(Credit:
Victoria Police)
Google Maps returned to the iOS platform this week, but that was not enough to rescue Apple's map app rep.
Banished from Apple's iOS earlier this fall, Google Maps returned to the mobile platform in the form of a standalone app. The official Google Maps app returned to Apple's App store Thursday evening with turn-by-turn navigation, as well as public transit directions, integrated Street View, and a 3D-like Google Earth view. Google Maps didn't take long to capture the top spot among free iPhone apps.
The release came a few days after Apple again became the subject of ridicule when police in Australia issued a warning discouraging iPhone users from relying on Apple's map app after rescuing several people who became stranded in recent weeks in the wilderness following the app's directions.
However, the bad directions may not entirely be the iPhone makers fault; apparently there are two listings for the same problematic location in the Australian Gazetteer, the de facto local geographical dictionary that lists some 322,000 locations and their corresponding GPS coordinates.
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