Apple is getting ready to ditch Google as search engine for iOS and OS X

Apple has spent a great deal of time distancing itself from Google ever since its erstwhile partner launched Android back in 2008. Google Maps and YouTube haven’t been bundled as default apps on iPhones or iPads for years, and rumors keep swirling that Apple will kill its partnership with Google as a default search engine in Safari on both iOS and OS X.

But now? Now it looks like Apple might finally pull the trigger, ending all of its Google partnerships for good.

According to a new report from The Information, Apple and Google’s search agreement is due to expire next year, and both Microsoft and Yahoo are already circling like buzzards to take its place as Safari’s default search engine.

Sources apparently say that Microsoft and Yahoo are already talking with Apple’s SVP og Internet Software and Services about being the new Safari default option. Google would, of course, still be a user selectable option, but out of the box? Bing or Yahoo all the way. And that would continue abroad, where the Information speculates that Apple could iron out other agreements on a territory-by-territory basis.

This won’t happen immediately, but supposedly Apple’s deal with Google is set to expire in early 2015. We’ve got plenty of evidence that Apple’s willing to sever existing relationships with its frenemy, but will Cupertino really turn its back on the best search engine on earth the way it did with Google Maps? Only time will tell.

Source: The Information