Apple CEO Tim Cook Issues Apology Letter for Apple Maps [READ]

Apple CEO has written an apology letter on Apple.com to customers about the shortfall of Apple Maps. The latter has been criticized and seen as the ‘Achilles Heel’ of iOS 6 for its inaccuracies and omissions compared to Google Maps in iOS 5.

Below is the letter from Cook:

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

The letter notes Apple is improving their Maps app and in a surprise move recommends alternative apps in the process such as Bing, MapQuest, Waze and the web apps from Google and Nokia. It’s clear the media attention given to Maps lately has reached all the way to the top at Apple. Let’s hope some changes come soon.

What did you think of Cook’s letter? Is it enough reassurance that Apple is doing everything it can to make the app better?

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