Almost every major news media outlet is reporting that Apple will stop using Google Maps services in iOS6. I don't think anyone really knows what exactly the changes are, when they will be rolled out, how Apple will implement them and if Google or Apple will start charging money for their services. As a result of these uncertainties, I am having trouble making a sound decision on whether I should or should not release a new public bus tracker app that I have been working on for over a year now. I have had the initial hard deadline set for June 15, 2012. I know that the best thing to do is to wait and see what the changes will be and how Apple will implement them. But I am a bit impatient and stressed out about pushing the release date as any further delay will affect many of my other plans in a very significant way.
More information on the app:
It provides real time public transit information based on information it obtains from a third-party transit agency's API. It heavily depends on the iOS MapKit framework and iOS location services to display current geolocation of buses on a given route in realtime and to provide transit information between two locations. According to Apple, the iOS MapKit framework uses Google services to provide map data. Some features invoke the Google Maps app to provide transit planning and turn-by-turn directions to nearest stops.
My question:
If the rumors turn out to be true, do you think Apple will most certainly implement any changes without affecting apps that already use the current MapKit framework? What kinds of potential problems should I be prepared for?
From the experience I have with SDKs, I can tell you that: no, you will not need to worry, for a couple of reasons:
The only potential problems is that you will need to think about are when you are going to update your app, and that would be on whether to implement the new functionalities that the new Map Kit may provide.