Skip to main content

Needs directions: Apple Maps app is still a mess due to internal politics

apple acquires coherent navigation maps
Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr

Apple announced several major updates to iOS at WWDC 2014 on June 2, 2014, but the company remained strangely silent on its Maps app. According to a report from TechCrunch, several important updates were supposed to launch alongside iOS 8 at the developer’s conference, but were delayed due to poor project management and much internal debate.

It’s been two years since Apple abandoned Google Maps in favor of its own, homegrown navigation app. When Apple first showed off Maps at WWDC in 2012, the app sure looked pretty, but it didn’t work properly. The great maps fiasco was heard throughout the world and its effects still reverberate to this day. So far, Apple has been unable to turn Maps’ reputation around, let alone make it into a viable Google Maps competitor. The Maps app may be much more functional than it was when it first launched, but the fact remains that there is no incentive for iOS users to leave Google Maps’ superior offering.

According to 9to5 Mac, Apple was supposed to present a series of updates to the Maps app at WWDC this year. The improvements were said to include a better interface, new public transit directions, attractions nearby, and more reliability overall. However, by the time Apple’s developer conference wrapped up, nobody had heard a word about the supposed new and improved Maps app. Vague references about vector maps and indoor location data aside, Apple did not address Maps at all.

Now, anonymous sources report that there was a very big reason for Apple’s silence. One source said that the project was poorly managed and that internal politics prevented the Maps team from finishing any meaningful updates. Another claimed that developers were put off by the confusion and left to pursue other projects.  The delay reflects Apple’s conflicted mind state toward Maps: On one hand, Apple knows that it must fix the app, but it simply doesn’t know which direction to take with it.

The Maps team still has ample time to pull itself together and issue a great update to the app before iOS 8 lands in consumers’ hands, but it will need to work hard to do so in the short amount of time left. Otherwise, Apple will be looking at three years without true success with fixing Maps.

Editors' Recommendations

Malarie Gokey
Former Digital Trends Contributor
As DT's Mobile Editor, Malarie runs the Mobile and Wearables sections, which cover smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and…
The OnePlus 12 has one big advantage over Samsung and Apple
Gray Samsung Galaxy S24 (left), Rose Gold Google Pixel 8, Flowy Emerald OnePlus 12, Green iPhone 15, Titanium Gray iPhone 15 Pro on a pink and red heart blanket.

Samsung Galaxy S24 (left), Google Pixel 8, OnePlus 12, iPhone 15, and iPhone 15 Pro. Christine Romero-Chan / Digital Trends

When you look at smartphones these days, the selection has grown a bit … stale, to say the least. You’ll see phones from top brands like Samsung, Apple, and even Google, but most options look the same — they’re glass slabs.

Read more
Apple is updating one of the oldest apps on your iPhone
The Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max and iPhone 14 Pro showing the screens.

Apple iPhone 14 Pro (left) and iPhone 15 Pro Max Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Apple has updated one of its original iPhone apps, the Clock app, in the first iOS 17.4 beta. Specifically, the update includes a small, but significant change to the Stopwatch function.

Read more
Apple is about to change iPhone web browsing forever
The search bar position in Safari on iOS 15.

Apple has today announced a major change that could revolutionize the web-browsing experience for iPhone users. Alas, this browsing boon will be limited to users in the EU bloc. This news was announced alongside Apple's plans to add sideloading and third-party app stores to the iPhone.

To comply with the EU’s landmark Digital Markets Act (DMA), Apple says it will allow developers to use other browser engines for their web browsers. That means Apple will no longer force them to use its own WebKit rendering engine, which is the underlying tech behind what any web browser can do on your phone. That’s a massive rule change.
Deliberately spoiling the browsing experience

Read more