Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook issued a rare apology from the company today after many users upgrading to iOS 6 expressed frustration with its new Maps app.
Apple has long relied on Google Maps to provide the mapping and navigation capability to its iPhone and iPad customers. With the upgrade to iOS 6, it ditched that app to introduce its own version of Maps. Apple licenced maps and related information from TomTom, a well-known brand in the GPS navigation field, to build its new app. But it didn’t take long for users to find some significant flaws with the new app.
In Apple Maps, it appears as if the Eiffel Tower has been flattened. (Source: Ben Evans)
A Tumblr blog posted some of the stranger images from Maps, including one featuring a Toronto subway station that bulges out of a flat surface as if a volcanic geyser is about to erupt. Toronto’s Pearson Airport appears is if it’s a moguls course on a ski slope.
The directions feature on the app is also glitch-ridden for walking routes, and the directions for taking public transit are absent, instead supplying a list of recommendations for other apps that offer the feature.
Cook has now gone so far as to suggest that unhappy users download competitor apps to solve the problem. He suggested Bing, MapQuest, and Waze apps, or Google or Nokia maps on their Web sites.
