Apple Sends Open Letter Apology For iOS 6 Maps

Owning up to any possible mistakes has never been the policy of Apple. They generally offer very little in the way of responsibility for any potential mistakes. However following the insurmountable number of complaints and issues with Apple's new mapping system Apple's CEO felt compelled to send out an open letter to his company's customers expressing that he is "extremely sorry" for inaccuracies in the new mapping software included in their latest mobile operating system.

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

With the latest version of iOS Apple broke ties with Google Maps, deciding instead to create their own application in house. Apple decided to create a new application from the "ground up," to include new features that they just could get from Google. The new features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, and vector-based maps, were advertised as some of the best new features in iOS 6. Unfortunately for Apple the Maps software has been plagued with issues like misplaced landmarks, wrong addresses, poor direction and a lack of features such as infrastructure and public transit.

Cook seemingly admits defeat telling customers to use Bing Maps, Google Maps, or even MapQuest in the interim until Apple can get its Maps application fixed.