Apple Inc. (AAPL) Maps Causing Some Serious Trouble In Australia

Updated on

The iPhone’s much-loathed mapping system is causing life-threatening situations for travelers in Victoria, Australia, according to a police bulletin.

Apple Inc. (AAPL) Maps Causing Some Serious Trouble In Australia

Police in the town of Mildura are warning motorists that the maps included as part of iOS6 are very inaccurate inside the Murray-Sunset National Park. They’ve been called to rescue numerous drivers who became lost and stranded inside the park, after they followed the directions on their iPhone.

Officers tested the iPhone’s mapping system and confirmed that it shows Mildura in the park’s center about 43 miles (70 kilometers) away from where the town actually is. There is no supply of water inside the park, and temperatures can climb higher than 114 degrees Fahrenheit (46 degrees Celsius). Some of the drivers who became lost inside the park were stranded for up to a day without water or food. Police say they walked “long distances through dangerous terrain” to reach a place where their cell phone would work.

So far no one has been killed because of the situation, but police are concerned that the iPhone’s mapping could create a “life threatening issue.” Mildura Police have contacted officials at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to inform them of the problem and hope that it will be corrected as quickly as possible. They recommend that anyone traveling through Murray-Sunset National Park use a means other than their iPhone for directions when in the park.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s mapping app has been criticized from the moment it was launched because of incorrect information, a lack of features like turn-by-turn navigation, and other issues. The company previously used Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Maps, but the two companies have had a bitter relationship lately for several reasons. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been suing all of Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s partners, in connection with patents related to technology utilized in Android phones.

The iPhone’s current mapping app uses information from TomTom and other providers. Eddy Cue, Senior Vice President of Internet Software and Services at Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), is heading up the team that’s racing to make improvements to the troublesome software.

Leave a Comment