What’s this? Media turns on Apple, rails against new Maps app
Apple has been taking it on the chin for what has widely been perceived as a failure of its homegrown Maps feature that replaced Google Maps in iOS 6.
The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg wrote that the Maps app is the biggest drawback of the new iPhone, which only runs iOS 6, and that it a step backward from the Google Maps that came with previous version of iOS.
PC Mag ran a story outlining six different ways that Google Maps beats Apple iOS 6 apps, and the BBC notes that the app has “inaccuracies and misplaced towns.”
Then there was “The Amazing iOS 6 Maps” Tumblr that allows anyone to upload the craziest fails on Apple’s iOS 6 Maps including a Buenos Aires train station that the map located in the center of a raging river, a terrifying looking stack of wavy highways, and an apocalyptic depiction of the Manhattan end of the Brooklyn Bridge.
The Tumblr also features many side-by-side comparisons of Google Maps and Apple Maps like this one of Mumbai, or this one of Tokio that show Apple Maps in a deeply unflattering light.
The worst part for many Apple users is that there is still no Google Maps app available in the App Store, which means there is currently no way to get Google Maps on the iPhone 5 unless you go through your Web browser for a significantly inferior experience.
But there may be a sliver of hope: Apple said its Maps should get better the more people use them.
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