Google Maps glitch: the service wouldn’t load on Android and iOS

Users around the world experienced a massive outage of Google Maps on September 11. Starting at 1 p.m. PT, the app stopped loading maps correctly on devices running Android and iOS.

What happened

When opening the app, the map displayed only sketchy outlines without the usual objects and captions. Points and lists of places in cached areas disappeared, making it impossible to use navigation and build routes.

And when you opened the app, the map only showed schematic outlines without the usual objects and captions.

The problem affected millions of users, but the web version of maps.google.com continued to work without interruption.

When service was restored

By 1:30 p.m. PT, the Android app began to recover, and maps began to load again. On iOS the glitch persisted longer, with users complaining about messages about no internet access when building routes, as well as search not working. In some cases, the app’s bottom interface bar disappeared.

Context

At the time of the outage, other Google services including Gmail, Drive, Docs, YouTube, Search, and Gemini continued to work stably. Minor glitches were only observed on the NotebookLM service around 12:30 p.m.

Google has not yet provided official comment. Users who experienced problems were advised to use the web version of the service in their browser.