All Sections

Apple CEO Tim Cook apologies for Maps: suggests Bing, Google or Nokia maps

Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has apologised to its customers about problems with Maps and confirmed the company is making improvements.

In a statement on the Apple’s website Tim Cook said:

“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….

…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.”

Since iOS 6 and the Apple iPhone 5 launched, owners of Apple smartphones have reported numerous errors on the maps: Doncaster became Duncaster and Manchester United FC was Sale FC.

Apple Maps

At the time Apple spokesperson on Trudy Muller stated: “We are continuously improving it, and as Maps is a cloud-based solution, the more people use it, the better it will get. We’re also working with developers to integrate some of the amazing transit apps in the App Store into iOS Maps. We appreciate all of the customer feedback and are working hard to make the customer experience even better.”

Yesterday we reported that Apple had one year left on its licence to use Google Maps, but decided to make the move early to remove reliance on a product from arch-rival Google.

It’s very rare for Apple to apologise – it took Steve Jobs 32 days to address ‘antenna gate,’ which was arguably more of an issue because some users had trouble making calls.  Surprisingly Cook also recommends iPhone owners try maps from rivals in the meantime- including Microsoft and Google: “….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….” 

For many people however, Maps is a key feature and users who use the iPhone for its simplicity might not be aware what alternatives are available and how to get them.

It’s great to hear Apple finally address complaints and provide an apology to its customers. Lets hope Maps improves soon.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *