Apple Actively Recruiting Ex-Google Maps Employees

TechCrunch reports that Apple is aggressively pursuing former and current Google Maps employees as part of its effort to build out its own Mapping solution.

My source — a contractor who worked on Google Maps as part of a massive undertaking to integrate Street View and newly licensed third-party data to improve European coverage, as well as develop the platform’s turn-by-turn navigation — says that when attention turned to indoor mapping, things started to become less interesting and a lot of staff began looking around for other opportunities.

maps overview
Apple's own Mapping solution launched as part of iOS 6 just last week. The launch was marred by significant criticism of the quality of the data in many parts of the world. Apple has posted a number of job listings for Maps-related jobs over the past few weeks. Given Google's history and resources placed into their own mapping solution, it's no surprise that many qualified candidates may have worked on Google's product as well.

Early rumors had suggested that Google has already submitted their own Maps application to the iOS app store, but that seems to have been debunked by The Loop's Jim Dalrymple. It still seems that Google may be working on their own iOS app this time, but TechCrunch's prediction of a "before Christmas" target may be a more realistic timeframe.

Popular Stories

ios 26 1 liquid glass opaque

iOS 26.1 Beta 4 Lets Users Control Liquid Glass Transparency with New Toggle

Monday October 20, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
With the fourth betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS 26.1, Apple has introduced a new setting that's designed to allow users to customize the look of Liquid Glass. The toggle lets users select from a clear look for Liquid Glass, or a tinted look. Clear is the current Liquid Glass design, which is more transparent and shows the background underneath buttons, bars, and menus, while tinted ...
iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Saturday October 18, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across the Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, Clock, and Safari apps. More features and changes will follow in future ...
iPhone Air

Report: 'Virtually No Demand' for iPhone Air

Wednesday October 22, 2025 3:22 am PDT by
Apple is "drastically" cutting production of the iPhone Air and shifting focus toward the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro models, Nikkei Asia reports. The business publication claims to have learned of a major cut to iPhone Air production motivated by weaker-than-expected consumer interest, nearly to "end of production levels." Despite early reports of the iPhone Air selling out within hours of...
iPhone Siri Glow

Some Apple Employees Have 'Concerns' About iOS 26.4's Revamped Siri

Sunday October 19, 2025 7:39 am PDT by
iOS 26.4 is expected to introduce a revamped version of Siri powered by Apple Intelligence, but not everyone is satisfied with how well it works. In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said some of Apple's software engineers have "concerns" about the overhauled Siri's performance. However, he did not provide any specific details about the shortcomings. iOS 26.4 will...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.2 Update for iPhones Coming Soon

Friday October 17, 2025 7:35 am PDT by
Apple's software engineers continue to internally test iOS 26.0.2, according to MacRumors logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. iOS 26.0.2 will be a minor update that addresses bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, but we do not know any specific details yet. The update will likely be released by the end of next week. Last month, Apple released iOS 26.0.1,...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

New iPad Pro Has Six Key Upgrades Beyond M5 Chip

Saturday October 18, 2025 10:57 am PDT by
While the new iPad Pro's headline feature is the M5 chip, the device has some other changes, including N1 and C1X chips, faster storage speeds, and more. With the M5 chip, the new iPad Pro has up to a 20% faster CPU and up to a 40% faster GPU compared to the previous model with the M4 chip, according to Geekbench 6 results. Keep in mind that 256GB and 512GB configurations have a 9-core CPU,...
maxresdefault

Here's How the iOS 26.1 Transparency Toggle Changes Liquid Glass

Monday October 20, 2025 1:55 pm PDT by
With the fourth beta of iOS 26.1, Apple added a toggle that makes Liquid Glass more opaque and reduces transparency. We tested the beta to see where the toggle works and what it looks like. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. If you have the latest iOS 26.1 beta, you can go to Settings > Display and Brightness to get to the new option. Tap on Liquid Glass, then...
All Screen iPhone 2027 Feature 1

Apple's Plan to Launch Three New iPhone Designs Allegedly Revealed

Wednesday October 22, 2025 6:24 am PDT by
Apple plans to launch a new type of iPhone every year for the foreseeable future, according to an Asia-based source. The detailed information was shared by the account "yeux1122" in a blog post on the Korean platform Naver, citing domestic trend and component research companies. Corroborating other reports, Apple will apparently launch its first foldable iPhone in 2026, featuring a...

Top Rated Comments

keysofanxiety Avatar
171 months ago
I was talking to my Grandad today, in a busy shopping centre. He looked at me wistfully: "You know, son," he whispered: "When I was a lad, all this were fields."

Sure enough, I checked Apple maps, and he was right! ;)
Score: 106 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dbyway Avatar
171 months ago
Am I the only one that hasn't had a problem with Maps so far? I'm guessing yes.
Score: 59 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Pock Avatar
171 months ago
Am I the only one that hasn't had a problem with Maps so far? I'm guessing yes.

Same for me. In fact, I actually quite like it.
Score: 50 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gpat Avatar
171 months ago
It will take more than hiring Google's leftovers to get the job done. Why even bother instead of adopting the far superior Google maps?
Score: 34 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TVreporter Avatar
171 months ago
I'm guessing the search for employees is going to take a long time if they are relying on Apple's maps to find them.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Renzatic Avatar
171 months ago
Shouldn't they have...you know...done this before they released the app? I know I'm not the CEO of a fortune 50 company, so I can't make a call from experience here, but it seems wiser to make your product as complete as possible before you release it, instead of giving it to everyone half assed then rushing to make it good after pissing everyone off.

I know. I know. There's a reason why I'm posting on Macrumors instead of being a billionaire. No one's going "Renzatic wouldn't have let this happen", or claiming I'm rolling in my grave whenever someone does something stupid. But...I dunno...it just seems like a better idea to me.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)