Apple using OpenStreetMap data in iPhoto for iPad

If you purchased the new iPhoto for iOS yesterday, you may be surprised by the map tiles in the app. As noticed by 512 pixels, they are not from Google Maps. After some initial confusion over the source of the map data, the OpenStreetMap Foundation confirmed that Apple is using map data from the OpenStreetMap project.

Apple is using the OpenStreetMap data to render its own tiles in iPhoto. The map data Apple uses in iPhoto is supposedly old (circa 2010) and is used without attribution, a situation OpenStreetMap is working with Apple to remedy.

This move is a welcome step away from Google Maps, which Apple uses in other apps like its iPhoto desktop app and its Maps application for iOS.

It's also nice to see Apple moving towards its own mapping solution, especially after acquiring map companies like PlaceBase and 3D mapping company C3 Technologies.