iOS 6 Maps issues upset the consumers

Again, Apple tries to take a major step forward and all it gets is criticism and whining from the Apple i-Phone users. The recent criticism Apple is facing is due to the iOS 6 Maps application- Apple's replacement after it announced that Google Maps would be no longer available on iOS. Users who have updated to iOS 6 have been facing all sorts of issues with the new app ranging from spelling errors, incorrect geographical locations to poor satellite imagery. Read on to know what's the fuss all about, how Apple's reacting to it and a couple of fixes till Apple gets things fixed up.

What's the entire commotion about? It goes like this. Apple is indirectly in a multimillion dollar patent-war with Google (You know what's going on between Samsung and Apple, Don't you?) and hence wants to remove almost every Google service from iOS. In a bid to do so, Apple announced that Google Maps (along with YouTube app) would not be included in iOS 6. Instead, users would get a native app called iOS Maps. 

It received praises when it was revealed however, once users updated to iOS 6 and started using the app, they were utterly disappointed. The app is full of bugs, is unable to show the location asked by the user more than 25% of the time (That's not a small number) and shows incorrect spellings of many locations. Even the satellite imagery is very poor and adds to disappointment. It must be noted that, Apple did not call this app as BETA and hence replacing a very necessary service app like Google Maps with an unfinished and buggy version of iOS 6 Maps was not accepted by the masses.

iOS Maps rendering issues in flyover mode

Is Apple concerned about this? It surely is. It issued a statement in which Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said, “We launched this new map service knowing that it is a major initiative and we are just getting started with it." The statement ended with, “We appreciate all of the customer feedback and are working hard to make the customer experience even better”, according to The New York Times. However, Apple believes that issues would be fixed by 'crowdsourcing' (i.e, due to users reporting incorrect information by tapping on the ‘Report a Problem’ button that exists in the details of any location pin when they find something wrong).

So any work-around or fix for the problem for the time being? You can still use Google Maps on iOS 6 with a web browser by going to http://maps.google.com/
The first time you load the page, it should ask for permission to use your current location, which is necessary if you want to use the web version of Google Maps.  If you turned off the location services for Safari or an alternative browser, you will need to go into Settings/Privacy/Location Services and turn it back on.

To make it easier to access in the future, once the page loads, tap the share icon (the rectangle with the arrow pointing to the right) and click on ‘Add to Home Screen’ to add the site as an icon on the phone.

Alternatively you can download Bing search app which includes their mapping service. Its much more accurate than iOS Maps (Currently, at least).

Have you been facing these issues with iOS Maps? What are your thoughts about the situation? Comment below and let us know.







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