Apple's home-grown Maps leaves users lost

SAN FRANCISCO (REUTERS) - An entire city is in the ocean, a farm has been labelled as an airport, highways end in the middle of nowhere and a hospital now covers the entire centre of British city Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare's home.

Welcome to the new world of Apple Maps that greeted iPhone and iPad users when they downloaded the highly anticipated update to the consumer giant's mobile software platform, iOS 6.

Apple Inc's home-grown Maps feature was introduced with much fanfare in June by Apple's software chief Scott Forstall and is a direct challenge to the same service offered by friend-turned-rival Google Inc.

But the app is already facing criticism from users globally for a number of geographical errors, missing information and because it lacks features that made Google Maps so popular, including public transit directions, comprehensive traffic data or street view pictures.