iOS 6 was released to the world yesterday, and it didn’t take long for the Maps application to earn the ire of users due to missing features and glitches. For example, the BBC did a story on this and here’s some highlights…. Or rather lowlights:
- Some towns appear to be missing, such as Stratford-upon-Avon and Solihull. Others, like Uckfield in East Sussex, are in the wrong location.
- Satellite images of various locations, particularly in Scotland, are obscured by cloud.
- A search for Manchester United Football Club directs users to Sale United Football Club, a community team for ages five and above.
- Users also reported missing local places, such as schools, or strange locations. Another screenshot showed a furniture museum that was apparently located in a river.
#fail
Apple stung by this put out a statement:
“Customers around the world are upgrading to iOS 6 with over 200 new features including Apple Maps, our first map service,” spokeswoman Trudy Muller told AllThingsD. “We are excited to offer this service with innovative new features like Flyover and Siri integration, and free turn by turn navigation. We launched this new map service knowing that it is a major initiative and we are just getting started with it. 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.”
Having said that, if you read the AllThingsD story right to the end, the Maps team is “under lockdown” to fix the app. Draw from that what you will.
Now Google has submitted an iOS 6 version of their maps application to Apple for release in the App Store. But seeing as Apple of holding up the release of Google apps, don’t hold your breath for a quick release of that. Thus iOS 6 users appear to be screwed until Google Maps gets released or Apple gets their half baked Maps app fixed.