In response to one of its biggest product flubs in years, Apple has reportedly fired the person who oversaw its Maps application for iOS. Richard Williamson, who was senior director for iOS platform services, has been dismissed from his job by SVP of Internet Services Eddy Cue, according to Bloomberg.
Cue took over responsibility for Maps last month when Apple announced SVP of iOS Software Scott Forstall would be leaving the company. Cue has been known as Apple’s “fixer” and has been charged with getting the Maps program into working shape after a disastrous debut with the company’s iOS 6 software in September. The app immediately drew complaints from users for poor mapping data and bad directions.
Williamson’s replacement has not been named, according to Bloomberg’s sources. But Cue has been talking with mapping experts at TomTom for ideas on how to improve Maps’ accuracy. From Bloomberg’s report:
A team at Apple has been working to fix the mapping mistakes, focusing first on some of the most glaring problems, one person said. The satellite imagery over the U.K. has been improved and labels for popular U.S. landmarks such as the Washington Monument have been corrected.
This isn’t the first head that has rolled at Apple over Maps. Forstall had long been a personality that didn’t mix well with his fellow executives, but the final straw in his ouster was said to be when he refused to apologize to Apple customers over the state in which the Maps app launched in September.
CEO Tim Cook ended up signing his name to the apology instead.
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