Apple Maps Now Used 3x as Often as Google Maps on iPhone and iPad

Apple’s own Maps service is now used three times as much as Google Maps on iPhone and iPad, according to the Cupertino company. Introduced in 2012 with iOS 6, Apple Maps was initially plagued with errors and deemed unfinished — but it offers a much greater experience today.

The whole Apple Maps debacle went on for some time, forcing Apple to publicly apologize to fans — and even saw the departure of then-senior vice president of iOS, Scott Forstall. When it first launched, its maps were inaccurate, unreliable, and labeled dangerous by some authorities.

But Apple has been working hard to rectify that over the years, and Maps is much more reliable today.

“They really did a great job in a short amount of time,” former Google Maps manager Alex Mackenzie-Torres told The Associated Press. “Apple has something that few companies have — simplicity in design mixed with high doses of pragmatism and practicality.”

Apple says its not finished improving Maps and it definitely still has some work to do, especially in rolling out transit directions. However, the service is now good enough that most users aren’t turning to third party products instead.

Apple now works closely with more than 3,000 third-party sources to make Maps more reliable. Those sources provide things like business listings, traffic data, and other information that iOS users rely on. The company has also put together new teams that gather its own data.