Two Google Maps names. Two look-alike icons.

The screenshots tell the story.

Original promotional images from the two PDFs, shown as current app A / current app B—not a before-and-after history. Both feature Google Maps wording and map interfaces. Expand the remaining nine images for the complete supplied promotional sets. Screenshots are developer claims, not independent navigation or security tests.

See all 9 additional screenshots

Google’s name and visual cues, sold by independent publishers.

The name on the listing.

App name

App For Google Maps / App for Google Maps ®

Developer / seller

T & A Artisan LLC / Sik Fung Ma

Why the icon and name combination matters.

The consumer concern is the combined presentation: the exact Google Maps product name, a familiar four-colour pin motif and promotional imagery that highlights Google. A viewer should not need to open legal text to distinguish an independent Mac product from Google’s own service. Our assessment is that these listings imitate Google Maps branding, while the actual artwork and publisher identities remain different.

Artisan’s description says the app is not affiliated with any map service provider. Sik Fung Ma’s description specifically disclaims Google LLC affiliation and says Google Maps is Google’s trademark. Those statements are relevant, but do not themselves establish permission to use the name or visual identity. The ® symbol is not evidence of an official partnership.

Google’s published brand guidance rejects misleading endorsement, incorporation of its marks into a product’s own name and imitation of its distinctive visual identity. That guidance supports a concrete branding-compliance concern here. A permission agreement or an enforcement decision was not found. Use of mapping content and branding permission are separate questions.

Sources: E3, E5, E9, E22. Public pages checked 24 October 2026; individual UTC times are recorded in the source register.

Two separate sellers and two stable app IDs.

Artisan’s app advertises navigation, traffic information, saved places, photos and trip planning. Its source version history starts on 22 June 2026, with version 4.0 dated 30 June. It requires macOS 14.6 or later. The purchase labels retain Smart Live Location; the source screenshots also use MapsPro inside the interface. These are internal naming differences, not a verified historical rebranding sequence.

Sik Fung Ma’s app advertises a Mac travel planner with map tabs, saved places, itineraries, bookings, spending, widgets, exports and local storage. Its source first-release date is 31 July 2026 and current version 2.2.3 is dated 13 August. It requires macOS 14.0 or later. The reviewed pages list English and a 4+ rating for both apps.

Sources: E1, E2, E3, E5. Public pages checked 24 October 2026; individual UTC times are recorded in the source register.

Germany and Ireland show the same provider-status warning.

Both German App Store pages were successfully checked on 24 October 2026. Under Provider (Anbieter), Apple names T & A Artisan LLC for app 6780524604 and Sik Fung Ma for app 6796600035. Each notice says the provider has not identified itself as a trader. Apple also displays a warning that EEA consumer rights do not apply to agreements between the consumer and that provider. The Irish listings show the same provider-status notices.

For T & A Artisan LLC, the non-trader declaration appears alongside a paid subscription business: the German listing offers Smart Live Location at €5.99 weekly, €17.99 monthly and €44.99 yearly, plus a €69.99 lifetime purchase. Its linked website promotes an app business and its developer account lists multiple apps. That commercial context makes the declared status a concrete point for Apple to review; the LLC name alone does not determine its legal classification.

For Sik Fung Ma, the German listing shows a free download, no in-app purchase section and copyright © 2026 MA. Its non-trader notice is independently confirmed, but the reviewed listing does not establish the same paid subscription activity as Artisan. No business address or country was displayed in either inspected provider panel. These are Apple’s published disclosures, not an independent legal determination of trader status or a consumer’s rights.

Sources: E7, E4, E8, E6, E28, E29. German listings rechecked successfully on 24 October 2026; retrieval times are recorded in the source register.

The two no-collection labels need different explanations.

Artisan’s label says Data Not Collected, while its broad policy covers account details, user content, device identifiers, server logs, approximate IP-based location and retained data. It describes several Apple-app services without clearly separating this Mac map app. That is a concrete scope and disclosure mismatch requiring reconciliation; it is not a network-test finding.

Sik Fung Ma’s policy distinguishes website analytics from local Mac data and possible app crash/telemetry information. It identifies Apple App Store Connect as the analytics/reporting service. Apple’s disclosure rules distinguish data Apple collects from data the developer collects, so a telemetry reference alone does not prove a false label. The applicable app practices remain untested.

Both labels should be assessed against their actual implementations. The public policy text does not demonstrate that either app leaks location data, steals credentials or transmits a travel journal. No app installation, payment, packet capture or backend inspection was performed.

Sources: E11, E15, E24, E3, E5. Public pages checked 24 October 2026; individual UTC times are recorded in the source register.

Google Sites for Artisan. Wix for Ma / Tech It.

Artisan’s German listing includes both Developer Website and Privacy links. They lead to the Artisan homepage and privacy policy on Google Sites; both loaded successfully on 24 October 2026. The homepage presents an Apple-app and AI-tools business, with support, terms and privacy pages. Its live developer catalog shows 11 apps across Mac and mobile, including this map app. These are direct within-account associations, not evidence linking Artisan to Sik Fung Ma.

Sik Fung Ma’s German listing includes a Privacy link to a working Wix page; no separate Developer Website button was visible. The description also supplies a Wix Terms of Service address. The linked site’s homepage and policy both loaded successfully on 24 October 2026. The policy and terms identify Ma, the header/footer use Tech It, and the homepage describes a generic Mac Apps discovery service. This inconsistent presentation gives buyers less clarity about who operates the service; it does not establish a separate registered company. The live developer catalog showed this one app.

Artisan offers an embedded Google support form and publishes contact details in its policy. The Wix site uses its own contact form. Neither form was submitted. A working hosted website does not establish Google affiliation or authorization to use Google Maps branding. The different accounts, bundle identifiers and support routes do not establish a common operator. Similar names, colour choices and feature themes are evidence of a recurring presentation pattern, not proof of shared ownership.

Sources: E10, E13, E14, E18, E17, E19, E16, E30–E33. Website and privacy-page availability rechecked on 24 October 2026.

The branding concerns warrant review; the history is a snapshot.

Apple rule 4.1(c) requires approval for use of another developer’s icon, brand or product name in an app icon or name. Rules 2.3 and 2.3.7 address accurate metadata and trademarked discovery terms; 5.2.1 addresses protected material and misleading representations. Those are direct review questions for these titles and icons. The independence disclaimers are not evidence of approval.

The two PDFs are one-off observations from 24 October 2026. The Artisan US archive replay and Wix policy replay loaded, but they are same-day records. Broader archive queries failed or timed out, and the supplied Artisan policy replay timed out. No earlier icon, generic launch or post-review branding change is claimed.

The supplied complaints request Apple review; they are allegations, not Apple findings. The inspected evidence supports a direct branding warning and specific pricing/privacy scrutiny. It does not establish fraud, a shared development team or an adjudicated trademark violation.

Sources: E23, E1, E2, E20, E21. Public pages checked 24 October 2026; individual UTC times are recorded in the source register.

The records behind this report.

Both complete supplied PDFs are combined: Artisan pages 1–15, Sik Fung Ma pages 16–26. Individual PDF page references use original numbering. All 26 pages, text and rendered pixels were preserved; document metadata was removed from the downloadable copy. Visible developer support contact details remain. Original PDF hashes match the corresponding supplied text complaints. Raw-file hashes printed in the analyses are transcribed evidence records; the underlying evidence ZIPs were not supplied. The official Google Maps icon was retrieved directly from Google LLC’s App Store listing. Private research captures, contacts and failed-request logs are excluded from the website ZIP.