Apples iOS Chief Scott Forstall Forced Out

[Phillip Swanson]

Scott Forstall is out.

The news is huge, and revelations in the Wall Street Journal depict a forcible exit for Forstall, Apple’s iOS chief. The report claims Forstall was forced out of Apple after he refused to sign a letter apologizing for the Apple Maps fiasco.

Forstall’s presence has long been divisive amongst the halls of Cupertino, and with Steve Jobs gone there apparently was no ranking officer capable of mediating the tension.

"Mr. Forstall's departure came after mounting tension with members of Apple's executive ranks. For years, senior executives had complained that he wasn't cooperative and showed off his close relationship with Mr. Jobs.” - WSJ

Forstall will be replaced by Craig Federghi in 2013, with Jonathan Ives and a host of other Apple executives taking over his responsibilities in the meantime.

What does this mean for Apple and iOS? Honestly, it sounds like a good move on Apple’s part. Forstall is in large part responsible for Apple’s most damning failures as of late, as well as some superbly bad design choices (iBooks, the redesigned calendar). Expect some significant changes in the direction of Apple’s mobile and desktop OS design in the coming years.

Source: WSJ [via CNET]

[unison999]

Apple tried to make him the patsy, he refused and got fired.
Forstall is not the one who buys mapping technology for Apple, releases the map when it is so obviously not ready. Every one of the executives had an iPhone 5 before release, they all knew how bad the iMap is yet still decided to release it to public.
All these additions to his "rap sheet" is just trying to make him out worse than he is.

[thetoothfairy]

I think it's all kinda sad because we are all humans and no one is perfect. People make mistakes. I know the Apple maps aren't the best right now however everything should have been checked out in IOS 6 and the iPhone 5 before the launch date.

This mess could have maybe been prevented if there wasn't such a rush to get these things out.

[NakedFaerie]

Apple fired him, I bet the dev team would happily take him in. Lets get him to make a jailbreak for us.

[Nest]

I highly doubt he was single handedly responsible for half the things he's being ratted on for.

[Feanor64]

Sounds like they have been wanting to get rid of him and when they had the chance They took it

[Zokunei]

NO!

[bmwraw8482]

... Every one of the executives had an iPhone 5 before release, they all knew how bad the iMap is yet still decided to release it to public.

I've had an iPhone 5 for a month now and still haven't had any problems. Maybe they were all in an area with good maps?

[Silverado1987]

Well this sucks. I kinda liked him.

[charliebee]

Mr. Forstall also recently sent some members of Apple's iOS software team an email saying he felt the group wasn't working on enough big ideas in mobile software, according to a person briefed on the email.

He was definitely right on this one! I sure hope this will shake things up, iOS 7 needs to be a major update. Apple needs to stop resting on its laurels, their competitors sure aren't!

[feidhlim1986]

Seriously Swanson? He's responsible? It wouldn't have been his decision to drop/not renew Google Maps. It wouldn't have been his decision to release Apple Maps when it wasn't ready.
We didn't have any news of him defending Apple Maps which would lead me to think he agreed with the bad press.

It wouldn't have been his responsibility to apologise for Apple Maps. Cook, and Jobs before him, love being Mr Spotlight when it's time to announce something good. It's their responsibility to take the hit when things go sour.

He's unfortunately a victim of Apples increasing trend of shipping products that are not finished.

[ohthatguyagain]

One thing I'm sick of: the maps app debate. The app itself is beautifully designed, data conservative, ultra-precise, raptor-fast, and undeniably fully integrated. That app was amazing.

SOMEBODY... Screwed up and bought Tom-Tom GIS data. Oops.

Otherwise, the app itself is nearly a decade ahead of Google's mobile maps. Apple does have the known/limited hardware enumerations boon and 10 years of market research to its benefit, but its the way it interacts with the servers that makes it unique.

Most folks will never understand just how beautiful that app is.

[*T*]

One thing I'm sick of: the maps app debate. The app itself is beautifully designed, data conservative, ultra-precise, raptor-fast, and undeniably fully integrated. That app was amazing.

SOMEBODY... Screwed up and bought Tom-Tom GIS data. Oops.

Otherwise, the app itself is nearly a decade ahead of Google's mobile maps. Apple does have the known/limited hardware enumerations boon and 10 years of market research to its benefit, but its the way it interacts with the servers that makes it unique.

Most folks will never understand just how beautiful that app is.

I know right! Idk why everyone is making such a big fuss over. Okay, the Cayman Islands aren't covered. Who really gives a **** anyway. I live in New York, and it works just fine

[feidhlim1986]

One thing I'm sick of: the maps app debate. The app itself is beautifully designed, data conservative, ultra-precise, raptor-fast, and undeniably fully integrated. That app was amazing.

SOMEBODY... Screwed up and bought Tom-Tom GIS data. Oops.

Otherwise, the app itself is nearly a decade ahead of Google's mobile maps. Apple does have the known/limited hardware enumerations boon and 10 years of market research to its benefit, but its the way it interacts with the servers that makes it unique.

Most folks will never understand just how beautiful that app is.

So you're saying if you take away that actual map data the "app itself is nearly a decade ahead of Google's mobile maps"? Good one!
I've got this gorgeous Maserati but it's got no engine...
The "beauty" of the app means diddly squat if the maps dont work, cos ya know, it's a map app.

[Jj2345]

He didn't wanna sign the letter because deep within his heart he knew it wasn't his fault,why would someone apologize when it's not his or her fault

[aidanharris]

To be honest I think Apples playing the bad guy here. The fact of the matter remains that we shouldn't have to sign anything if we don't want to (there are probably exceptions I'm sure some of you can think of). I feel that if he was as close to Steve as he is saying he is that this whole thing and I hate to say it but many of Apples other flops could have been prevented and probably would have been prevented had Steve still been alive today...

[Woejangles]

Apple fired him, I bet the dev team would happily take him in. Lets get him to make a jailbreak for us.

Yes!

[aidanharris]

Apple fired him, I bet the dev team would happily take him in. Lets get him to make a jailbreak for us.

Yes!

There's probably a clause in his an every other Apple employees contract to prevent them from revealing any company secrets that could help to compromise Apple...

[dsg]

Appl£ seem to be slowly falling apart with out Steve

[RyoSaeba]

I know right! Idk why everyone is making such a big fuss over. Okay, the Cayman Islands aren't covered. Who really gives a **** anyway. I live in New York, and it works just fine

Problem is most of the people complaining don't even own an iPhone or don't even know how to use maps. I noticed a trend that all they do is talk trash but NEVER give an example of their actual usage of the app and it didn't do what they wanted. They simply read other people's comment saying it's bad but those people are the same ones that do the same thing! So it's like retards teaching retards. You end up with retard x 2.