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Woz: Apple Maps disappointing, but flaws 'not that severe'

Apple co-founder downplayed problems with the new Apple Maps application, which replaced Google Maps on iPhones that have iOS 6.
Written by Spandas Lui, Contributor

Reviews of Apple's Maps have been mixed at best, but problems with the application may not be as bad as they've been made out to be, according to Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

Chief scientist at IT storage company Fusion-io, Wozniak was speaking at a company event in Sydney.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak (Credit: ZDNet/Spandas Lui)

In its release of iOS 6, just prior to the release of the new iPhone 5, Apple opted to use its own Maps application to replace Google Maps. There have since been many reports about a torrent of errors within it, which includes displaying inaccurate location information.

Apple is said to be assembling a crack team of developers to fix the problems with its Maps app.

Wozniak received his iPhone 5 last week, after lining up at an Apple Store in Brisbane, Australia.

Wozniak said he was loving the iPhone 5, but admitted he was slightly disappointed with Apple Maps.

"I tried to navigate somewhere, and I couldn't get to where I wanted to by voice," he told ZDNet Australia. "So, I was a little disappointed, because I love navigation by voice with my Google [Android] phones, actually, since they always get it and are based on a better database."

The Apple co-founder is aware of the highly publicised errors with Apple's Maps, but suspected the severity of the flaws has been exaggerated.

"I have been reading about the problems, and I don't know if they are that severe," he said.

He used the iPhone 4 antenna issue as an example. The phone was proven to lose reception when the antenna band is touched, leading to dropped calls. In normal use, Wozniak never really noticed the problem.

"Sometimes, there are a lot of complaints about one little thing people spot, but it's not that hard to deal with in life," he said. "I don't know yet about Maps — I'm a little worried about the navigation, but I've still got it covered with a bunch of other navigation apps."

Wozniak ended his full-time employment at Apple in the late 80s, and has not been involved with the design of the company's products since then.

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