Apple’s CEO Tim Cook apologizes for Apple’s Map app

Apple has been hit hard by the critics and users regarding the Maps app in iOS 6. Apple removed the Google-powered iOS Maps application and replaced it with their own in-house app that’s powered by Tom Tom. The biggest drawbacks of Maps are the inaccurate mapping data, lack of public transit routes, and missing street and addresses that caused controversy since it was released.

News organizations have compared the problems with Maps to the previous iPhone 4 “antennagate” problem that happened days after Apple launched their iPhone 4 2010. The matter has gained so much criticism from bloggers and customers of iOS devices that Apple’s CEO Tim Cook published an open letter on the Apple website to publicly apologize “for the frustration this new Maps in iOS 6 has caused our customers.”

Tim Cooks promises that Apple’s Maps will get better over time as his company focus on its service and obtains more accurate map data. Mr. Cook’s own comments seems to confirm earlier reports from TechCrunch that claimed that Apple is on a hiring spree to lure away Google Maps engineers to work for Apple that will help them improve their own map application.

The full letter from Tim Cook is included below:

To our customers,

At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers. With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.

We launched Maps initially with the first version of iOS. As time progressed, we wanted to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps. In order to do this, we had to create a new version of Maps from the ground up.

There are already more than 100 million iOS devices using the new Apple Maps, with more and more joining us every day. In just over a week, iOS users with the new Maps have already searched for nearly half a billion locations. The more our customers use our Maps the better it will get and we greatly appreciate all of the feedback we have received from you.

While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app.

Everything we do at Apple is aimed at making our products the best in the world. We know that you expect that from us, and we will keep working non-stop until Maps lives up to the same incredibly high standard.

Tim Cook
Apple’s CEO