> Citation needed.

Apple launders the location features of Apple Maps through platform location service controls. iOS will never, ever prompt you about Maps' own background location access. The controls for Maps' background location access are buried in System Services, and are defaulted on, and do not produce the tracking nag. The fact that the first-party Weather app is not also immune to the nag doesn't seem material.

The whole situation is in stark contrast to Android, where if you throw the phone in a drawer for a few months the platform will automatically revoke all of the privacy allowances of Google's own apps. Which is maybe not great, since resuming the use of such a device is sort of impossible (it will prompt you for shit like whether Phone is allowed to record audio), but you can't say it's anti privacy.

... I wonder if the Maps app itself plays some role in providing Location services. That'd explain why they'd privilege it for location data, but not other first part apps that use location (why wouldn't they do that with all of them, if they were really doing this to "cheat"?)

[EDIT] Though, regardless, I do see why it'd rankle that in fact Apple Maps ends up seeing fewer permission-reminders than Google Maps, even if it's for a not-exactly-intended-as-nefarious reason—I don't mean to dismiss your complaint.

Your experience is vastly different from my own. Where do you see documented that Maps is immune from location permission popups? And if you're not using Apple Maps, what indication have you see that it's using your location? That is, why would it ask you if it could continue accessing your location if you're not opening the app and triggering it to find you?

I don't know if the location services permission is initially on in Apple Maps, but I just checked to see if you can turn it off, and you definitely can, without affecting other apps' ability to use it.