Cathy Edwards, who works as a Director of Evaluation and Quality on Apple Maps, is planning to leave Apple in April, reports TechCrunch. Edwards initially co-founded and served as chief technical officer at app discovery platform Chomp, joining Apple after her company was acquired in 2012.

chomplogo
Apple purchased Chomp in early 2012 to bolster its App Store search and discovery algorithms and incorporated the company's technology into its App Store in August of 2012, adding a card-style search results format that is still used today.

Following the acquisition, Edwards served as Head of Search and Management, taking on the responsibility of search systems across multiple Apple products. Later, just after the disastrous launch of Apple Maps, Edwards took on the role of Director, Evaluation and Quality, Apple Maps.

She joined that role at a pretty thankless time, if you recall the chaos of Apple Maps-gate. Edwards' role at Apple Maps has focused on "Building out an organization focused on QA automation, statistical quality analysis and analytics within Maps," according to LinkedIn. Essentially, her work was about making sure that Apple Maps didn't suck, something that remains a goal for the company. "We're hiring, come join us!" ends the description. This remains her role up to today.

It is unclear why Edwards is leaving Apple or what she plans to do next, but TechCrunch suggests that the departure may be contractual as it has now been two years since Chomp was acquired. It is unknown if other former Chomp employees will be leaving the company as well.

Top Rated Comments

Sky Blue Avatar
145 months ago
Somebody was actually employed as Director of Evaluation and Quality on Apple Maps? What's she been doing for the last 18 months?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
crizzly Avatar
145 months ago
Chomp made the App Store search much worse. It's much harder to find apps now. It's easier to use Google to search the app store than the build in search.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mdelvecchio Avatar
145 months ago
Somebody was actually employed as Director of Evaluation and Quality on Apple Maps? What's she been doing for the last 18 months?
maps are fine in my major metro.

----------

I doubt she's leaving by choice.
huh? if she were fired, shed be fired. a lowly QA director doesnt get the sort of treatment as a long-standing VP of Engineering (Scott Forstall) does.

if it's exactly two years since Apple acquired Chomp, you can bet that shes cashing out and going home now that the contract has been fulfilled. after all, thats the entire point of building a start-up that hopes to be acquired. she'll relax for a while, then do something new. see the founder of the Siri company or nearly any other anywhere -- they do their time, then quietly slip away.

id do the same. when you're rich it becomes real hard to work for somebody else.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jessica Lares Avatar
145 months ago
I have to agree. Apple using the Chomp idea in the App Store was a huge failure from day one and that's why I use iTunes on my desktop instead to look through the store.

It is good for seeing the first screenshot of apps you might be interested in, but otherwise it just made searching for what you actually wanted take more time.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
a0me Avatar
145 months ago
maps are fine in my major metro.

It's far, far from being "fine" in the biggest metropolitan city in the world (Tokyo). Apple Maps aren't fine by any measure.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
firewood Avatar
145 months ago
Chomp was a disaster

From most iOS App Developer's point-of-view, Chomp has been an absolute disaster. Almost no developers (except for the typical tiny percentage of overexposed apps) saw any benefit from Chomp. Many developers saw their app sales simply killed off.

Even lots of iOS App store customers complained about the difficulty in finding appropriate, interesting or new apps.

Hopefully, the exit of Chomp staff creates an opportunity for Apple fix a lot of problems with the iOS App store.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 17 air dummy unbox therapy

iPhone 17 Air's Extreme Thinness Demoed in New Video

Tuesday April 22, 2025 10:22 am PDT by
Apple plans to release an all-new super thin iPhone this year, debuting it alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We've seen pictures of dummy models, cases, and renders with the design, but Lewis Hilsenteger of Unbox Therapy today showed off newer dummy models that give us a better idea of just how thin the "iPhone 17 Air" will be. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be ...
iphone 17 dummies sonny dickson

iPhone 17 Air Almost as Thin as Its Buttons, New Images Show

Thursday April 24, 2025 2:14 am PDT by
If you missed the video showing dummy models of Apple's all-new super thin iPhone 17 Air that's expected later this year, Sonny Dickson this morning shared some further images of the device in close alignment with the other dummy models in the iPhone 17 lineup, indicating just how thin it is likely to be in comparison. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be around 5.5mm thick – with a thicker ...
ipad air windows 11 arm

M2 iPad Air Runs Windows 11 ARM via Emulation, Thanks to EU Rules

Tuesday April 22, 2025 5:01 am PDT by
A developer has demonstrated Windows 11 ARM running on an M2 iPad Air using emulation, which has become much easier since the EU's Digital Markets Act (DMA) regulations came into effect. As spotted by Windows Latest, NTDev shared an instance of the emulation on social media and posted a video on YouTube (embedded below) demonstrating it in action. The achievement relies on new EU regulatory...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday April 17, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
iOS 18

iOS 18.5 Includes Only a Few Changes So Far

Monday April 21, 2025 11:00 am PDT by
Apple seeded the third beta of iOS 18.5 to developers today, and so far the software update includes only a few minor changes. The changes are in the Mail and Settings apps. In the Mail app, you can now easily turn off contact photos directly within the app, by tapping on the circle with three dots in the top-right corner. In the Settings app, AppleCare+ coverage information is more...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 13 New Features

Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...