wraggster
October 10th, 2012, 22:16
Six iOS developers claim they filed complaints and bug reports in advance of release.
The Apple Maps farrago (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57516718-37/apples-maps-app-slammed-over-missing-cities-and-other-mistakes/) took everyone by surprise. Everyone that is, except Apple, who knew about the problem before release.
At least, that's what a group of anonymous developers have claimed in an article on CNET (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57529147-37/developers-we-warned-apple-about-ios-maps-quality/).
The six iOS debs say they warned Apple of problems in iOS Maps when they released the first pre-release version in June, giving the company months to fix the issues before the app appeared in iOS 6.
The whistleblowers say they filed bug requests, sent emails to specific Apple staff and commented on message boards only Apple and other developers could see, but all to no avail.
All of the half dozen developers have applications that rely on Apple's maps technology requested that their details were not mentioned in the story because of ongoing relationships with Apple.
However, the developers feel that the app was so bad they had no choice but to break ranks. One said: "I posted at least one doomsayer rant after each (developer) beta, and I wasn't alone.
"The mood amongst the developers seemed to be that the maps were so shockingly bad that reporting individual problems was futile. What was needed wasn't so much an interface for reporting a single point as incorrect, but for selecting an entire region and saying 'all of this - it's wrong.'"
Another developer said he was able to contact an Apple employee, who said a particular issue was "well understood".
While Apple seems to be working on fixing the many issues that have been reported since launch, the question remains, if it knew about it, why wasn't it sorted beforehand?
Apple did not comment on these allegations.
http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/read/did-apple-know-about-maps-problem-before-ios-6-launch/019574
The Apple Maps farrago (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57516718-37/apples-maps-app-slammed-over-missing-cities-and-other-mistakes/) took everyone by surprise. Everyone that is, except Apple, who knew about the problem before release.
At least, that's what a group of anonymous developers have claimed in an article on CNET (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57529147-37/developers-we-warned-apple-about-ios-maps-quality/).
The six iOS debs say they warned Apple of problems in iOS Maps when they released the first pre-release version in June, giving the company months to fix the issues before the app appeared in iOS 6.
The whistleblowers say they filed bug requests, sent emails to specific Apple staff and commented on message boards only Apple and other developers could see, but all to no avail.
All of the half dozen developers have applications that rely on Apple's maps technology requested that their details were not mentioned in the story because of ongoing relationships with Apple.
However, the developers feel that the app was so bad they had no choice but to break ranks. One said: "I posted at least one doomsayer rant after each (developer) beta, and I wasn't alone.
"The mood amongst the developers seemed to be that the maps were so shockingly bad that reporting individual problems was futile. What was needed wasn't so much an interface for reporting a single point as incorrect, but for selecting an entire region and saying 'all of this - it's wrong.'"
Another developer said he was able to contact an Apple employee, who said a particular issue was "well understood".
While Apple seems to be working on fixing the many issues that have been reported since launch, the question remains, if it knew about it, why wasn't it sorted beforehand?
Apple did not comment on these allegations.
http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/read/did-apple-know-about-maps-problem-before-ios-6-launch/019574