Apple has put one of its main players, smartwatch software executive Kevin Lynch, to take over its troubled self-driving car project.

This follows Doug Field’s defection to Ford, the latest in a long line of false starts for the company in its efforts to get up a thriving team to pilot its self-driving car efforts.

Lynch made his bones at Adobe before joining Apple in 2013 to run the group in charge of its smartwatch and related health endeavours. He was soon named vice president of technology, creating the watchOS software, and the Health app for iPhones.

Field was in charge of ‘Project Titan’, the company’s self-piloting vehicle project, since 2018, and left this week to take an executive role at Ford where he will lead the company’s advanced technology work.

Many with knowledge of the matter are reading this as a sign that Apple won’t be entering the car game for a number of years.