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Tim Cook Publishes Open Letter on Maps for iOS 6

What troubles me the most is whether anyone actually looked at the nuts and bolts of the product BEFORE it was released non-beta, particularly since many developers who had access to the beta complained about the Map App starting in June, or whether the PR machine simply drowned out any chatter that was inconsistent with what they wanted to hear?

And in the long run, that's more of the problem- if hubris is what caused this, THAT is more of an issue than a lousy Map App.
 
d21mike said:
Seems strange that most people feel that Apple is actually creating the Map Database from scratch. Apple is creating a Mapping Application that uses data produced by a other companies. And the main company providing that is TomTom who says their data is NOT the problem. They do not know what is going on with the App but it is NOT the data (according to TomTom CEO). So assuming that is true then this is an Application Problem with how the data is being processed. Too confirm this others that have been using the TomTom App say the data is fine. Even Google uses TomTom for some of their data.
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I'm very curious about this. In terms of accuracy, particularly the positioning of POI data, I can buy that something has gone wrong at a high level that has resulted in incorrect position.

What baffles me most is the lack of colour coding in road classification. Although data will degrade in lesser known countries, the original data for the likes of the US and UK must have contained classifications other than 'dual carriageway' and 'single carraigeway'. So it's a mystery as to why Apple wouldn't have included that classification where available.

A lot of people have said they have no problems with the new app - surely even you guys would have to agree that shortcoming alone is enough to negatively impact the ability to pick out major from minor roads, or pick out bigger towns and cities which usually have major roads coming from them like spokes.

Reduce it to single and dual carriageway roads, rather than motorway, A road, B road, minor road, and all of that visual information is lost.

Poor data aside, that's my biggest issue with Maps - that it's very difficult to easily plan a route.
 
2IS said:
Not surprising considering they overlooked the hideous white dialpad.
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Yeah, I hope they change that to a darker color or at least give us the option to change the color. I'm not too happy with the blue upper bar (with carrier info, signal strength and battery life) either.
 
Mliii said:
And in the long run, that's more of the problem- if hubris is what caused this, THAT is more of an issue than a lousy Map App.
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Hubris, thy name is Scott Forstall.

scott-forstall-bust-rm-verge_large_verge_medium_landscape.jpeg
 
OllyW said:
Steve Jobs on Apple & maps...
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That's interesting, but since then they have acquired 3 mapping companies (Placebase, Poly9 and C3) starting in 2009 ie still under Jobs lead. And they are still partnering with others, TomTom, Yelp and so on.
 
kahkityoong said:
It's more likely that YOU do not understand. For example you can test a drug out for years but until it's in the real world you have no idea what side effects will crop up. Coming up with a mapping app is much more complex than a simple drug.
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Coming up with a map is harder than making a drug??? Wow, this post is almost as bad as the car analogies that people like to write.

.
 
One look at the huge number of posts in a relatively short time, reveals just how controversial the situation is.

It seems like overall, it was the right thing to do. A bit late, no doubt, but given the rising tide of discontent this serious problem is causing, it had to be done.

There's lots of ways this could be argued, and many a missed opportunity to advise us up front that we were being mislead by Apples earlier silence. That's the most egregious of all, Apple needed to come out in advance, the moment they knew Google Maps were out & tell us as much.

Now it's an exercise in damage control. A very unfamiliar problem for the Cupertino Company that's heavily influenced by it's egotistical corporate culture. Depending on public reaction in the days ahead, this could grow to even greater proportions.

Having an iPhone 5 that I just quit using, primarily yet not solely for this very reason, I've felt the full brunt of Apples failure.

Living in the large heavily populated state of California & being used to using Google Maps on my iPhone 4S every single day, Apple maps routinely failed.

Like anything else, I didn't realize how much I relied on Googles exemplary maps till they were gone. That alone, is why I'm so incredibly happy that I kept my terrific, reliable, trouble free iPhone 4S. Having returned to my trusty 4S, highlights just how good that model is, and how weak the iPhone 5 is in several areas.

While I really would enjoy giving the iP5 high marks, reporting my honest experience has much greater value. Having owned every single iPhone model since day one, using each for one year, gives me a perspective that is priceless. Traveling frequently all over the globe, has made me appreciate just what a fine job Apple did with the 4S.

Needless to say, I'm quite surprised with Apple and the iPhone 5. It makes me question just what they are thinking & where they are headed.
 
tomjleeds said:
Not relevant. Google did not enter a mature market.
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Exactly.

The argument that Google took several years to get to this point is only good up to a point.

The fact is that TeleAtlas / NAVTEQ should have better, more nature data to supply to Apple in 2012 than they had to supply Google way back when.
 
You know, I think at the end of the day, they should have thrown the word "beta" into their new Maps app. Then at least people would understand that it's still being developed - both by general usage and feedback from the customer, and the developers at Apple. It worked for them with Siri. The initial Siri beta wasn't as great as they sold it, but people accepted it because it was a beta, and they didn't really catch any major flack from it. Then again, I guess Siri isn't a necessity for finding your way around a city.

When they do the opposite though and put Maps up as a final product on a pedestal and sell it as one of the single greatest features of iOS 6 - that really hurt them, and it leaves me wondering what the hell were they doing for the last year with iOS 6? Adding new toggles in the settings menu? Adding a post to Facebook button?
 
Google was messing it all up for apple, thanks google, nice to see how underhanded techniques just screw with us!

Glad apple ditched them, I'm like most people and only use google in lew of better alternatives. Hopefully one day i will never have to use them ever again, I block all the ads anyway, maybe one day advertisers will realise how poor their return is on google and invest in people who support innovation rather than ripping off everyone elses ideas and calling them experiments.
 
I think that maybe Apple could have released Apple Maps as a Beta, alongside Google Maps, and we could have used whichever we wanted. I have not used Apple Maps as my iPod Touch isn't compatible with it, but judging from the complaints, it's not as accurate as Google Maps.

I've been using Google Maps on my laptop for years and years and it has never ever made a single mistake in routing, it knows which street is one-way, which crossings allow you to turn left and which ones don't, etc… There is always satellite imagery, and street view is amazingly useful when planning a route. Going to the address with Street View makes it look so much more familiar when you go there in person, you'll actually find the place a lot easier.

I now trust Google Maps so much that I will blindly follow it as I am almost certain it won't make a mistake, no matter how small the town and no matter how strange the location.

I think that with maps, more than with anything else, accuracy and 100% reliability is extremely important. If there's a 0.1% chance that my maps app is going to get me lost or route me the wrong way, I won't be able to trust it enough to use it, especially when I've already experienced how reliable Google Maps is.

Google Maps is fantastic, and I see why Apple made its own maps, but that doesn't mean they couldn't have also kept Google Maps alongside the new maps.

PS: They released Siri as a "Beta" even though it worked great, while they released Maps as non-beta and it works much worse than Siri?
 
Tim Cook is clueless

He has thrown us under the bass . We - Apple fans - have been fighting tooth and nail all over Internet trying to convince people that Apple Maps is an excellent app. By admitting that Apple Maps is a POS he painted us like phonies.
 
Eh, so what?

deannnnn said:
No offense but you live in Springfield. Any big city relies on mass transit. 8 million people live in New York City ALONE. Taking public transit mapping away from them is a big enough problem in itself, and that's just one city.
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There are far better map options for public transit in NYC than Google or Apple Maps.
 
omenatarhuri said:
Too much ****ing up and backpedaling going on. At least the environmental certificate thing, olympic ads and now these maps. Apple shape up man! It's far easier to lose the trust then to earn it. Don't apologize, fix it. And don't do it again!
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It think if it was a case of 'just fixing it' it would be done by now - there is some serious maintenance going on there. I think it's fine that they're offering alternatives and back pedaling a little. If they claimed nothing was wrong then that would be a real problem.
 
Tim Cook's apology is lame!

So he apologized. Great. That doesn't erase the fact that the damned software should never have been inflicted on users in the first place. I will not be "upgrading" to iOS6 until Apple gets it's map straightened out or Google releases an app for iOS6.:mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
Seems like a lot of apologising and back peddling since Jobs lefts the scene. I hate to be one of those guys that uses this quote, but, I doubt Jobs would have released the maps to the public. I can imagine he'd be doing a Mobile Me all over again right now if he were around.

For what it's worth, my entire town of 20,000 people is covered in clouds, and the name of the town isn't even displayed.
 
Half the people who are complaining wouldn't have even used it.

For example, my dad saw the fact that they apologised on the news and said "what a piece of ****" and he is still on iOS 5.
 
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