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Longtime Apple Maps Bug in Australia Erroneously Lists Businesses in Residential Areas

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Apr 12, 2001
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There's a curious bug in the Apple Maps app that's affecting Australians, which appears to be caused by a bad data set. Multiple complaints on Twitter suggest that Apple Maps is listing certain businesses incorrectly, directing Australians to residential areas rather than the actual business location.

apple-maps-hospital-error.jpg
An erroneous hospital listing located near Twitter user Russell Ivanovic​

Apple Maps appears to be pulling in data from where business owners live, rather than where their businesses are located.


There are a long list of complaints on Twitter about the errors that Australians have experienced, with restaurants, hospitals, pharmacies, and more listed in the wrong place.


Twitter users John Cleary and Russell Ivanovic suggest that Apple has imported an Australian business database that lists the places that businesses are registered to, which is typically the business owner's home address.


The long list of Twitter complaints suggest that this problem has existed in Australia for quite some time, and at least one person confirmed that he had a business listed as located at his home address.

Some of the Twitter users have reported the errors, but Apple has yet to address the problem for Australians who are being misdirected.


Apple has had issues with the Apple Maps app in the past, but has worked hard to introduce improvements through acquisitions and its own mapping efforts with map vehicles. Apple Maps has gained multiple new features over the years like the street-level Look Around feature, but there are clearly still issues that need to be fixed.

Article Link: Longtime Apple Maps Bug in Australia Erroneously Lists Businesses in Residential Areas
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/04/13/apple-maps-australia-listing-bug/
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It has serious privacy & safety implications. I’m a doctor and I have to have a ‘company’ but it’s just me in it... and it has no physical address nor any direct public interaction. It is a requirement for a business to have an address though (not a PO Box) so everyone uses their home address.

This has always been public domain data but it required someone knowing your actual business name and searching for it online. With Apple Maps using this data, people can simply bump into it scrolling on the map. If your business name isn’t cryptic, then everyone will know WHO lives in that house. Great for thieves to work out if a house is worth burgling...

I complained to Apple when I first saw this YEARS ago and they deleted my company name on Apple Maps immediately - so they WILL act, but I think it’s better if they didn’t use that dataset in the first place as it's not helpful.
 
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POI and businesses are definitely the weakest spot of Apple Maps. Also in Europe. Many missing businesses, outdated info, no opening hours, wrong locations, etc.

We also have businesses popping up in residential areas, but I don’t think it’s as widespread as in Australia.
 
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Folks, I just finished talking to a Senior Advisor and they assured me that this is most certainly not a problem, because if it was, they would have heard about it long before any customer noticed, because Apple support talks to millions of Apple Maps users an hour. The Senior Advisor assured me they were taking ownership of this case and would work to find a resolution that satisfies both of us. The first step in troubleshooting is to erase the MapOS and set it up as new. Now, the important thing is that you DON'T erase your entire device, just the MapOS. To do this, you need to go to Settings and then Maps. You'll scroll to the bottom and click the "Erase MapOS." Once you click "Erase MapsOS," it will ask you to confirm and once you click "Ok," it will begin the erasure. Once it is erased, it will download a fresh copy of MapsOS from Apple's servers.

If you don't see the "Erase MapOS" option, there is no further troubleshooting Apple can provide. Instead, the issue will need to be RTA'd to Engineering. To do that, you will need to download Capture Data onto your iOS device, run the data capture, with Mail Logging enabled of course, and submit the logs to Apple. Because Capture Data is a Mac app, you will not be able to run Capture Data on your iOS device. Instead, the Senior Advisor will submit the RTA to Engineering and Engineering will reply within 48 hours, to ask for screenshots of the bug. Engineering will provide no support if you don't cooperate with providing screenshots. Once you provide screenshots, Engineering will again reply in 48 hours, to determine if you are using Apple Maps or a third-party map app. Once you confirm that you are using Apple Maps, they will issue Apple's Official Position on the matter: No further support will be provided because you need to keep your device up to date.
 
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i add the fact macos maps APP still dont allows to navigate from a manually selected point on the map to another. but who cares! shareholders dont use gps. they have a chauffeur!
 
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Damian83 said:
i add the fact macos maps APP still dont allows to navigate from a manually selected point on the map to another. but who cares! shareholders dont use gps. they have a chauffeur!
Click to expand...
Yes it does. On the iPad, drop a pin on the map and press Directions. In the direction details window, by default “my location“ is selected as the starting point. Click on it to change the route. Next, choose your desired starting point on the map. It will appear in the list underneath the start and stop points. Select it to set it as your start point (Or first press the up down button to swap them and set the end point).

You have now directions from and to manually selected points on the map.

(On the iPhone, it seems you need to enter the address of at least the start or destination as the map is covered by the direction details pop-up window.)
 
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Damian83 said:
i add the fact macos maps APP still dont allows to navigate from a manually selected point on the map to another. but who cares! shareholders dont use gps. they have a chauffeur!
Click to expand...
Like all conspiracy theories, wrong. While a pain in the ass, it’s always been possible to navigate between two selected points. Sadly there doesn’t seem to be a way to add way points.
 
This happens in the US as well. And also in Google maps. My neighbors apparently run a golf club rental out of their apartment.
 
Hmm, I just found an Apple Maps business on my residential street in LA that seems to be (by the website in the info pop-up) a creative studio space in Madrid, Spain?!? I'd always been assuming that these were home businesses, but now I'm starting to wonder about a great many of them...
 
hagar said:
Yes it does. On the iPad, drop a pin on the map and press Directions. In the direction details window, by default “my location“ is selected as the starting point. Click on it to change the route. Next, choose your desired starting point on the map. It will appear in the list underneath the start and stop points. Select it to set it as your start point (Or first press the up down button to swap them and set the end point).

You have now directions from and to manually selected points on the map.

(On the iPhone, it seems you need to enter the address of at least the start or destination as the map is covered by the direction details pop-up window.)
Click to expand...

Macyourdayy said:
Like all conspiracy theories, wrong. While a pain in the ass, it’s always been possible to navigate between two selected points. Sadly there doesn’t seem to be a way to add way points.
Click to expand...

what i mean is a fast and intuitive way to do it: i drop several pins on map and then i calculate route from pin 1 to pin 9 or pin 2 to 6. or even better a function that calculate fastest route through all pins. very useful on holiday to calculate route between many places to visit. impossible because only one pin at a time can be dropped. it cant even calculate air distance, and we are talking of a DESKTOP APP (i refer to macos app), that should be capable of doing many advanced things. while web based google maps can do endless things more
 
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