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Google Maps experienced a disruption on Thursday that left its mobile apps unable to load maps or provide directions for several hours. The outage quickly gained traction, with more than 4,000 users flagging problems on Downdetector.
The Google Maps Status Dashboard confirmed that the company began investigating the issue at 3:34 PM ET, identifying it as a problem with the Maps SDK and Navigation SDK.
By 6:27 PM ET, Google announced that the problem had been resolved, promising a full analysis once its internal review is complete. During the outage, both Android and iOS apps were affected, leaving users unable to view listings, get directions, or, in some cases, even load the map at all.
Some users also reported receiving error messages stating that Google Maps “cannot reach the server.” The web version of Google Maps remained unaffected, continuing to operate normally while the mobile apps struggled.
Google provided regular updates on the Status Dashboard throughout the incident. At 5:22 PM ET, the company said its engineers were “seeing indications of recovery,” with partial restoration reported about half an hour later. Still, Google refrained from giving a timeline for a full fix until the service was restored.
While the company has acknowledged the outage and confirmed mitigation steps, it has yet to disclose the underlying cause or the exact measures taken to restore functionality.
