on Friday published an open letter to customers on behalf of CEO , who formally apologized for Apple's new Maps in iOS 6 and “the frustration this has caused our customers.”

Google Maps vs. iOS 6 Maps
Cook vowed that his company is “doing everything we can to make Maps better.” In the meantime, he said, users can download third-party tools from the App Store such as Bing, MapQuest or Waze, or use Web-based options like Google Maps or Nokia's product.

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 . 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 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 and , or use or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web .

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 standard.

Cook
Apple's CEO

 

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