Apple Maps has replaced Google Maps, which is no longer available on iOS 6.
Apple Maps greeted iPhone and iPad users when they downloaded the highly anticipated update of the giant's mobile software platform, iOS 6. According to Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller, the company launched the new service knowing it was a major initiative.
But wait!!
Why is it that an entire city is in the ocean, a farm has been labeled as an airport, highways end in the middle of nowhere and a hospital now covers the entire center of British city Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare's home?
Apple map app is facing criticism from users globally for a number of geographical errors, missing information and because it lacks features that made Google Maps so popular, including public transit directions, comprehensive traffic data or street view pictures.
Many users who downloaded Apple's iOS 6 software, released on Wednesday, took to Twitter and online forums to express their frustration at the glitches.
Users captured a screenshot of the Apple map errors and posted in Tumbler blog sarcastically dubbed "The Amazing iOS 6 Maps". Pictures showed the Norwegian town of Leknes in the Norwegian sea, the entire city center of Stratford-upon-Avon is labeled as a hospital. See photos below from theamazingios6maps.tumblr.com.
The entire town centre of Stratford-upon-Avon is a hospital.
Apple map versus google map
Where is the Washington monument?
Users in Asia were also surprised to see two sets of the disputed territory of Senkaku Islands. Some joked that this was Apple's effort at providing a diplomatic solution to Japan and China, both of which claim the islands.
While in theory it will be possible for Apple to update Maps with a software fix, the problems appear to be "pretty profound and pretty fundamental," said Marcus Thielking, co-founder of Skobbler, maker of the popular GPS Navigation 2 app, built using the crowdsourced OpenStreetMap platform.
"The question is really how much expertise do they have in-house and what they sourced from third parties," Thielking said, adding that Apple requires people with a very specific skill set to fix it.
Apple Inc's home-grown Maps feature was introduced with much fanfare in June by Apple's software chief Scott Forstall and is a direct challenge to the same service offered by friend-turned-rival Google Inc.
Google, for its part, did not say whether it would do a Google Maps apps for iOS 6. Users now have to access Google Maps through the browser.
"Our goal is to make Google Maps available to everyone who wants to use it, regardless of device, browser, or operating system," the company said in a statement.
Meanwhile, iPhone users in Japan who made pre-orders for the new iPhone 5s were upset because of the series of iPhone robberies in Osaka, Japan.
Source: Reuters