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Amazing Apple Anecdote: Google Maps On The First iPhone Was An Afterthought

Amazing Apple Anecdote: Google Maps On The First iPhone Was An Afterthought

We’re back with another Amazing Apple Anecdote. This week we learn how Maps wasn’t even planned to feature on the first iPhone, and that it was a last minute add on.

maps iphone

The New York Times:

Including a maps app on the first iPhone was not even part of the company’s original plan as the phone’s unveiling approached in January 2007. Just weeks before the event, Mr. Jobs ordered a mapping app to show off the capabilities of the touch-screen device.

Two engineers put together a maps app for the presentation in three weeks, said a former Apple engineer who worked on iPhone software, and who declined to be named because he did not want to speak publicly about his previous employer. The company hastily cut a deal with Google to use its map data.

Well, that was a decision that turned out pretty well. A planned decision like updating Maps for iOS 6 did not. What does one make of that? That’s all of this week but we’ll be back soon with more, for now though enjoy.