Secrecy is Apple's blind spot and Maps forced it to change


Another bit from the large Fast Company feature details why Apple is using public betas and opening up its development more:

Cook also forced his execs to re-examine, and change, the way they worked with development teams. Famous for being secretive, Apple opened up a bit. "We made significant changes to all of our development processes because of it," says Cue, who now oversees Maps. "To all of us living in Cupertino, the maps for here were pretty darn good. Right? So [the problem] wasn't obvious to us. We were never able to take it out to a large number of users to get that feedback. Now we do."

Apple now does public beta testing of its most significant software projects, something that Jobs never liked to do. In 2014, the company asked users to test run its Yosemite upgrade to OS X. Last year, it introduced beta testing of iOS, which is the company's most important operating system. "The reason you as a customer are going to be able to test iOS," Cue says, "is because of Maps."

Apple should have learned this lesson with the iPhone 4. The iPhone 4 was tested in a lab and in the field, but when used in the field it was disguised in a case to appear like an iPhone 3G/3GS. Secrecy was more important than quality testing. Famously, the device had a defective antenna system. Under certain circumstances, the iPhone 4's antenna design cause signal interference when it was held a certain way against the skin. It functioned correctly when using a case and the defect was never discovered until weeks after launch.

Apple repeated this error when it tested Maps, in secret, mostly near its headquarters.

You obviously can't sacrifice the user experience to put on a surprise.