Yahoo Finance Google Maps Back On iPhone After Apology
Google Maps has found its way back onto the iPhone as a free app alongside Apple (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) 's own Maps service.
The return of the world's most popular online mapping system came nearly three months after Apple replaced Google Maps as the device's built-in navigation system.
It inserted its own Maps app into the latest version of its mobile operating system, iOS 6.
The new OS brought in more than 200 new features, including Apple's new Passbook service and full Facebook integration.
However, Apple's Maps product proved to be far inferior to Google (NasdaqGS: GOOG - news) 's.
The Apple service was based on Dutch navigation equipment and digital mapmaker TomTom (Dusseldorf: OEM.DU - news) 's data.
But users complained it contained glaring geographical errors and lacked features that made Google Maps so popular.
For example, police in Australia warned drivers not to use the Apple software after a number of people ended up lost in the wilderness in scorching temperatures.
Motorists trying to find the town of Mildura became lost after following the map system, which locates it about 43 miles (70km) from its actual position in the state of Victoria.
The product's shoddiness prompted Apple CEO Tim Cook to issue a rare public apology.
He recommend that iPhone owners consider using Google Maps through a mobile web browser or seek other alternatives until his company could fix the problem.
Google said its new Maps app is better than the one that used to be on the iPhone.
The app will be compatible with any iPhone or iPod Touch that runs iOS 5.1 or higher.
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