Apple Expands 'Maps Ground Truth' Hiring to Rest of the World

Apple has expanded its postings for Maps Ground Truth jobs to the rest of the world, after initially hiring for similar positions only in Australia. 'Ground Truth' refers to information collected on location versus data collected remotely, such as satellite imagery.

Applemaps
The jobs, for 'Maps Ground Truth Manager' positions, have been posted for the U.S., The Americas, Western Europe, Japan, Asia Pacific, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East & Africa.

The Maps team is searching for a manager for the team responsible for regional map quality and ground truth in the U.S.. Each of our regional teams is responsible for the quality of our maps in their region. This team's responsibilities include:

• Testing new releases of map code and data around the U.S.
• Collecting ground truth data to allow for analysis of the impact of potential map code or data changes relative to known truth
• Utilizing local expertise to provide feedback about U.S.-specific mapping details
• Evaluating competing products in-region relative to our maps

As the manager of this team, you will be expected to drive all of this team's work, determine where and how to allocate resources, and clearly communicate test results and other feedback to teams in Cupertino. The U.S. regional team is also responsible for driving communication between engineering teams in Cupertino and our other regional teams, as well as evaluating new regional testing initiatives in close coordination with the rest of the Maps quality team before those initiatives are rolled out to the other regional teams.

Apple has been working to improve its maps after criticism led CEO Tim Cook to publicly apologize for issues customers had. Google's Maps app for iOS was downloaded more than 10 million times in two days after it became available several months after Apple's maps were released.

Popular Stories

Apple Logo Zoomed

Tim Cook Teases Plans for Apple's Upcoming 50th Anniversary

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:54 pm PST by
Apple turns 50 this year, and its CEO Tim Cook has promised to celebrate the milestone. The big day falls on April 1, 2026. "I've been unusually reflective lately about Apple because we have been working on what do we do to mark this moment," Cook told employees today, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "When you really stop and pause and think about the last 50 years, it makes your heart ...
Finder Siri Feature

Why Apple's iOS 26.4 Siri Upgrade Will Be Bigger Than Originally Promised

Friday February 6, 2026 3:06 pm PST by
In the iOS 26.4 update that's coming this spring, Apple will introduce a new version of Siri that's going to overhaul how we interact with the personal assistant and what it's able to do. The iOS 26.4 version of Siri won't work like ChatGPT or Claude, but it will rely on large language models (LLMs) and has been updated from the ground up. Upgraded Architecture The next-generation...
wwdc sans text feature

Apple Rumored to Announce New Product on February 19

Thursday February 5, 2026 12:22 pm PST by
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld. The report, citing industry sources, is available in English on Macworld. Apple announced the iPhone 16e on Wednesday, February 19 last year, so the iPhone 17e would be unveiled exactly one year later if this rumor is accurate. It is quite uncommon for Apple to unveil...
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Tuesday February 3, 2026 7:47 am PST by
While the iOS 26.3 Release Candidate is now available ahead of a public release, the first iOS 26.4 beta is likely still at least a week away. Following beta testing, iOS 26.4 will likely be released to the general public in March or April. Below, we have recapped known or rumored iOS 26.3 and iOS 26.4 features so far. iOS 26.3 iPhone to Android Transfer Tool iOS 26.3 makes it easier...
iphone 17 pro dark blue 1

iPhone 18 Pro Max Rumored to Deliver Next-Level Battery Life

Friday February 6, 2026 5:14 am PST by
The iPhone 18 Pro Max will feature a bigger battery for continued best-in-class battery life, according to a known Weibo leaker. Citing supply chain information, the Weibo user known as "Digital Chat Station" said that the iPhone 18 Pro Max will have a battery capacity of 5,100 to 5,200 mAh. Combined with the efficiency improvements of the A20 Pro chip, made with TSMC's 2nm process, the...

Top Rated Comments

Solomani Avatar
168 months ago
Well said.

I think Apple needs to do a lot more than hire a few more people in order to get to Google's mapping level.

Those hiring posting are for Managers. If you have any common sense at all, you'd figure that each Manager would be responsible for "managing" a bunch of employees working under them. So conceivably this might end up being several dozen to a few hundred "Ground Truth" employees under this single Apple project alone.

But I expected the Google fanboys to come and pour some salt in here anyways, as if it's some heinous crime for Apple (or anyone else) to work on improving their own mapping software. By the way, Android OS in its first year of existence sucked balls compared to iOS. Does that mean Google should have stopped improving it back then? ;)
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nagromme Avatar
168 months ago
This weekend, for the very first time* since the Maps switch, I actually had a need to go back to the Google app.

I wanted to use Street View to see the signs on buildings and find the right one.

Unfortunately....

a) Street View was completely blurry and shadowed and even enormous signs were unreadable on storefronts.

b) Google had the location completely wrong.

c) Compounded by the fact that getting around (reaching the CORRECT location manually) in Street View is an incredible pain compared to smoothly zipping around in Flyover. (Which, granted, puts you 50 feet in the air at best, but is still a great, immediately recognizable view of street in high detail. You can zoom in quite far in Flyover, and even read larger commercial signs.)

So I went back to Apple Maps and followed the route. Lo and behold, Apple has the location exactly right. The pin was in front of the exact building, and I didn't need a sign after all.

Some people have problems with Apple Maps, no doubt. We forget how often Google Maps has problems too.

* I do use Google for transit... but I do my destination search in Apple Maps because it has been easier and equally accurate. Then I hit the Transit button in Apple Maps which hands the query off to the Google app. Very painless: I get Google's transit results without having to deal with Google's painful searching... such as a failing to access my Address Book and Home locations, and failing to remember a search I just made 10 seconds ago! It's too bad, because Google IS the best at getting a badly-typed query right: I give full credit there.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Solomani Avatar
168 months ago
This project should have already been in place 1 year ago.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sayer Avatar
168 months ago
Apple forgot an important rule when dealing with third-party data:

Trust, but verify.

This kind of thing should have been going on long before the Apple Maps app ever shipped.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
skellener Avatar
168 months ago
Still wondering how committed Apple is to maps though. Only time will tell that.

Meanwhile, once Google has the autonomous cars legitimized (which is getting closer everyday), you can bet they'll never send out a manned Google Car again. Those things will be eventually be all electric and have their own tiny garages to charge overnight in every part of every major area and go out everyday and constantly be updating StreetView without anyone ever setting foot in one.

How's Apple's StreetView coming?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
supercoolmanchu Avatar
168 months ago
The TRUTH Apple?

The TRUTH is your maps are subpar to Google Maps. :apple:

I dunno, when I'm in the car (which is often here in the greater Los Angeles area), Apple Maps are a huge improvement and load way way faster over cellular data than Google's. Traffic information is much better as well, Google is always slow to change and misses a fair amount of pesky congestion.

I guess if your walking around, stopping to study details on the satellite/street views, then you might prefer Google Maps, but for driving and getting around California, Apple Maps destroy the Poodle. Most times, I don't even look at the screen, Siri does all the interfacing.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)