Apple Hires Developers Behind Defunct 'Pin Drop' Mapping App

[MacRumors]

Rumors have suggested that Apple is aiming to open a new research and development facility in Cambridge, England, over the coming weeks, and it appears the company has also made some hires in the area.

According to TechCrunch, Apple has hired five employees that created the Pin Drop mapping app. The hires are not part of an acquisition of the Pin Drop technology, but have included multiple former Pin Drop employees.

Pin Drop was a map app that allowed users to drop custom created tags and pins that could be shared with others to point out interesting landmarks and spots to visit. Pins could be kept private, shared with friends, or shared with the community. Pin Drop's service was shut down on October 31 and the app was removed from the App Store. On Facebook, the app's creators said they were unable to secure the necessary funding to "turn Pin Drop in to the world changing app we envisaged."

The now-defunct Pin Drop app​

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An initial Pin Drop blog post mentioned the core Pin Drop team had acquired their "dream jobs" ahead of the shutdown, and one former employee tweeted that he had been hired by Apple, though both hints of new jobs were later deleted. Currently, five former Pin Drop developers are listed as Apple employees, with the following jobs: Senior Product Designer, Software Engineer, Software Engineer, iOS Software Engineer, and Maps Data Analyst.

All of the former Pin Drop employees who now work at Apple continue to be located in London and have not moved to Apple's Cupertino headquarters, suggesting they could eventually be housed in the company's upcoming Cambridge office. It is unclear what their specific roles include, but at least one employee is working on Apple's Maps team.

Apple has worked hard to improve Maps over the last two years, acquiring several mapping companies including C3 Technologies, Broadmap, Embark, Hopstop, WifiSlam, and Locationary. Some major Maps improvements are said to be in the works, like transit directions and indoor mapping, both of which could come in a future iOS 8 update.

Article Link: Apple Hires Developers Behind Defunct 'Pin Drop' Mapping App

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Hopefully they can improve pin dropping accuracy while they're at it.

 

[k1121j]

perhaps apple should spend resourcs fixing there maps and reporting a problem in the maps is useless and never gets issue fixed ..Ugg perhaps someday siri can remind me something when i get home and not down the street

 

[AngerDanger]

New to Maps: the locations are still wonky but can now be shared with friends!

 

[MacTCE]

I think it be wise to correct and polish the "functionality" they've already implemented, instead of trying to add more half baked implementations.

 

[Rogifan]

Er, Apple already has office locations in UK. Looking at their job listings they currently have 85 open positions in the UK. None of them reference Cambridge in the location.

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I think it be wise to correct and polish the "functionality" they've already implemented, instead of trying to add more half baked implementations.

They can't do both?

 

[Philsy]

When did 'hire' become a noun?

 

[FieldingMellish]

When did 'hire' become a noun?

Probably the same time that trending became a verb.

The acquisition of pin drop employees must have occurred in near silence. (drum accent here).

 

[Philsy]

Probably the same time that trending became a verb.

The acquisition of pin drop employees must have occurred in near silence. (drum accent here).

Surely the best post of the day. #

 

[numlock]

They can't do both?

seems to me they have a hard enough time to get the basics right.

im still waiting for directions in my city


is the interest behind this to crowdsource more?

 

[brianvictor7]

Apple's Map app still doesn't have the reliability of Google Maps. Frustrating that I have to keep a 3rd party app handy just in case.

 

[britboyj]

When did 'hire' become a noun?

Hire has been a noun since at least the boom in clerical human resources work in the '50s, and possibly much earlier.

 

[timborama]

They can't do both?

Painfully obvious they can't.

 

[RickInHouston]

When did 'hire' become a noun?

He's the new hire. Heard all the time...

 

[RealKrS]

The only time I use Maps is to play around with 3d buildings for 2mn. Then it gets unstable and I get bored.. Other then that, if I want to quickly find something or got to a location with accuracy, Google Maps is my guy !.. I really cannot think of anything that could make me wanna trust Apple Maps.

 

[vmistery]

Nice large Cambridge campus please apple! My resignation letter is ready!

 

[0007776]

Hire has been a noun since at least the boom in clerical human resources work in the '50s, and possibly much earlier.

According to Merriam Webster since sometime before the 12th century...

 

[Tech198]

ah,,, good location

 

[cep]

Will this allow me to show all bookmarks? I am in sales and would like to be able to see which stops are nearby so that I don't miss any

 

[mazz0]

Apple has worked hard to improve Maps over the last two years

It has?

 

[Xenc]

It's always great to see UK developers picked up or featured by Apple.

 

[Cod3rror]

I really liked the app, too bad they could not get the funding they needed. Those guys are very talented.

 

[blueHatYEAH]

My Favorite App is Gone?!?

Since downloading it about 6-8 months ago, I've come to use the app on a daily basis for all kinds of things, ranging from wild mushroom hunting to documenting work I perform at job sites where I trim trees professionally. Seriously bummed to learn of Pin Drop's demise and now wondering what I might do to externally preserve the vast troves of data I've got stored in my pins.