Apple Fixes Maps Snafu Dubbed ‘Potentially Life-Threatening’ by Police

[preslove]

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/12/apple-maps-dangerous-down-under/

Australian authorities are urging motorists to use anything but Apple Maps to get around the Outback after the app left several people stranded in the searing desert, a mistake police called a “potentially life-threatening issue.”

Police in Mildura, Victoria, said they’ve had to rescue “a number of distressed motorists that were directed off the beaten track” and stranded in Murray-Sunset National Park. Apple Maps places the town about 43 miles (70 km) away from its actual location.

It’s a potentially deadly mistake, as the location is in the middle of nowhere — the park has no water supply and temperatures can reach 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius).

“We’ve had at least four documented cases,” senior sergeant Stephen Phelan told The Guardian on Monday before Apple made the update. The Guardian reports that Apple updated the map today. When we tried it at 11:15 a.m. PST, the map appeared to have been fixed — Mildura was still labeled on the Map incorrectly, but navigation directions will send you to the town’s actual location. Apple had no comment when contacted by Wired.

Some of the motorists were stranded for up to 24 hours without food or water and “have walked long distances through dangerous terrain to get phone reception,” Victoria police said in a statement.

The fixed Maps navigation to Mildura. Image: Christina Bonnington/Wired

This is the latest, and perhaps most serious, criticism of the mess that is Apple Maps. The app launched in September with the debut of iOS 6, replacing the Google-built Maps app previous versions of iOS relied upon. The app has been widely criticized as essentially worthless, as people have been given erroneous directions or locations and landmarks simply did not appear. It has been such a PR disaster that Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized for the debacle and several people have been fired, including iOS chief Scott Forstall and Maps product manager Rich Williamson.

Australia isn’t alone in seeing problems with Apple Maps. In the U.K., for example, angry users reported a multitude of issues like a nonexistent airport and black and white satellite imagery. So far the app hasn’t caused widespread problems for motorists or hikers in the United States. The National Parks Service told Wired it hasn’t heard of people getting lost because of Maps or other GPS-based mapping apps. It’s the same story far to the north in Alaska, where John Quinley with the Alaska National Parks said so far, so good.

edit: oops, pasted the wrong copy, lol

 

[DesiPower]

dude, atleast put a proper title...

I am a butt hurt apple hater... so i am not gonna say anything...

 

[Atomic Playboy]

It's officially time to change your sig.

As far as venturing outside of cities in Australia, aren't you pretty much asking to die regardless? I'm no fan of Apple Maps (except that it gives me ammo for attacking Apple fanboys), but let's face it, if you're visiting a park in the Australian outback, your chances of survival can't be more than 15% on a good day, right? "The wife and I drove out of Melbourne and were immediately attacked by every single poisonous animal on Earth simultaneously. We blame Apple Maps."

 

[DesiPower]

I turned off the display of sigs loooooooooong back...

 

[zinfamous]

It's officially time to change your sig.

As far as venturing outside of cities in Australia, aren't you pretty much asking to die regardless? I'm no fan of Apple Maps (except that it gives me ammo for attacking Apple fanboys), but let's face it, if you're visiting a park in the Australian outback, your chances of survival can't be more than 15% on a good day, right? "The wife and I drove out of Melbourne and were immediately attacked by every single poisonous animal on Earth simultaneously. We blame Apple Maps."

I heard this story today on NPR and it made me chuckle.

But it's not that these people are trying to visit the park, it's that they are trying to get to this town, that Apple maps is putting 43 miles away from its actual location.

that's pretty serious. Not sure if that's geographic distance, or road distance (could be far greater with road distance). I don't know anything about this town--perhaps it's small and is indeed part of the larger Outback so you could argue that people are visiting the park no matter what...but they certainly aren't trying to head in there late at night without provisions. whether or not the town is part of the park, your plans to prepare a drive in to town vs a weekend stay in the freaking Outback are quite different.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Geez, and someone earlier was telling me to get my kids an iPad Mini. Now I'm thinking maybe it would be a good idea.


/sarcasm

 

[marvdmartian]

Remember, people.....it's not a problem, it's a FEATURE!!

 

[rsutoratosu]

whatever, what about when the gps first came out and people drive into rivers, one way streets, oh yeah did we all forget that.. if you trust these devices 100% you must be the biggest idiot in the world

 

[Jeff7]

It's not just Apple stuff.

It was night, and I wasn't quite sure exactly where the voting place was. So I gave the address to my Garmin Nuvi, and off I went. At some point, I got the idea that I had driven too far, so I pulled over to check the GPS.

It was trying to take me into Lake Erie, maybe a mile or two offshore.

 

[OutHouse]

I wish who ever did the map that billing people use would fix it. for some reason in the past 6 months according to those address verification maps my house does not exist. Its been hell. two examples are I cant update my 911 address on Tmobile when i do it says address not found so when i am home and connected to my wifi i get a annoying visual error on my phone. the other was when i was setting up a prepaid green dot visa for my 12 year old son. holy shit after two hours they finally just used my neighbors address for "verification" lol wtf.

I have no idea on who to contact about it.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

This has been posted in mobile devices too.

So repost?

 

[Pardus]

 

[Jodell88]

LOL!

 

[gorcorps]

What in the hell? I have embedded images disabled so it just leaves me with a link which I click to see the pic (usually). When I click on the 2nd pic I get redirected to: http://www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/dojseal.gif?picture=GoogleMapsVersusAppleMaps.jpg

When I right-click the link and copy address then I can paste into a browser and see the pic, but that's a very odd redirection... Looking around it seems to be something funmeme might be doing to stop hotlinking.

 

[Jeff7]

What in the hell? I have embedded images disabled so it just leaves me with a link which I click to see the pic (usually). When I click on the 2nd pic I get redirected to: http://www.justice.gov/criminal/cybercrime/dojseal.gif?picture=GoogleMapsVersusAppleMaps.jpg

When I right-click the link and copy address then I can paste into a browser and see the pic, but that's a very odd redirection... Looking around it seems to be something funmeme might be doing to stop hotlinking.

Looks like the FBI's finally found you.

 

[mmntech]

It's not just Apple stuff.

It was night, and I wasn't quite sure exactly where the voting place was. So I gave the address to my Garmin Nuvi, and off I went. At some point, I got the idea that I had driven too far, so I pulled over to check the GPS.

It was trying to take me into Lake Erie, maybe a mile or two offshore.

The problem with many GPS receivers, and Apple Maps, is a lot of it is based on old GIS, inaccurate data. It just never gets updated. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the data predates GPS. Which is how you get errors like towns miles off, or missing roads, or mistaking train tracks for roads, etc.

I use maps as a core part of my job and hands down Google is the best at it. Not only are they the most detailed, they're being continuously updated. Google also has boots on the ground via Streetview crews and crowd sourcing. As a result, the data is accurate for the most part.

I realize that Apple Maps is going to have its growing pains. However, their petty feud with Google has hurt their reputation in my eyes. It's a mistake they can't back away from. They're committed to it now. It's not as if it's hurt sales, but more people are seeking out alternatives. The iPhone just isn't the best phone on the market anymore.

 

[Zukatah_]

I hear Apple is working pretty hard to re-arrange the cities and the World geography to make their maps accurate.

 

[Kaido]

I realize that Apple Maps is going to have its growing pains. However, their petty feud with Google has hurt their reputation in my eyes. It's a mistake they can't back away from. They're committed to it now. It's not as if it's hurt sales, but more people are seeking out alternatives. The iPhone just isn't the best phone on the market anymore.

I dunno if the Maps mistake makes it not the "best phone on the market anymore" (although that's subjective to begin with). I usually use the Garmin app ($2.99/mo) because the old integrated Google Maps stunk if you were the driver of the car (awesome in the city though, like NYC or Boston). The Garmin app works just like my old Garmin GPS, except the maps actually get updated and it's only three bucks a month to stay current with the latest maps and have an easy interface that doesn't require concentrated fiddling with while you're driving. That plus an eBay suction cup mount has replaced my hardware GPS!

Apple could redeem themselves instantly if they would (1) approve the Google Maps app in the App Store, and (2) allow directions to be routed to other map apps via the popup selector. And maybe (3) if they had a really easy end-user map change suggestion system, because I think most non-technical people will end up using whatever's on the phone, and if they see an error, hit a button to correct it.

 

[Kaido]

I hear Apple is working pretty hard to re-arrange the cities and the World geography to make their maps accurate.

Well, they do have the cash :biggrin:

 

[JackBurton]

Never used Google Maps. I bought Navigon as soon as my wife got her iPhone 4 and never looked back. She's now using it on her iPhone 5.

 

[mmntech]

I dunno if the Maps mistake makes it not the "best phone on the market anymore" (although that's subjective to begin with). I usually use the Garmin app ($2.99/mo) because the old integrated Google Maps stunk if you were the driver of the car (awesome in the city though, like NYC or Boston). The Garmin app works just like my old Garmin GPS, except the maps actually get updated and it's only three bucks a month to stay current with the latest maps and have an easy interface that doesn't require concentrated fiddling with while you're driving. That plus an eBay suction cup mount has replaced my hardware GPS!

Apple could redeem themselves instantly if they would (1) approve the Google Maps app in the App Store, and (2) allow directions to be routed to other map apps via the popup selector. And maybe (3) if they had a really easy end-user map change suggestion system, because I think most non-technical people will end up using whatever's on the phone, and if they see an error, hit a button to correct it.

Oh, I never said the Google Maps app was good.
I think Apple fans just expect things to work and they're not as willing to put up with any sort of quirks. When it doesn't, well, you can't really say it's the best anymore. But you're right, it's all subjective.

A big part of the problem is that people rely far too much on GPS these days. They follow it blindly to the point where they get themselves into trouble. If a road sign says go one way and the satnav says go the other, I'm trusting the sign. Though I've always preferred to navigate the old school way. Even when I was a driver, I didn't use my GPS that often. It's a fantastic tool but not a replacement for your brain. Really no excuses for getting yourself lost in the outback.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

News outlets are now reporting that the fault falls on the Australian government and not on Apple. Looking for the link.

 

[Kaido]

Oh, I never said the Google Maps app was good.
I think Apple fans just expect things to work and they're not as willing to put up with any sort of quirks. When it doesn't, well, you can't really say it's the best anymore. But you're right, it's all subjective.

Yeah, I think consumer perception plays a big part in Apple's business. I was pretty dismayed that my shiny new iPhone 5 took purple-tinted photos. And that the anodizing on the back casing started flaking off two days after I purchased it. And that the native camera app showed you a crop image, so your final image wasn't 1:1 to the actual photo it took like the previous iPhone. And that the enhanced screen was overly vivid and didn't match my monitor very well. Yada yada yada yada. So I went back to the iPhone 4S and have been happy with that

The maps thing is just another hiccup in their system...a poor business decision imo, but I understand why they made it. But when your business is largely built on perception, it hurts your public image when something like that happens. I know a ton of people who haven't upgraded their iOS version because they don't want to lose their native Google Maps app...it's a huge loss in NYC for example, where the walking & subway directions were really really useful.

 

[Jeff7]

The problem with many GPS receivers, and Apple Maps, is a lot of it is based on old GIS, inaccurate data. It just never gets updated. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the data predates GPS. Which is how you get errors like towns miles off, or missing roads, or mistaking train tracks for roads, etc.
...

The other odd part: At that point, I told it to recalculate, using the same address. It found it correctly that time.

 

[Red Storm]

LOL