Apple Maps is finally improving POI data and listening to customers

The biggest problem with Apple Maps has always been the POIs. So many are missing, they're often placed in the wrong location, and worst of all, using the 'Report a Problem' feature seemed to be useless, as none of the user's suggestions are ever implemented. This is how it was when Apple Maps was introduced in iOS 6 and then is how it was in the nearly 2 years since then. I have been periodically using the 'Report a Problem' feature for 2 years and none of the changes I recommended for my neighborhood were ever implemented.....until now.

Over the past month, I've noticed a TON of changes. POI markers are being moved to their correct locations, names and information for POIs are being corrected, and tons of places are being added that simply weren't there before. I don't know if it's merely coincidence, but A LOT of these changes are the exact ones that I've been reporting to Apple.

And I've noticed this happening on a weekly cycle. It seems like every Friday, a whole bunch of new changes are implemented in my neighborhood. All week, nothing happens, but then when I check on Friday/Saturday, I see that many of the suggestions that I had made during the week were suddenly implemented into the map, and its POIs suddenly look a whole lot better.

Maps is FINALLY improving. I've seen more improvements to the POIs in my area over the past month than I had seen in the previous 2 years COMBINED. It still has a long way to go, but after years of frustration, we're finally seeing some real forward momentum.

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I should also add that I've noticed a method to how things are implemented. It seems like Apple is taking a very specific path regarding how it's fixing these problems; these POI improvements are not happening at random. Larger, more popular places like banks and grocery stores seem to take priority. When you report them, they get fixed faster, while some small mom and pop store on the corner takes a bit longer.

Winona Northdakota said:

You are not making any sense at all.

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You seem to have missed the whole point of the thread. The point was that for 2 years, POIs in maps made virtually no progress and reporting problems to Apple yielded nothing. That's no longer the case. Now, POIs are improving and now, reporting problems often DOES lead to them getting fixed.

Winona Northdakota said:

Apparently reporting problems to Apple has yielded something. Does it really matter that it didn't happen exactly when you snapped your fingers?

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For 2 years, reporting errors yielded absolutely nothing. Now, reporting something can often result in changes within a week. That makes a big difference. It indicates that Apple finally has the infrastructure up to accept feedback and implement changes quickly. It didn't beforehand.

On top of that, now that users actually see their changes being implemented, they'll be inclined to send in more and improve Maps further. Previously, it felt like all the suggestions you gave to the 'Report a Problem' feature went into a bottomless pit, so it turned people off from using that feedback feature because it felt like a waste of time.

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gnasher729 said:

It matters if I "snapped my fingers" and reported problems two years ago. It matters if Apple has a User Interface that allows reporting problems when they should have known that they are not going to do anything about it.

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Where in the world is that happening?

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I'm in Toronto, Canada.

Well, a week has passed and I'm noticing a bunch of new POI corrections.

I reported a couple dozen POI problems in my city this week, and at least 6 or 7 have them already been fixed.

As I mentioned in the initial post, it seems like Apple pushes out these corrections on Fridays. This is the fourth week in a row where I've gone into Apple Maps on a Friday, and noticed a whole bunch of corrections (including many of the ones that I had reported). I hope this trend continues.

Richardgm said:

Yep. Only for POI issues though. Road corrections aren't being touched.

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Is the correction notification feature a US-only thing? I don't receive a notification when any of the problems that I've reported have been fixed.

Richardgm said:

Yep. I've made corrections outside the US, and they haven't acted on them.

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I'm in Canada and I've noticed a lot of corrections that have been acted upon. But what I haven't experienced is seeing any notifications from the app telling me that the corrections were made. That's what I'm referring to - not the corrections themselves, rather, the system of telling the user that the corrections were made.

Interesting, I noticed some more updates today. That's 3 days in a row where POI data was improved.

Contrary to my initial thoughts, things don't seem to be occurring just on a weekly basis; Apple is actually pushing the improvements every day now, it seems.

Keep sending in those corrections.

I just opened up Maps and from this week alone, I counted at least 19 of my submissions have been corrected. Very impressive.

By the way, when issuing a POI data correction, try to enter a URL for the place. It allows Apple to verify the info for themselves, and I've noticed that it often means the difference between Maps simply using those coordinates when you do a search, vs Maps actually placing a POI marker at that location. Typing the company's website into the field (even a huge company, like Walmart) is key.