Apple Inc. (AAPL) Maps Not Like Google Maps, in a Bad Way?

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) made the bold decision to dump the Maps application created by Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) as a result of the ongoing rivalry between the two companies. While Google has had a very good and well-used Maps feature that was very popular on previous iPhones, Apple decided it wanted to go in a different direction and kick Google out of its ecosystem. In order to replace that feature, Apple decided to develop its own proprietary maps application. But is it an apple-to-apple comparison between the two, so to speak?

According to a couple people who know the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) mapping application pretty intimately say, however, that Apple’s program is not like the Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) Maps app – in a bad way, they say.  One insider says that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has partnered with TomTom to use its mapping platform, and that one has not received rave reviews, to say the least.

“Apple went out and partnered with the weakest player,” said Noam Bardin of Waze, a mapping startup which had been a data partner of Apple in the early days of iOS 6 work. “What’s going to happen with the Apple maps, is that you’re literally not going to find things. When you do find them, they might be in the wrong place or position geographically. And if you do have it, the route to it may not be the optimal route.”

Another review from an Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) device repair shop, noted that the application seems to use Yelp keywords rather than Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) keywords in order to find things on maps. Josh Carr said that when he typed in “iPad repair,” no results showed up = though his shop was in the map area. “Maps didn’t know what to do with it because it’s not an address, business name, or Yelp category. My brain hurts just trying to grasp the stupidity.”

Not exactly a glowing report, even coming from an Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) loyalist. As mapping seems to be one of the more popular services on an iPhone (and many smartphones in general), having a poor mapping application might be a factor in determining the right smartphone for a user. Perhaps a rapid improvement of that app would be in order, though how it will affect sales may not be significant for investors in Apple stock like hedge-fund manager Chase Coleman of Tiger Global Management LLC.