What you need to know
- Apple Maps is listing people's personal addresses as a business in Australia.
- According to reports, the business is real but the address listed is the personal address of the business owner.
There is some weirdness going on with Apple Maps in Australia right now.
As reported by MacRumors, multiple users on Twitter have posted complaints about the service, saying that it is listing people's personal addresses as the location of a business, taking Apple Maps drivers into residential areas rather than to the business they are attempting to locate. According to the report, the mapping service is listing a business owner's personal address rather than the address of their actual business location.
Some users believe Apple may have bulk imported a bad or misunderstood set of data into Apple Maps, causing the issue.
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.
So here's a fun stuff up:
I think Apple Maps pulled in some weird business data in Australia. Now you can see the name and number of many registered businesses except not their place of business. It's where the owners live 🙃
My suburb has about 30 restaurants in ppls houses 🤪So here's a fun stuff up:
I think Apple Maps pulled in some weird business data in Australia. Now you can see the name and number of many registered businesses except not their place of business. It's where the owners live 🙃
My suburb has about 30 restaurants in ppls houses 🤪— Russell Ivanovic (@rustyshelf) April 8, 2021April 8, 2021
At least one business owner confirmed that Apple Maps is listing their personal address as the location of their actual business.
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.
I reported the listening on the Maps app with a note asking them to remove it, I'm not sure if it will work, though!I reported the listening on the Maps app with a note asking them to remove it, I'm not sure if it will work, though!— Heidi Helen Pilypas (@heidi_helen) April 8, 2021April 8, 2021
Apple Maps has continuously been an uphill battle for the company, especially as it contends with Google Maps. The service made an enormous leap when Apple rolled out its own map for the app which enabled new features like Look Around, cycling directions, and just better directions overall.
Hopefully, Apple will identify and fix the data issues so people in Australia can find the businesses they'd like to visit without having to hop over to Google Maps.
