Latest Version of Maps on Android is bad, and Google should feel bad

Posted by silellak on August 17, 2012 09:35 am 29

Sigh. So I made the apparently mistake of updating Maps yesterday, and in response, my One X decided to do the hilarious trick of randomly rebooting the phone whenever I tried to use the app. Sometimes it would happen after I LEFT the app, if the app was still working in the background. Awesome.

At first I blamed the fact I was running a custom ROM, but I've seen the issue reported with other HTC phones as well, both on XDA and the Play Store:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.maps

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1836341

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1836336

So far, the only solution I've found is to uninstall the Play Store version and sideload the previous version from here:

http://www.iapktop.com/google-maps-6-9-2.html

Dear Google:

This is not okay. I recognize how hard it is to develop an app that works flawlessly on so many different handsets, but Maps is one of your flagship products. Some people buy your phones just because Maps and Navigation is so damn good. It's one thing if the app was force-closing...still shitty, but at least the issue would be contained within the app itself...but rebooting my entire phone? Not okay. Not even remotely close to being okay.

Hopefully you are aware of this issue, and resolve it soon. Also, try not to let this happen again: I should be able to confidently update any of your official Google apps without having to worry about it sabotaging my phone.

Hugs & Kisses,

An-otherwise-happy-Android-owner

UPDATE: My friend owns a completely-stock HTC Rezound, and is also experiencing this issue, so it's not limited to just the One X or just custom ROMs.

UPDATE #2: Someone else reported seeing the same issue on their Motorola Droid Bionic, so it looks like it's not just HTC phones that are affected.