( CNN ) -- Love or hate Google , you probably do n't expect this sort of message from one of the largest and most innovative Internet and technology companies in the world : . `` The iOS app we launched today contained a bug with notifications , '' the company wrote Wednesday on Twitter . `` We have pulled the app to fix the problem . Sorry we messed up . '' That 's just one of the ways Google screwed up this week , according to tech pundits and bloggers . The company also released an update to Google Reader that was described by a former employee as `` a disaster . '' `` Maybe Google is n't so invincible after all , '' the site InfoWorld asked . The complaints raise two deeper issues about Google : . First is the long-aired gripe that the company develops cooler and better-functioning smartphone apps for Android devices than it does for Apple 's iOS . That makes some sense . After all , Google created Android , and has a business interest in seeing that smartphone platform succeed over that of its competitors . The new Gmail app , however , is raising questions about the company 's ability to put out apps that -- at the very least -- will function on Apple devices . `` The real question here is how were these problems not caught during testing , either on Google 's part or Apple 's ? ( Conspiracy theory : Apple did catch the errors , but approved the app anyway ) , '' the blog TechCrunch wrote . Second , this week 's botched Gmail app for iOS digs at Google 's image as an innovative company . If Google keeps releasing disappointing products , people may stop being excited about the company as a whole , MG Siegler , a tech pundit , wrote on his personal blog . `` They release something , and I no longer have any faith that it 's going to be any good , '' Siegler wrote on Wednesday in a post titled `` Faith No More . '' `` It 's hard to get excited about a company like that . It 's the same reason why it 's hard to get excited when Microsoft and Yahoo release new things . The track record just is n't there any more . The faith is gone . '' This week 's controversy follows several less-than-thrilling product launches from Google . Google+ , the company 's effort to compete with Facebook , has seen its traffic plunge . Other Google products , from Google Offers to Google Latitude , never became break-out successes . And that 's not to mention Google Wave , Google Buzz and Google Health , which the company killed . Google has had trouble with the functionality of its iOS apps , in particular . `` Previously , the company pulled its Google Voice app from the iOS App Store because of continuous crashing in iOS 5 , '' the site PC World says . `` Google also had to fix several bugs in its Google+ iOS app a few months ago , but never removed the app from the store . Given Google 's tendency to release products in beta form , these are n't huge surprises . '' Others are less forgiving . `` Given the size and importance of the company , it 's a joke really . Yes , they have Android , which they are clearly going to favor over Apple 's rival mobile platform , but come on , '' Siegler wrote . `` When you release sub-par products , you look sub-par yourself . Customers do n't care what platform it 's on , and do n't care what politics are going on behind the scenes at the company . If you release s -- - , you look like s -- - . It 's much better to release nothing at all . '' Tech pundits also piled criticism on the new version of Google Reader , which includes integration with the company 's social network but is n't considered to be as aesthetically pleasing . `` Someone took the magic color-removing wand and drenched the whole page in grey , '' wrote Brian Shih , who is a former product manager for Google Reader . `` It 's so unbelievably stark , it 's hard to imagine a more desolate experience . '' `` There 's almost no way Google could have blundered more disastrously here , '' writes Forbes . It seems the only thing Google can get right this week is a pumpkin-carving video . If you 've taken a look at the new Google Reader or the iOS Gmail app , let us know what you think in the comments . To be sure , not all reviews are as scathing as those quoted here .
Google launches Gmail app for iOS that barely functions . Company pulls the app from the App Store , says `` We messed up '' A redesign of Google reader also has been declared a `` disaster '' Tech pundit says Google has lost its innovative mojo .