Windows Phone users no longer able to access Google Maps on the web

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According to numerous reports from Windows Phone users, they are no longer able to access Google Maps on their phone. Instead, when attempting to load the web version of Google Maps, they are redirected to the main page of Google.

When asked about the issue, Google issued this statement to Gizmodo:

The mobile web version of Google Maps is optimized for WebKit browsers such as Chrome and Safari. However, since Internet Explorer is not a WebKit browser, Windows Phone devices are not able to access Google Maps for the mobile web.

That explanation makes perfect sense. Right? Not exactly. It doesn’t explain why all these users were able to access Google Maps before — it’s not like the browser changed completely overnight, it is still Internet Explorer.

To complicate things even further, Microsoft also issued a statement saying, “Internet Explorer in Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 use the same rendering engine.”

While Google Maps was never officially supported on non-WebKit browsers like Internet Explorer on Windows Phone, users have been able to access it without problems — until now, that is.

This also comes not too long after Google dropped support for Microsoft Exchange, making it a possibility that something might be brewing between the two tech companies.

[via The Verge]

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