To say that the new Apple Maps that came with the release of iOS 6 is a disappointment is a vast understatement. I can’t remember the last time Apple even released an unmitigated disaster as its Maps service. If you’ve read the complaints (of which there are many online) then you’ll know what I’m talking about.
Apple’s misstep has led iOS users to demand the return of Google Maps. Not as a replacement to Apple’s Maps app – because that will never happen – but as a separate app that they can download. There were rumors that Google is already close to releasing the Google Maps app on the App Store. But it looks like this not true.
According to Eric Schmidt, erstwhile chairman of Google, the company has yet to submit a separate Google Maps app to Apple for review. This is a huge disappointment considering that various media outlets have reported that the standalone app is underway and will be available quite soon. Even Google has teased that an app or service will be available to everyone.
This decision not to make an app or submit one for review may be a way for Google to stick it to Apple, prolonging the negative feedback it has been getting from the media and consumers over its Maps app as a way of getting revenge for removing Google Maps from iOS 6.
Originally posted on September 25, 2012 @ 10:50 pm