Australian Police Urge Motorists to Turn Away from Apple Maps
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Digital Vision/Thinkstock(VICTORIA, Australia) — It’s been no secret that Apple’s Maps app has its problems, but a police department in Australia has actually gone so far as to say that it is a “life threatening issue.”
It seems that motorists looking for the town of Mildura in northwestern Victoria, Australia have found themselves lost or stranded in Murray-Sunset National Park. Why? Because Apple Maps places the town smack in the middle of the park. Not only is the park 70 km (about 45 miles) from the town of Mildura, but some people said they got stranded there for up to 24 hours without food or water, and had to walk long distances to find phone reception.
As a result, the Mildura police have issued a statement “urging motorists to be careful when relying on” Apple’s Maps in iOS 6. This comes after “a number of motorists were directed off the beaten track in recent weeks.” The town has reached out to Apple and hopes there will be a fix, but for now is urging anyone traveling to the town to use other mapping software.
Apple, reached by ABC News, declined to comment on the police statement.
After Apple released its Maps app in September, and people reported misplaced towns and cities, Apple itself admitted it hadn’t lived up to its own standards. “At Apple, we strive to make world-class products that deliver the best experience possible to our customers,” CEO Tim Cook wrote in a letter to Apple customers. “With the launch of our new Maps last week, we fell short on this commitment. We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better.”
Cook reiterated Apple’s commitment to improving the software last week in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek. “We’re putting all of our energy into making it right. And we have already had several software updates. We’ve got a huge plan to make it even better. It will get better and better over time. But it wasn’t a matter that we … decided strategy over customers. We screwed up. That’s the fact.”
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio