Google’s iOS Maps app navigates its way into iTunes

UPDATE: The new Google Maps for iPhone is now live. You can download it here.

Google plans to release its much-awaited iOS Maps app tonight, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The app should be a welcome addition for many iPhone users, who have been unhappy with an Apple-made replacement.

Google Maps had been pre-installed on the iPhone since the smartphone first launched, but the app was bounced in September with the debut of iOS 6.

The big reason for the change? Google had declined to provide voice navigation for Apple’s map app, among other features, after it had made significant investment in building out turn-by-turn directions for its own mapping products on Android and elsewhere.