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Apple Maps is still too much of a mess to even get mentioned at WWDC

Updated Jun 9th, 2014 9:11AM EDT
Apple Maps WWDC iOS 8

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If you were hoping that Apple would announce big improvements to its Maps application on iOS 8 last week, you came away sorely disappointed since Apple barely bothered to mention the oft ridiculed mapping application at all. Now TechCrunch’s sources inform us that there was a reason for that: Apple Maps is apparently still too much of a mess to even warrant a mention at Apple’s big developers conference.

According to TechCrunch, Apple had originally planned to announce some improvements to Maps during WWDC but one source claims that none of the new features were ready to show off at WWDC and many developers who had been working on them have actually left the company. The source also doesn’t sugarcoat anything when it comes to laying blame on Apple management.

“Mostly it was failure of project managers and engineering project managers, tasks were very badly planned, developers had to switch multiple times from project to project,” the source says, while a separate source chimes in to say “that planning, project management and internal politics issues were a much more significant contributor to the failure to complete projects than developers leaving the group.”

Apple is still making key acquisitions to improve Maps, of course, but for the time being it looks like you shouldn’t expect major improvements to it anytime soon.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.