a quick glance.  I have not see a good screenshot to see what this will be like, so I guess I have to wait to see this in action to really know.

Graphics aside, I’m expecting a pretty strong backlash from people complaining about poor search results and perhaps sub par navigation based on what I’m reading.  And who knows?  That might be enough to move a few people to Android.  Might be for me.  We’ll have to see.  In the meantime, no iOS upgrades for me thanks.  I wonder of one day they will simply cut off google for older iphone users?  That would really s&*k.