How Apple Maps Won
From Mapping Embarrassment To Navigation Leader
Oh, Apple Maps, who could forget the mapping program that was so bad it single-handedly got Scott Forstall fired? Well, maybe not single-handedly. It looks like Scott Forstall was not particularly well-liked.
Amazingly, it’s said that Forstall’s coworkers were so excited to show him the door that they volunteered to split up his workload — Eddy Cue takes on Siri and Maps while OS X’s Craig Federighi gets iOS. And Ive, who has cemented his reputation as a legendary industrial designer over his two-decade Apple career, gets the opportunity to refresh an iOS user experience that has stagnated over the last several generations.
Apple Maps, when it first launched was bad. Really really bad. People kept on showing off images that looked like highways were destroyed by earthquakes, many places were incorrectly named, cities were teleported into the middle of the ocean, and certain organisations even recommended against using it because its directions were getting people lost.
But, you know, Apple has been quietly making updates to Apple Maps. Well, not so quietly. Who could forget 2021’s major update?
