iOS 6 Maps is great, and it's not

20.09.2012
In , Macworld senior editor Dan Moren praised its new Maps functionality. But there's been something of an online uproar from a vocal and unhappy percentage of iOS 6 early adopters who find themselves deeply disappointed by Apple's take on the newly Google-free Maps app.

Moren wrote in his review that "it's hard to overstate just how beautiful and responsive [the new maps] are ... Street names appear and disappear at appropriate levels of zoom, so you're not bludgeoned by scads of unnecessary information, and they rotate along with the map. Neighborhoods and regions are well-marked, and even parks and bodies of water take on a more attractive look."

The most commonly aired complaint from folks with the other perspective is that Apple's maps are incomplete--or worse, incorrect--where Google's were not. In , David Pogue complains that "Apple's database of points of interest ... is sparser than Google's." And in iOS 6 "a significant backslide," citing the fact that Apple's coming to the Maps party late, and that Google has had way more time and experience to build out its product.

And the truth is, Maps praisers (like Moren) and detractors (like Pogue and TechCrunch) are, quite frankly, all spot on.

The new Maps is very good--provided you live in an area well-covered by the app's data, with accurate information. It's great if you crave turn-by-turn directions and don't already own a GPS unit or a pricier App Store app for that purpose.

But, as reflects, all of the Maps app's benefits are so much hooey if the maps you need don't accurately reflect reality.