It seems like only last week that an official Google Latitude app landed in the App Store (at least in Japan), and then vanished just as quickly as it came. No one knows for sure why, but the good news is that the app is back and ready for your downloading pleasure.
Google has finally released an official native app for Google Latitude, a mere 22 months after first announcing one in February, 2009. The app originally got caught up in the same App Store drama with Apple that kept the search giant’s Google Voice app off of iTunes (Google says they were rejected, Apple claims they required further study).
Whatever the case, Google Latitude is here at last. So what does it do? The app allows you to see where your friends are right now. “Latitude lets you stay in touch with your friends and family by making it easy to share where you are and see each other on a map,” Google’s app description reads.
If it sounds familiar, that’s because there are plenty of similar apps already just like it, which makes its initial rejection that much more of a head scratcher. Apple claimed that a native Latitude app would “create user confusion” with the Maps app that comes with every iPhone. Latitude wouldn’t have made a good fit with the iPhone in 2009 anyway, given the lack of third-party multitasking on the device prior to iOS 4.
That’s no longer an issue, and the official Latitude app boasts that you can “share your location in the background, even when the app is closed or your device screen is locked,” although that magic requires an iPhone 3GS or better with iOS 4 or above.
Google Latitude 2.0.0.346 is a free download from the App Store and is compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, third and fourth-gen iPod touch and iPad (although it’s not currently a native app).
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