Apple's iOS 7.1 update may be freshly downloaded on many an iPhone and iPad by now, but ever fresher are details of the iOS 8 update, expected for release later this year.

According to a report from 9to5Mac, Apple is gearing up for another attempt at challenging Google for the mobile maps market it currently dominates. Since the launch of Apple Maps on iOS 6, it has not been able to take users away from Google Maps in any way.

Apple Maps have long been plagued by glitches, faulty data and other features that Google Maps had simply mastered. Two men have been pushed out of the company for failing to fix Apple Maps. Scott Forstall, Steve Jobs' former apprentice, would not apologize for the app's failures and Richard Williamson could not help the mapping app either.

CLICK HERE to see 9to5Mac's Michael Steeber's impression of Apple Maps iOS 8 interface, based on descriptions from sources.

CEO Tim Cook promised Apple customers that the maps app would live up to the company's "incredibly high standard" of quality and user friendliness. He has reportedly been working with senior vice presidents Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi, and Maps head Patrice Gautier to fulfill that promise.

Apple altered its Maps app once again with the release of iOS 7, the most drastic mobile operating system update in the company's history. Maps were reimagined to reflect Jony Ive's new aesthetic design, but the iOS 8 update will be strictly "under-the-hood" for Apple Maps.

Cue, Federighi, and Gautier have enlisted several engineers to work on the Maps app and Apple has also acquired companies like BroadMap, HopStop and Embark to enhance the data quality and reliability.

Sources told 9to5Mac that public transit will be the main improvements to this incarnation of Apple Maps. Thanks to those acquisitions, public transit will be ingrained into the new Apple Maps, although, for starters, it will only be available San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York before expanding to other areas and the world.

According to the sources, the Maps app will now include "Transit" as an option for travel directions, joining "Walking" and "Driving." A menu will pop up from the bottom offering the user different combinations of busses and trains to reach their destination.

Apple is also known to be working on an indoor mapping function, but it is unclear if that will be integrated somehow to the new Maps update. Apple has already used the technology to help customers navigate stores and the company plans to help fans navigate baseball stadiums in cooperation the MLB's AtBat app.

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