Apple Maps debacle is why Apple has a public beta program now

Public betas are now a given for major and minor iOS and macOS releases for Apple, but that wasn't the case just a couple of years ago. The reason? Apple Maps, according to a Fast Company piece with quotes from Apple CEO Tim Cook, Software Engineering SVP Craig Federighi, and Internet Software and Services SVP Eddy Cue.

To recap, the Maps app in iOS switched from using Google's data to Apple's in iOS 6 back in 2012. The transition did not go well; the reception from the press and the public was bad enough that it prompted a rare apology and led to the departure of longtime iOS software head Scott Forstall.

"We made significant changes to all of our development processes because of [Maps]," Cue told Fast Company. "To all of us living in Cupertino, the maps for here were pretty darn good. Right? So [the problem] wasn’t obvious to us. We were never able to take it out to a large number of users to get that feedback. Now we do."

Apple's software betas were always available to anyone willing to pay $99 a year for an iOS developer account, and the black market for beta access was thriving before the public beta program arrived. But today the public betas are available on a much larger scale, and they all include a built-in feedback app made specifically to help users file bug reports.

Apple's public beta program started small and has expanded gradually, which is the company's normal approach to trying new things. It started with a beta for a OS X Mavericks point update in April of 2014 and expanded to include OS X Yosemite that summer. The next year, both iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan were offered as public betas, and public beta builds were released more frequently and in closer proximity to the developer versions. That has continued with iOS 10 and macOS Sierra this year.

The rest of the Fast Company piece is standard fare for Apple executive interviews that aren't tied to any particular product. Cue, Federighi, and Cook talk about Apple's approach to product development and the company's continued efforts to get out from under Steve Jobs' shadow. They also make vague statements about Apple's future direction, but as usual, the company doesn't get specific about future products or initiatives.