The pre-iOS6 app wasn't "Google's app".
It was Apple's Maps app which used Google-licensed data. Insofar as it was neglected, it was neglected because Apple neglected to improve it and declined to license additional uses of the data (like for turn-by-turn nav).
Or, translated from Google spin speak, Apple wanted to improve it but the two parties were not able to agree on terms.
http://allthingsd.com/20120926/apple-google-maps-talks-crash...
In short, Apple wanted the maps data, but did not want it to be "Google Maps".
If it were really just about withholding features from iOS, why then are most major Android features on iOS, including Google Now, and including a version of the new Google Maps before Android even had it.
Sounds to me like Apple was pulling a John Boehner, refusing to compromise.
"If it were really just about withholding features from iOS, "
Nowhere do I claim this. Straw man alert.
Actually I just did.
"Google's app was hardly a "shitty" alternative ... How many iOS users rejoiced when Google Maps got rereleased?"
'Rereleased' he says... you mean with turn-by-turn which was never there in the original app. Which is why the original was shitty compared to Maps for Android. QED.