Apple has taken a tremendous amount of heat over the new maps application in iOS 6. After dumping Google Maps for their own solution, users of the new maps application in iOS 6 have complained about incomplete map data, missing or misplaced landmarks, and lack of transit information to name a few. Google Maps have spent years building up the vast amounts of data we see today, and for Apple to take mobile mapping back down a few notches in iOS 6 has users asking, why?
Today, Apple CEO Tim Cook has published an open letter in which he admits Apple "fell short" on delivering the "best experience possible" to their customers, and is "extremely sorry". He goes on to recommend other 3rd party alternatives that customers can download while Apple works to improve their own solution including Bing, Mapquest, and Waze among others.
The complete statement by Tim Cook is below:
To our customers,
At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.
We launched Maps initially with the first version of iOS. As time progressed, we wanted to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps. In order to do this, we had to create a new version of Maps from the ground up.
There are already more than 100 million iOS devices using the new Apple Maps, with more and more joining us every day. In just over a week, iOS users with the new Maps have already searched for nearly half a billion locations. The more our customers use our Maps the better it will get and we greatly appreciate all of the feedback we have received from you.
While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.
Everything we do at Apple is aimed at making our products the best in the world. We know that you expect that from us, and we will keep working non-stop until Maps lives up to the same incredibly high standard.
Tim Cook
Apple’s CEO
Source: Business Insider, Apple
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