iOS chief Scott Forstall reportedly told to quit Apple

Senior vice president of iOS Software at Apple Inc, Scott Forstall, was reportedly told to put in his papers after he refused to sign a public apology tendered by the company for the Apple Maps fiasco.

Apple announced a reshuffle in its ranks today, and outlined all the new, key roles of various executives. In the announcement, Apple stated that Scott Forstall would leave the company in 2013, and serve as an advisor to CEO Tim Cook in the interim. Scott Forstall who served at Apple for 15 years was regarded as a key executive.

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, the author Jessica Lessin notes, “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 Apple's late co-founder Steve Jobs. Without Mr. Jobs to mediate, tensions between Mr. Forstall and other executives built, according to the people familiar with the matter. The 43-year-old Mr. Forstall recently told people that there is no "decider" now that Mr. Jobs is gone, according to a person briefed on the conversation. 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.”

Will serve as an interim advisor

The iOS mobile software unit headed by Forstall had built a new mapping service for Apple's mobile devices over a few years. Tension between Forstall and others blew over last month when the newly released Apple Maps service, ridden with inaccuracies and bugs, received widespread criticism from users. When it came to determining how to resolve the issue, Forstall was of the opinion that an apology was not necessary, and that it could be settled in the way the Antennagate issue with the iPhone 4 was solved. However, Apple CEO Tim Cook and other executives disagreed with this. In the end, the CEO signed the apology note to Apple users. 

Craig Federighi will take over from Forstall, and will lead both the iOS and the OS X units. In the announcement, Apple claims that it has the most advanced mobile and desktop operating systems, and this move brings together the OS teams to make it even easier to deliver the best technology and user experience innovations to both platforms.