However, Apple doubled down on its development, hiring and buying key map app developers and the investment seems to have paid off – according to Apple, it’s now used “three times as often” as its nearest competitor, a competitor which can only feasibly be Google Maps.
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The debacle forced Apple CEO Tim Cook to issue a public apology and led to the ouster of Scott Forstall, chief of Apple’s iOS mobile operating system.
Apple has been moving to replace the majority of Google’s services on the iPhone after replacing Maps with its own offering. Google Maps is still the most used mapping application for smartphones as Apple Maps isn’t available on Android. Indeed, the launch of iOS6 – which came preloaded with Apple Maps – was a wholesale disaster.
Apple told the news source that its mapping service is now used more than three times as often as its next leading competitor on iPhones and iPads, with more than five billion map-related requests each week.
The report from AP states that Apple’s information resources now exceed 3,000 for business listings and traffic.
To gain back the trust of users, Apple has worked to correct the faults of its Maps app and has added new features such as mass transit directions.
Even though Apple Maps lacks several features present in Google Maps and several third-party apps, the iPhone firm has succeeded in making a quick turnaround.
What might surprise you, however, is that Maps is way more popular than you think.
Apple Maps is now reportedly handling three times as many navigation queries as Google Maps on iOS. The service now enables users to spot airports, stations and subways quickly on the app.
Offline areas will prove real handy when one is experiencing a poor or no internet connectivity. The effort was widely ridiculed and was a boon for competing apps such as Google Maps.
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Following its launch on iOS in September 2012, Apple Maps was heavily criticized for various factors including errors, omissions, and incorrect labeling of places that caused some users to go astray (and some top Apple employees to get fired).
