Kurt Opsahl of the Electronic Frontier Foundation argues that it is: Because of the company's unprecedented dominance of the search industry and its massive data collection, he says that a little evil from Google goes a long way.

FORBES: More Evil Than Google?

He added that it had decided to act now in order to add turn-by-turn directions to its offering without having to concede extra branding rights or permission for further data collection to the search giant.

BBC: Apple apologises for Maps switch 'frustration'

It is interesting to note that you are encouraged to sign in with your Google account when you install the app - the search firm is keen both to reinforce its relationship with users and to improve its data collection.

BBC: Google, Flickr - and the app wars