One of the most advertised features of Apple’s new iOS 6 software is its own mapping solution, which has replaced Google Maps.
Apple created its own mapping solution after purchasing several companies in the past few years, with the aim of losing its dependency on rival Google, who has provided the mapping solution on iOS for several years. However, since the update went live yesterday at 6pm GMT, users have experienced several different issues with the mapping software.
A major complaint so far has been with Apple’s 3D feature, which isn’t yet working everywhere. While major cities such as London, San Francisco and Las Vegas all look great in 3D, most towns and smaller cities don’t. This isn’t a fault as such, and Apple will be adding more 3D mapping as time goes on, but it’s understandably a disappointing omission for some.
Not having 3D maps is fine and well, especially if you live in a tiny rural town like us, but it would be nice if the 2D maps we did have worked well. Users have complained about large areas of Apple Maps becoming black and white once zoomed in, and we’ve experienced this problem too. This issue doesn’t appear to be a fault, and seems to be due to Apple not fully completing the mapping for some areas. We’re currently looking into this further, as our area was in full colour and clarity when we tested Apple Maps on a beta test version of iOS 6 earlier in the year.
Asides from these two issues, we’ve heard of users searching for locations and being pointed to a completely different place. The BBC has compiled a few of the most common issues, and some of them show such surprising levels of inaccuracy that it makes you wonder why Apple released the software when it did.
- Some towns appear to be missing, such as Stratford-upon-Avon and Solihull.
- Others, like Uckfield in East Sussex, are in the wrong location.
- A search for Manchester United Football Club directs users to Sale United Football Club, a community team for ages five and above.
- Users also reported missing local places, such as schools, or strange locations. Another screenshot showed a furniture museum that was apparently located in a river.
Users should note that if Apple Maps drops the location pin in the wrong location, there is an option to report any inaccuracies to Apple themselves, which should hopefully result in future updates to fix the numerous issues.
For those who can see the funny side, a parody Twitter account has started to post Apple Maps failings, including horribly jumbled up maps – follow @fake_iOS6maps to see what issues other users have been experiencing.
Have you experienced any problems with Apple Maps in iOS 6? Let us know what problems you’ve encountered.
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