Apple’s Maps app offers 3D flyovers, but often incorrect information. Photo: Alex Washburn/Wired
Apple CEO Tim Cook published a formal apology Friday for failures in the company’s Maps app in iOS 6. Since the mobile software update went live last week, there have been wide reports of inaccuracies and bugs in Apple’s Maps, causing wide backlash among iOS users.
“We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better,” Cook says in the apology. Apple’s chief also offers a few interim solutions, including downloading Bing, MapQuest or Waze, or creating a homescreen icon to Google Maps’ web app.
Cook said that “in order to provide our customers with even better Maps” with features like turn-by-turn navigation and voice directions, Apple had to “create a new version of Maps from the ground up.” Indeed, according to a report from AllThingsD, Google, which has offered spoken turn-by-turn directions for several years on its own Android platform, refused to add the feature to its Maps app on iOS. Many presume this to be the reason Apple decided to develop its own Maps service, even with over a year left of its contract with Google.
“I think [Apple] felt they were farther along than they actually are,” a person briefed on Apple’s strategy told AllThingsD. A popular Tumblr, a couple of parody Twitter accounts, and numerous complaints on message boards have all cropped up since Maps’ debut.
Software developer Nik Cubrilovic pointed out on Twitter that the company even fudged the Maps application icon in iOS, including a driving suggestion that’s impossible to do in a car:
Courtesy of Nik Cubrilovic
The unreliability of Maps was one of the main complaints we had with iOS 6 in our review. In addition to potentially dangerous scenarios like directing someone to a mobile home estate instead of a doctor’s clinic, it also lacks public transit directions, a Google Maps staple for many city dwellers.
Maps does have a “Report a Problem” button, which Apple is using to crowdsource corrections to its current TomTom-based database of mapping information.
Full text of the apology 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: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/09/tim-cook-apologizes-for-maps/
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