By 
The Android Market has a new king as Google Maps has become the first application to surpass 50 million downloads. It doesn’t come as hard to believe, either. Aside from the fact that Maps comes pre-installed on almost every Android device, the shear quality of the service makes it deserving of the honor. Don’t listen to all the one-star ratings the app has received recently for excluding a changelog in its latest update, the Maps and Android team redefined mobile navigation when they launched the capability to get turn-by-turn directions using Google’s free software and continue to shape the landscape of location-based services with regular updates coming almost weekly.
It really is quite an astonishing figure. Put in perspective, if the entire population of South Africa had an Android phone and downloaded Google Maps, it still wouldn’t equal 50 million. The entire population of Australia could download it twice and still not meet 50 million. Pretty impressive stuff.
[via AndroidPolice]
Free navigation was the main reason I choose Android
Same here.
But still no Apps 2 SD. Would love to download it, but it takes up so much of the limited memory on my phone
Time to upgrade Son.
50 million downloads is impressive but it has no relation to the number of Google Maps users because I know myself I’ve probably downloaded Google Maps at least 20 times due to the numerous up-issues of Google Maps. I’ve also had to re-download it after hard resets or installation of custom ROMs. I think most users, on average, will have downloaded Google Maps at least a few times.
I’m pretty sure the downloads go by account. So if you’re on the same google account and downloading it over 9,000 times, that’s still only one download. Correct me if i’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure that’s how it is.
Nope. Just custom rom users. And I say that from experience, because I just came from a custom rom to my evo
i’m a limo driver in chicago and the ONLY navigation aid i use is my tmo G2. it has never let me down. i love google maps.
“Shear” quality? What can google maps cut?
Arg. I’m tempted to get to ditch Android in favor of an iPhone if only because their fanboys are at least able to spell.
damnyouautocorrect.com
Damn you!! LOL
Been stuck on that site for 30 minutes now, lol!!
Google Maps deserve this. Ntt only Maps, Google’s every product is good . If the Maps has crossed 50 million downloads, its good and they also deserve this. I love Google Maps. I use the Maps to know teh distance and when I need to go to any strange place. I m so addicted to Maps that sometime to go to my office also, I xplore on Maps
ATUL
Android and Google rules!!!
Love Google maps and use it all the time..no need for a stand alone Gps. My only hope is that Google will eventually make a version that will truely reside on ur device to use w/o data in cases where u loose signal…just like Ovi maps or the one by HTC.
Maps currently employs offline caching for areas that you ‘visit the most’. So el Goog has at least made a half-assed attempt at this. You still need a data connection for the initial route calc, but after that if you go way off track you can at least look at the map (assuming you have that data cached) and get back on track. But yeah, I agree, it would be best if we could download sets of data to reside on our SD cards, and have the route calc performed on our phones instead of in the cloud.
A decent voice for navigation would be nice as well.
I felt the exact same way! The stock voice with Android is terrible…I used to call it “B**chin’ Betty.” But I FINALLY found a good solution…download SVOX in the Market…it’s worth every bit of the $3 or so it costs. Lots of different voices available. I selected “Victoria,” a lovely British female voice that has made Navigation a delight! Note it takes Android 2.2 or later to run. It’s awesome.
Yes it would. But did you ever notice that once in awhile the voice will change to a nice more human voice and the next direction it gives will go back to the old robot woman?
Big memory pig. Needs lots of work.