The Google Maps in my OpenLayers plugin in QGIS 2.12 does not show anymore. The other maps do show, that is:
I tried in QGIS 2.8 and Google Maps does not show there either. This is the case in both my home and work computers, which are on different networks. Did the Google Maps go away?
Quick Map Services is build upon OpenLayers plugin (using github). The biggest difference is that Quick Map Services uses tile servers and not the direct api for getting google layers via OpenLayers which causes zoom errors,... give Quick Map Services a try.
How to get the Google Layers activated: go to Quick Map Services -> Settings -> select the tab 'contributed services' and press 'Get contributed pack'. When you now go to Q.M.S. your list of available layers is extended.
I suggest you drop the OpenLayers plugin for background maps and try the Quick Map Services plugin instead.
It has more layers than OpenLayers, seems more robust, directly accesses map tiles rather than using OpenLayers' JavaScript to get them, lines up properly on Composer maps, etc.
I don't see Apple Maps in the layer list. It's quite easy to write config files for new map tile services, I did that for Stamen maps which are in the GitHub version of the plugin's addon layers.
But if all you want is one of the Google Maps layers (satellite, map, etc) then Quick Map Services does the job.
