November 27, 2012: Apple fires the manager responsible for the disastrous Apple Maps app in iOS 6 after the glitchy software delivers embarrassingly bad data to users around the world.
Richard Williamson, who oversaw Apple’s mapping team, gets the ax from Eddy Cue, who takes over the team.
October 29, 2012: Scott Forstall, Apple’s senior vice president of iOS software, is ousted from the company after the disastrous Apple Maps launch.
Apple divvies up the roles previously handled by Forstall, who once seemed on a path to the top, among other high-level execs. Jony Ive assumes leadership of the Human Interface team. Craig Federighi becomes head of iOS software. Eddy Cue takes control of Maps and Siri. And Bob Mansfield “unretires” to lead a new technology group.
Apple Maps had a rough start upon launch in 2012, but ten years of incremental improvements have changed the tides. Apple Maps is now a feature-rich service that is praised for its detail and accuracy. Not only is it a highly detailed portrayal of the world, its advanced navigation features make it easy to get around. Its public transit integration was a life saver when I was in California for WWDC just months ago.
Apple Maps gets an often-requested feature fulfilled this fall: true multi-stop routing and navigation features. You can plan three, four, fifteen stops of a journey if you want. Here’s how it works.
Apple will reportedly start showing ads inside Apple Maps on iPhone starting next year. The company is looking to generate more revenue from its ad business in the coming years.
Apple currently displays ads inside the App Store and certain apps like Apple News and Stocks.
If you ride a bike, now you can now get turn-by-turn navigation from Apple Maps in all 50 states. That’s because cycling directions recently arrived in Hawaii.
If you get rolling now, there’s just time to bike through the whole country in … never. Not gonna happen.
But it’s nice to know directions are available all over if you ever need them.
Speaking on the virtual stage at WWDC22, Apple’s Craig Federighi and Meg Frost unveiled a handful of changes which are heading to the built-in Maps app, including support for multi-stop routes and changes to MapKit.
Apple Maps users in Canada can now enjoy a more detailed mapping experience, as well as enhanced navigation, in several big cities.
Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver are the latest to get Apple’s most recent Maps upgrades — which first debuted in London, Los Angeles, New York City, and the San Francisco Bay Area in iOS 15 last September.
Apple Maps now indicates that Crimea is part of Ukraine. That shouldn’t be a surprise … it is. But the app reportedly showed the peninsula as part of no country in the wake of the 2014 Russian invasion and subsequent occupation.
It appears Russia’s recent invasion of the rest of Ukraine pushed Apple to change the way it labels the region.
This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Will Apple blow our minds (and our wallets) with a devastating blitz of new hardware in 2022? Signs point to yes. This week we’re discussing the latest rumors about new Apple gear coming this year — and trying not to get too excited.
Also on The CultCast:
Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video livestream, embedded below.
Tim Cook’s plush home in Palo Alto, California, has been blurred out inside Apple Maps and Google Maps — likely because of an alleged stalking incident. If you enter his address, you’ll see nothing but a gigantic, pixelated wall.
But this kind of digital scrubbing isn’t reserved for top CEOs and celebrities. In fact, anyone can quite easily get their own home hidden from online maps. All you need to do is ask Apple and Google to conceal the locations. We’ll show you how.
