[tweet https://twitter.com/benjrubenstein/status/248790438750846976]

So, who exactly is to blame for the downgraded Maps experience in iOS 6? Apple’s strategic decision to drop the Google Maps backend has sparked perhaps as much controversy as hardware issues plaguing past iPhone launches. Apple’s new app is being called out for features that have been stripped from previous versions, such as transit, Street View, and local search, but the basic map data is also an issue for many users worldwide (as highlighted in the tweet above and image below). Did losing Google’s data sets play the only role in the downgraded experience, or was Apple unable to build a competitive app in such a short period despite partnering with some of the biggest mapping-data providers?

Noam Bardin, CEO of mobile navigation company Waze, which is one of the company’s listed partners in the new Maps app, had some pretty strong words to say about the new app in an interview with BusinessInsider:

While we do not exactly know what Apple is using from Waze, Bardin seems to suggest Apple’s poor maps experience is due to having the “lowest, weakest data set,” courtesy of the Apple’s main provider TomTom:

Waze is not the only Maps provider with an opinion on the matter. TomTom, another one of Apple’s confirmed partners providing mapping data, defended questions regarding Maps in a statement to MacStories. TomTom claimed it is the handset manufacturer’s responsibility to create the user experience:

TomTom furthered clarified that visualization issues with Maps were related to imagery implemented by Apple:

Yelp and local search is another area of concern for many iOS 6 users. Many have actually praised the Yelp integration; unfortunately, it is limited to just 17 countries and the experience varies greatly from country to country. Yelp confirmed on its blog, however, that it continues to work with Apple “to provide users with a more streamlined experience, especially as increasingly more people turn to mobile devices to discover great local businesses.”

[tweet https://twitter.com/jbrodkin/status/248794263905792001]

We have confidence that Apple is continually working to improve the new maps app, as it did throughout the beta releases, but iMore has a quick guide on how you can help by reporting a problem or adding a location or business until then.

Image via Flickr