Australian Police Warn Against Use of Apple Maps Due to Safety Concerns

[bluespark]

If Apple really wanted to resolve this debacle, it not only would fix its own app, but also would let users set third-party apps as the default.

[MrRez]

This is pure gold, I live pretty close to that location. Very funny, you go apple

[Hui...]

If people followed this they would have crossed the main road from Melbourne to Mildura (It is shown on the screen shot).

I'm sure there would have been a sign at that intersection saying "Mildura X Km" that way >>

Apple Maps may have some problems, but should these people really be allowed to drive if they can't read and use common sense?

[scottness]

Apple Maps is the only reason I'm still using an iPhone 4. Don't want to risk the upgrade--I need Google maps in Japan.

[tmofee]

Originally Posted by Hui...

If people followed this they would have crossed the main road from Melbourne to Mildura.

I'm sure there would have been a sign at that intersection saying "Mildura X Km" that way >>

Apple Maps may have some problems, but should these people really be allowed to drive if they can't read and use common sense?

if you'd ever been that way, you'd realise that there is not just one road. sure, there is the main highway, but jump on google maps. some may have seen that come up on their maps app and thought that this could have been a shorter route to mildura.

[Lancer]

This would be funny if it wasn't potentially so serious.

Yet another reason I'm still using my 3Gs and Google maps. But really I know it's been covered before but if you're in a car get a proper GPS, well worth it for maps that work and right now most are being discounted in the run-up to Christmas.

[adder7712]

Not surprised.

Old screncap by the way, might have been fixed by now.


Last time I was there, I can't remember it being on a hill.

[Omacc]

theres an answer tot his madness.. its called TOMTOM

[ridesdeepsnow]

Pretty much any moron who solely relies on a phone for directions without a backup, lets say like a umm......paper printed map, deserves any problems they may encounter by doing so.

Any Publicity is good publicity. If you honestly do not know that then you know very little.

We live in an age where everyone believes they are responsible or accountable for nothing and everything is everyone else's problem.

I live in Lake Tahoe, CA. When I go into the backcountry in winter or summer I make sure I bring the essential safety equipment and make sure I tell at least 1 person where I am going, how long for in case of a problem where I don;t have to saw my arm off like a complete ******* like someone who was portrayed by James Franco.

point being that it is very well expressed in the contract with Apple and most likely also the telephone provider that any or all information or services are not guaranteed.
Everyone skips the iPhone contract and signs it on the spot because we all know everyone doesn't have 15 minutes to read a contract nor the intelligence to understand the majority of what is entailed within the contract.

It is just becoming annoying to continue hearing about stupid people having things that could have been avoided, happen to them.

Can't we just allow the stupid people to die off naturally as they are supposed to? Why this need to save the weak and ignorant? This need to coddle those who have completely no common sense?

I make mistakes in life just like everyone else out there but I get up and lick my wounds and LEARN.

To go out into some kinda rough back country, especially Australia where it is COMMONLY known to be the home of some crazy wildlife and terrain to only travel around with a iPhone only proves my point.

IF YOU CAN AFFORD AN iPHONE YOU CAN AFFORD A MAP

[Schmitty11]

That. Is. Hilarious.

[MrRez]

Originally Posted by Omacc

theres an answer tot his madness.. its called TOMTOM

Wrong! Its called Google Maps

[Benzman]

Had two such occurrences in the past week, in a city of approximately 5 million people (Phoenix).

I was looking for a Subway Sandwich shop near my house and Apple Maps had it located between Circle K (a convenience store) and Fedex/Kinkos on the west side of 83rd Ave. The only thing between those two places is a place for the drunks to urinate. The address was correct, so knowing how the local streets are laid out here, I was able to find it by the address on the EAST side of 83rd Ave. The location pin (and subsequent directions) delivered me to the wrong place.

The other time was when I was looking for a particular high school that my granddaughter was performing at. Apple Maps found a High School, by a different name, in a different city, miles from the one I was looking for. I had to copy and paste the actual address (by searching for it by name) from Google Maps into Apple Maps so I could use turn-by-turn directions.

Time for Apple to put the "heavy" weight of the company behind this problem. I love apple products, but I dislike the "light" weight of Apple Maps.

[2IS]

Originally Posted by ridesdeepsnow

Pretty much any moron who solely relies on a phone for directions without a backup, lets say like a umm......paper printed map, deserves any problems they may encounter by doing so.

Any Publicity is good publicity. If you honestly do not know that then you know very little.

We live in an age where everyone believes they are responsible or accountable for nothing and everything is everyone else's problem.

I live in Lake Tahoe, CA. When I go into the backcountry in winter or summer I make sure I bring the essential safety equipment and make sure I tell at least 1 person where I am going, how long for in case of a problem where I don;t have to saw my arm off like a complete ******* like someone who was portrayed by James Franco.

point being that it is very well expressed in the contract with Apple and most likely also the telephone provider that any or all information or services are not guaranteed.
Everyone skips the iPhone contract and signs it on the spot because we all know everyone doesn't have 15 minutes to read a contract nor the intelligence to understand the majority of what is entailed within the contract.

It is just becoming annoying to continue hearing about stupid people having things that could have been avoided, happen to them.

Can't we just allow the stupid people to die off naturally as they are supposed to? Why this need to save the weak and ignorant? This need to coddle those who have completely no common sense?

I make mistakes in life just like everyone else out there but I get up and lick my wounds and LEARN.

To go out into some kinda rough back country, especially Australia where it is COMMONLY known to be the home of some crazy wildlife and terrain to only travel around with a iPhone only proves my point.

IF YOU CAN AFFORD AN iPHONE YOU CAN AFFORD A MAP

Cry more guy... You sound like a butt-hurt apple fan boy... In fact, I'm quite certain that's exactly what you are, so I guess I can't blame you.

Back on topic... LMAO! This is hilarious and quite an embarrassment

[-AG-]

The news service that ran the story ran with the iPhone because it was the best known service but these issues happen with other brands as well in Australia. Its a geographical thing.

Also

Local Police have been called to assist distressed motorists who have become stranded within the Murray-Sunset National Park after following directions on their Apple i-phone.

These people are what we in Australia call "Morons". In the days before GPS they had things called "Signs"

These "Signs" could be used to help people find where they were going. Almost like a directional guide of some kind.

Legend has it that most rural roads had evidence of these mythical "signs" before the all mighty talky direction box came into being.

In the end the police got what they wanted. A scare campaign to tell the public to not trust cheap GPS's because they aren't accurate.

[iMikeT]

Originally Posted by iMikeT

What, does Maps lead the people in Oz into a pack of dingos or something?

Originally Posted by tmofee

A bunch of overseas tourists without water in a 40 + degrees Celsius summer day? Oops flat tire

Yes, this could be dangerous. Especially in a national park where there may not be anyone in the surrounding area for days at a time,,,

I hate having to quote myself at times. Some people just don't know what a joke is do they?

This is definitely a tragedy. I was hoping to be a little lighthearted about it.

[rocknblogger]

Originally Posted by swingerofbirch

I knew this wouldn't turn out well. Apple is one of the most closed companies and they've never "gotten" Internet services or been able to maintain one for more than a few years without shuttering it and starting over (except for the iTunes Store). There's a long string of failures. They didn't even get that something like iDisk was a cloud service people expect to exist indefinitely. I've not even heard of smaller companies shuttering a service and making customers download information they were paying for a company to store for them, let alone the world's biggest tech company.

Google is a company that will go out and work with anyone. They will do whatever it takes to make something work. They make partners and friends. They're like a really big university. Apple is like a historic, very small liberal arts college that decided to open a medical school in a tiny historic building with 5 foot ceilings and no indoor lighting or plumbing and wants to leave it that way to preserve the character of the building. I don't know how else to say it. They've never gotten Internet services. Their offerings have been unreliable, awkward, and slow. And the only really interesting part is that they thought they could do a mapping system.

But their vision again is so small. They didn't even want to do an mapping system the world could use. It's only on some of their devices—not even all of their devices, let alone anyone else's. It's not even a web-service, so it doesn't even work with their own apps like Contacts for example on the Mac. A company that is serious about making a mapping system would have it available in a browser, available in beta for a long time for everyone. Right now it's an *exclusive* to people who buy their newest devices, but it turned out to be an exclusive that people wish they could switch to the old system. In fact it was supposed to be one of the main features of their new products.

The other funny thing besides Apple thinking it could do maps is that other people take Apple seriously with mapping. I am fairly certain that Google Maps will be around in 20 years. I am fairly certain that Apple Maps will not be around in 20 years. Apple gives up on this stuff all the time. I don't get why Apple thought they could do it, and I don't get why other people thought they could either.

Does Apple really want to be a mapping company indefinitely? Or was this just an act of hubris? It's not what they're good at. It's not in their "DNA" to borrow an over-used phrase!

This is an area where they need to partner.

+1 I agree 100% and couldn't have said it better. Mapping is an industry onto itself. The commitment and investment is huge. What Google has been able to do with maps is astounding and impressive and thousands upon thousands of man and computing hours went into it to get it to where they are. Evidently someone at Apple thought they could do better in about two years time (from what they say) with no public beta and testing than what it took Google about 6 years to achieve. Really? REALLY? Unbelievable!!!

For those of you that think that Apple maps is going to be great by iOS 7 are just kidding yourselves. It's going to take years to get a level of reliability like Google's, maybe. Depending on their commitment and of course if they decide to to just buy someone out.

[omgwut]

Originally Posted by skellener

Apple should really just stop. They have never delivered services well - and Maps is now one of the biggest embarrassments to date.

Whatever they are spending to do their own Maps - it still must have been cheaper to simply use Google's data. Even if Maps gets to the point that becomes usable, how long is Apple committed to the service? A few years? Five tops? Google is obviously in it for the long haul. Streetview? Where is it Apple? Do you think the Google self-driving car is simply for R&D??? Nope - eventually those autonomous cars will be all electric, driverless and will be grabbing updated Streetviews monthly if not weekly. Apple are you ready to compete on that level? I doubt it. Apple Maps will eventually go the way of Ping or Dot Mac and everyone will forget about it. It's just another poorly implemented Apple service that will see no follow through.

Apple, save some money, stop fighting Google and just work WITH them. The combination of Google data and services with Apple interface and design works so well. It's such a missed opportunity to make everything better. Stop fighting!

I agree with you.

Tim Cook said something interesting that caught my ear in his recent NBC interview when Brian Williams asked him about Apple's ability to remain competitive in the future, to the effect of "Apple is better off doing a few things exceedingly well than putting its hands in too many projects and spreading itself thin." I immediately thought of Maps and wondered if anyone at Apple corporate did as well.

How committed is Apple really to building and curating a global navigation service to compete with Google's over the long haul -- Google has been in this game for how long now? Its maps are phenomenal -- and is it really worth the massive expenditure of resources to do it? I'm not sure it is.

[kalsta]

Not sure what I find most appalling about this—that Apple released this app in the first place, that they embedded it in the OS so that all location services are potentially flawed, or that reported errors aren't being fixed in a timely manner by the company with more cash to throw at this than even Han Solo can imagine.

For navigation within Australia, I can highly recommend MetroView GPS Navigation. At $15 it only has to save you one trip into some isolated corner of a national park and it's paid for itself!

[nickn]

Originally Posted by bluespark

Download iTrans NYC -- it has incredible Subway information, right down to showing all of the alternate entrance staircases for each station.

That's cool for NYC, but what about other cities? For example, in Chicago, all of the public transit services are run by different companies. I live in the suburbs, and recently wanted to go to Gary IN by public transit. In order to do so, I would need to take a Pace bus to a Metra commuter rail station, transfer to a CTA L station, and then get on a Northern Indiana Commuter train. The CTA has an app, but it doesn't show the other companies routes, meaning I could only get part of the trip integrated back into the maps app. Under Google maps, all lines and transit modes are listed, so it is easy to go the route I want without having to download and configure various 3rd party apps. Long story short Apple Maps is a complete failure, and frankly I don't know why Apple keeps going with it. At this point they aught to suck it up and re-release the old Google Maps App. Apple is the best tech company at some things, but nobody is best at everything, which they simply don't seem to understand.

[mankar4]

They should put up a sign saying this is not the way where apple maps makes its first mistake.

[adder7712]

Originally Posted by haruhiko

It IS total poop. I searched for a street address in Hong Kong (well I did not search for POI already) and it pinned to a hill hundreds of meters behind the street....

I can't find my own house on Apple Maps.

[ridesdeepsnow]

Originally Posted by 2IS

Cry more guy... You sound like a butt-hurt apple fan boy... In fact, I'm quite certain that's exactly what you are, so I guess I can't blame you.

Just common sense. No fan boy by any means. Thank you for your incorrect observations, so you are QUITE uncertain. But just the truth.

Why drive with a spare tire? why get insurance?

Because they are back-ups in case something goes wrong. I lived in Australia for 2 years while in the Navy and I would have never traveled without a paper map going solely off my iPhone.

How old are you? who says butt-hurt? sound like some surfer from the bay area.

----------

Originally Posted by nickn

That's cool for NYC, but what about other cities? For example, in Chicago, all of the public transit services are run by different companies. I live in the suburbs, and recently wanted to go to Gary IN by public transit. In order to do so, I would need to take a Pace bus to a Metra commuter rail station, transfer to a CTA L station, and then get on a Northern Indiana Commuter train. The CTA has an app, but it doesn't show the other companies routes, meaning I could only get part of the trip integrated back into the maps app. Under Google maps, all lines and transit modes are listed, so it is easy to go the route I want without having to download and configure various 3rd party apps. Long story short Apple Maps is a complete failure, and frankly I don't know why Apple keeps going with it. At this point they aught to suck it up and re-release the old Google Maps App. Apple is the best tech company at some things, but nobody is best at everything, which they simply don't seem to understand.

I agree with you on that point. To release something so unfinished is not Apple's style and one I hope does not repeat itself.

Google maps to my knowledge had never failed me, ever. I hope this leads Apple to allow Google's map app back

[Lancer]

Originally Posted by JayLenochiniMac

I take it not too many Australians have factory NAV or a Garmin in their cars? I'd never rely solely on iPhone with potential loss of reception, especially when going to the mountain or through the forest.

Many car have GPS now but millions of older cars don't, besides I think these cases they might be tourists in rental cars with no GPS. As I said before I'd only use my phone as a last resort.

So how long before Samsung do an advert helping a poor lost iPhone 5 user?

[cdmoore74]

Originally Posted by Hui...

If people followed this they would have crossed the main road from Melbourne to Mildura (It is shown on the screen shot).

I'm sure there would have been a sign at that intersection saying "Mildura X Km" that way >>

Apple Maps may have some problems, but should these people really be allowed to drive if they can't read and use common sense?

What if you buy Aspirin and a TV commercial tells you to take 2 tablets in the morning but the directions that came with the product tells you to take 20 tablets? In my line of business this would be considered a product recall over mislabeling which could lead to serious injury or death. When you don't have two pieces of information matching that is a problem. Yes, common sense would tell you not to take 20 tablets but some people will actually do it. You can never assume someones actions to a situation.
Apple should have pulled it's Maps app and brought back Google maps until they got it fixed.

[jctevere]

When I heard information that Apple was partnering with Waze to create a new mapping system, I was ecstatic. I absolutely loved Waze and thought it was a great concept. Felt the same way as I did when Apple bought out the company who created Siri when I had that app.

However, I figured they were just going to make the "Waze" app a standard application on the iPhone with all its functionality and information like they did with Siri.

But I am incredibly disappointed, although in my area Apple Maps is pretty good - it is just unacceptable to have mapping this bad elsewhere. I still think Apple should just entirely buyout Waze before they get too popular and too expensive and just use it 100% and add functionality such as 3D view on top of it...

----------

Originally Posted by nickn

That's cool for NYC, but what about other cities? For example, in Chicago, all of the public transit services are run by different companies. I live in the suburbs, and recently wanted to go to Gary IN by public transit. In order to do so, I would need to take a Pace bus to a Metra commuter rail station, transfer to a CTA L station, and then get on a Northern Indiana Commuter train. The CTA has an app, but it doesn't show the other companies routes, meaning I could only get part of the trip integrated back into the maps app. Under Google maps, all lines and transit modes are listed, so it is easy to go the route I want without having to download and configure various 3rd party apps. Long story short Apple Maps is a complete failure, and frankly I don't know why Apple keeps going with it. At this point they aught to suck it up and re-release the old Google Maps App. Apple is the best tech company at some things, but nobody is best at everything, which they simply don't seem to understand.

It sounds like you should submit an application to the App Store that integrates the various public transportation information in your area and make some profit! Heck, even if you make it free you'll make a ton off revenue from ads. Take advantage of Apple Maps' disadvantage.