Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt announced yesterday that Google is not currently working on their Google map app for the iPhone 5. So everyone complaining about the iPhone 5’s native mapping your going to have to wait even longer for Google’s maps.
Schmidt’s comments come after The Guardian last week, citing “roundabout sources,” reported that Google is indeed working on a Google Maps app for iOS 6 that will be released “in time.” When asked whether it will develop a Google Maps app for iOS, a Google spokesman said only that “our goal is to make Google Maps available to everyone who wants to use it, regardless of device, browser, or operating system.”
Up until iOS 6, released last week, Google Maps (and YouTube) were pre-loaded on all iOS devices, but the iOS upgrade replaced Google Maps with Apple’s own maps. Apple’s software has been widely panned for mislabeling cities, leaving out landmarks, duplicating islands, and more. As PCMag’s Jamie Lendino noted, the app had “trouble finding points of interests as well as even basic street addresses.”
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has even chimed in about the Apple maps controversy. The normally outspoken Wozniak, speaking at an event in Sydney, said he has been using the iPhone 5 since last week and is “a little disappointed” with the new maps app, according to ZDNet. However, he added that the app probably isn’t as bad as some have made it out to be.
“I have been reading about the problems, and I don’t know if they are that severe,” he said.
Apple is reportedly taking drastic measures to improve its map product. The Cupertino tech giant is “aggressively recruiting” former Google staffers to help build out its iOS 6 mapping app. Apple has said that its maps app is a work in progress.
[pcmag]
