Unofficial Google Maps iOS app disappears from App Store

ClassicMap, looking a bit like Apple's own maps app.

(Credit: Katsumi Kishikawa)

An application designed to replace the look, feel, and utility of Apple's old maps application has disappeared from the App Store, just days after its debut.

ClassicMap, an application from developer Katsumi Kishikawa -- who has two other applications on sale through Apple -- is no longer available.

The free application popped up on the App Store on Monday and made waves for offering users a way to get some of the same look and feel as the old version of Apple's maps, which used data from Google.

The app included an options menu that looked very much like Apple's own maps app, folding up to reveal extra options, including a toggle to switch between Apple's maps data and Google's. Notably missing were any sort of navigation features or Google's Street View, two things other developers and Google have scrambled to replace either through apps or through the Web.

In a tweet Kishikawa noted that the removal was "Apple's decision," though did not elaborate. CNET has reached out to him and Apple for additional information.

The removal was reported earlier by Pocketnow.