Google Maps App For iOS 6 Release: iPhone App Gets 10 Million Downloads In 48 Hours [VIDEO]

Google just released its Maps app for iOS last week, and the navigation app has managed to reach 10 million downloads in less than 48 hours of its launch.

Jeff Huber of Google made the announcement on his Google+ page on Monday.

“We’re excited for the positive reception of Google Maps for iPhone around the world,” Huber wrote in the post. “Congratulations to the Maps Team on the recognition for the passion and hard work they poured into it, for this release and over the last 7+ years.”

Google launched its Maps app for iOS 6 on Thursday, months after Apple’s own navigation app flopped. Apple boasted that it’s own directional app, which was released in September along with iOS 6, would come with enhanced features such as a3-D Flyover view, vector-based maps and voice integration among others.

However, the software was met with an overwhelming number of complaints and bugs upon launch. Apple Maps was primarily criticized for inaccurately labeling locations and a lack of public transit directions and Street View capabilities.

Apple CEO Tim Cook issued a public apology via the company’s official website, apologizing for the lackluster software.

“We launched Maps initially with the first version of iOS,” Cook wrote. “As time progressed, we wanted to provide our customers with even better Maps including features such as turn-by-turn directions, voice integration, Flyover and vector-based maps. In order to do this, we had to create a new version of Maps from the ground up.”

The company has been working to implement a Maps solution ever since, and now the navigation app that iPhone users had been accustomed to in previous generations of the software is available for iOS 6. On its first day in Apple’s App Store, Google Maps claimed the number one spot.

Huber welcomed users to share their commentary on Google Maps for iOS 6.

“Any feedback you have is welcomed, here in G+ or in the app (just shake it),” he wrote.

Google Maps for iOS 6 introduced a new feature that brings up an option to send a report to Google if the app is experiencing problems.

Apple Maps still acts as the iPhone’s default navigation, but as the folks over at Jailbreak Nation have discovered, there’s a way to trick Siri into automatically using Google Maps. To do this, ask directions as you normally would, but add the phrase “via transit” at the end. This prompts Siri to bring up Google Maps and any other installed routing apps.

The search engine giant’s navigation app isn’t available for the iPad yet, but Google is sure to unveil that in due time.

Check out the video tutorial below to see how to get Siri to use Google Maps instead of Apple Maps.