Apple under fire for new iOS 6 mapping application

11:17, 21 September 2012

SAN FRANCISCO. September 21. KAZINFORM Apple is facing mounting criticism on Thursday for geographic errors in the new mapping application on its updated iOS mobile platform, posing a challenge for the company in its competition against Google on the mobile market.

Apple on Wednesday let users download iOS 6, the latest version of its mobile platform,and ditched the Google Maps as a pre- installed application for its own mapping service, Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

However, within 24 hours, many users started to complain about the service online, citing lack of public transit routing, bad directions, incorrect business listings and etc.

According to a Twitter user, the Statue of Liberty is missing from New York Harbor in the iOS 6 Maps.

Many of the complaints came from Europe. According to the BBC News, several locations in Britain have been moved or are missing from the app. Irish Minister for Justice Alan Shatter asked Apple to remove the airline icon for "Airfield House" which is not an airport but a farm.

Apple is yet to comment on the complaints.

Meanwhile, the mapping software has been singled out as a drawback for Apple's upcoming iPhone 5 smartphone which will hit store shelves on Friday.

"The biggest drawback I found is the new Maps app," said Walter Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal in his iPhone 5 review. Mossberg is regarded as one of the most influential writers on information technology.

Many analysts and reviewers said Apple is still new in mapping service and Google has a better mapping application at least for the time being.

World News