back to article iOS 6 maps can't find Sydney Apple Store

Apple's new maps app for iOS 6 can't find one of its own stores in Sydney, Australia. Reg reader @Rob2081 tweeted the image below that shows Apple thinks it Sydney flagship store is on the eastern side of George Street, one of the city's main shopping precincts. A map from iOS 6 showing the Sydney Apple store on the wrong …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Given it's focus on bars and coffee shops it seems no wonder it can't find its way home.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      It just wants to be taken to somewhere it can be left (a bar) or in company of other fruits (a coffee shop.)

    2. Bob Vistakin
      Facepalm

      But it's prettier

      See that cute page curl in the bottom right corner? You got your reason iSheep feel superior to Googles maps right there.

      Apple are just reinforcing their style over substance mantra. Christ, if the fanbois didn't mind not being able to make calls during antennagate and were happy to take the blame, this is a walk in the park. If you can find it....

      1. mraak

        Re: But it's prettier

        They designed the previous app also, and the page curl for that. FYIP.

    3. miknik
      FAIL

      Google maps the defacto standard

      Unless you can come close you should go home.

      I launched a business with no advertising except a (free) Google maps listing, the phone started ringing on day one and never stopped so I sense the existing userbase is huge.

      It is foolish to imagine people will "make do" with something which is nowhere near as good, even the most hardened fanboi needs to know where they are going, and as this has failed so publicly it must smart a bit when you pull out your shiny iPhone 5 and instead of oohs and aaaahs you get a smug droid user pointing out how poor your maps are.

      I don't have an iPhone, but I use sat nav on my phone every day and if I were an iPhone owner this alone would stop me upgrading unless I could get iPhone 5 with iOS 5.5 or whatever came before...

    4. miknik
      Trollface

      I know there are a million...

      ...but this is the funniest maps image macro I have found yet.

      http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_maouy57Avj1qzegovo1_500.jpg

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    You're using it wrong

    It's not showing where things are, it's showing the best place to view them from.

    Apple have always focused more on appearance than what's inside, so why shouldn't their maps show the best place to admire their stores from?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: You're using it wrong

      Hilarious! You are a genius. Please subscribe me to your mailing list.

      1. Bob Vistakin
        Mushroom

        Never mind the iPhone vs Android wars, Apple tries to start actual wars!

        France just invaded Switzerland!

        http://theamazingios6maps.tumblr.com/post/32069176047/the-french-are-invading-switzerland-sudden

        1. Adam 1
          Pint

          Re: Never mind the iPhone vs Android wars, Apple tries to start actual wars!

          Now now, it is not all warmongering. They did find a neat solution to the whole Senkaku / Diaoyu Islands row between Japan and China.

          http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/apple-maps-disaster-solves-chinajapan-islands-row-20120924-26fye.html

  3. tommy060289
    FAIL

    its become a bit fashionable to say 'Steve wouldn't let this happen...'

    but in this case I'd say it is definitely justified. I love my new iPhone 5. Couldn't be happier with it but maps is the one area that completely lets it down. It's a bit like having like have Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Garry Kasparov, Carol Vorderman and Wayne Rooney on your pub quiz team!

    With the amount of bad publicity the maps has had I can't see how apple can do anything other than update it before iOS 7, which lets be honest, it should be anyway. Map data should be constantly updated to reflect updated knowledge. I'm just not sure if they need to update the actual maps app to add more data or just update the servers that the maps pull their data from.

    I don't tend to use the app that much myself so it's not big loss but I shall be using the big g maps until someone takes this map application out back and shoots it.

    1. Jan Hargreaves
      Stop

      Re: its become a bit fashionable to say 'Steve wouldn't let this happen...'

      But he did let awful, embarrassing things happen. Stuff that was rushed to market, and full of problems...

      MobileMe.

      Now, I'm no supporter of rival companies/ products. I like the stuff they do at Apple, but there were plenty of examples of catastrophies while Steve was at the helm.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: its become a bit fashionable to say 'Steve wouldn't let this happen...'

        "MobileMe."

        I don't think he let it come to market, the backend problems weren't obvious.

        He said, "Can anyone tell me what MobileMe is supposed to do?" When one foolhardy exec explained the aim of the service, Jobs shot back: "So why the fuck doesn't it do that?"

        and fired the leader.

        1. tommy060289

          Re: its become a bit fashionable to say 'Steve wouldn't let this happen...'

          I was about to post this, as I can remember the article about him going bat shit over realising how crap it was. The man was clearly an arse (his own biography clearly shows what an arse he was) but at least he knew how to do things properly, so probably wasn't very pleased when his own company didn't.

          "You couldn't be happier with it...

          ...except you could, if the maps were decent.

          That is all."

          Nope, I don't really care about maps as, like I said, I don't use it. But it is definitely crap and should be fixed

    2. Vince

      Re: its become a bit fashionable to say 'Steve wouldn't let this happen...'

      You couldn't be happier with it...

      ...except you could, if the maps were decent.

      That is all.

    3. Paul Johnston
      Joke

      Re: its become a bit fashionable to say 'Steve wouldn't let this happen...'

      I agree Carol would let the side down a bit compared to the others!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Carol would let the side down a bit

        I was most disappointed to find that the Vorderman has a lower IQ than moi. And that Mensa is about as good as CAMRA for finding eligible females.

    4. TheOtherHobbes

      Re: its become a bit fashionable to say 'Steve wouldn't let this happen...'

      "It's a bit like having like have Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Garry Kasparov, Carol Vorderman and Wayne Rooney on your pub quiz team!"

      You mean more like having Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, Garry Kasparov, Carol Vorderman, Steve Ballmer, Stephen Elop, Carly Fiorina and Wayne Rooney playing for Man U, surely?

    5. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: its become a bit fashionable to say 'Steve wouldn't let this happen...'

      The issues are in the data which lives on Apple's servers (same as Google Maps' data, which lives on Google servers) They can update this stuff anytime and the app will immediately have the correction, you don't need to wait for an iOS release. Not saying the maps app itself is perfect, I'm sure it has some flaws too, but if the data Apple got from Tom Tom was better we wouldn't see so much broken stuff. Maybe they should have talked to Nokia instead.

      Or hell, just bought Nokia, between the maps and the patents it would have been worth it, getting Ballmer to throw chairs would be a bonus!

  4. Arctic fox
    Headmaster

    "........but in this case I'd say it is definitely justified."

    I think that is indisputable. If there is one thing we can say with certainty it is that's Mr jobs definitely did not enjoy being left looking foolish. One can readily imagine the fate of the manager concerned if he was still their CEO. Though it has to be said I don't think that he would have let it out of the door in the first place.

  5. dougal83
    Alien

    So Simon(author).. How much would it take to switch to rival phone like the Samsung Galaxy S3? Abiliity to make phone calls, decent maps, better UI or the warm feeling you are not a sheep? The amount of people queuing for a phone, yes a phone that is worse and looks almost identical to the last should be cause for thought and a bit worrying. Have they been brain washed? I know that is what I'd be thinking!

    1. the-it-slayer
      Stop

      We all know...

      ... that the SGIII is too big (along with the note and anything else in the 4"+ bracket). It seems fandroids are a bunch of sheeps of their own to go completely the opposite regardless of what the actually phone is like, especially physically. That's why I wouldn't buy and same with many. Fandroids love to brush any anti-Android phone users with the same brush.

      Personally, the iP4 has been my only Apple phone purchase to date (having had a Blackberry and Android phones previously in the smartphone arena). It was Apple's best iPhone launch to date and unfortunately the stagnated release of the iP5 because of iP4S has made this product seem like a really poor release as they caught up in bad timing of their own release schedule. Things like Maps/Siri should not of appeared until ready for the iP5 and even delayed by a few months or push it back to 2013-Q1.

      I think most of us middle of the road Apple users know this. Of course you have the pure fanbois that have done their normal thing to buy the iP5 without any thought. Just don't tie me with the same brush as them. Especially when I'm thinking to jump to WP8 next March once the dust settles.

      1. Fibbles

        Re: We all know...

        It's amazing how certain screen sizes are apparently just unergonomic until Apple releases a product with a display of that size. Fanboys were constantly telling everyone who would listen that four inches was just too big but now that the iPhone 5 is here it's suddenly become a sensible choice.

        FYI, it's 'tarred with the same brush'.

  6. Mark Wilson
    Joke

    So Apple really has lost its way since the death of Steve!

    1. Spanners Silver badge
      Meh

      Not exactly

      They lost their way a long time ago but they never knew it.

      1. Thorne

        Re: Not exactly

        "They lost their way a long time ago but they never knew it."

        And now with Apple Maps they'll never be able to find it again

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Tim Cook needs to ask "Can anyone tell me what Maps is supposed to do?" When a foolhardy exec explains the aim of the service, Tim should shoot back: "So why the fuck doesn't it do that?" and fire the project leader.

    But alas, Tim is too soft and wants to be everyone's buddy.

    1. Bob Vistakin
      Happy

      Tim Cook

      I think he's doing a great job and should keep doing it forever, as I do with Blamer who's excreting phones of a similar level of quality.

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
        Coat

        Re: Tim Cook

        "as I do with Blamer who's excreting phones of a similar level of quality."

        Ah! So that's the point of rounded corners!

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Ah! So that's the point of rounded corners!

          No, they don't have points ... ah!

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Tim Cook

        I think he should give up trying to run apple and go back to being lily savage personally.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Map errors

    If I only knew that errors in maps were considered newsworthy items I'd submit all my Google map corrections via El Reg's contact form instead of the usual way of reporting them to Google.

    I'll do that from now on.

    1. BristolBachelor Gold badge
      Joke

      Re: Map errors

      Yeah, but that's because you can submit map errors to Google, to get them fixed. Apple will just tell you that you're looking at it wrongly!

      1. Mark .

        Re: Map errors

        Indeed, the usual response from Apple fans when someone points out a lacking feature that other phones have had for years is to say "But why would I want to do that?" And you know what, I agree - why would I want to go to an Apple shop.

    2. Mark C Casey
      Stop

      Re: Map errors

      Oh stop whining dx.

      First, there is a button at the bottom right on Google Maps called "Report a problem" that allows people to quickly send corrections. Because, lets admit it nothing is perfect. Especially with something as hard to do as mapping an entire bloody planet.

      Second, google maps only has rare occasional mapping problems. I can't actually remember the last time I came across something incorrect.

      Third, Apple maps in its current state is horrendous. Lets not beat about the bush here, it was released before it was ready by at least a year if not more. Want to know why this is a story? Because it is newsworthy and people are loudly complaining about Apple maps.

      1. Stephen W Harris
        Thumb Down

        Re: Map errors

        I see errors in google maps all the time. Interestingly the main maps.google.com site gets it right, but the app on my phone gets it wrong. It's placing shops a mile away from where they should be.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        @ Mark C Casey

        Second, google maps only has rare occasional mapping problems. I can't actually remember the last time I came across something incorrect.

        You do realize that Google Maps USED to be worse than Apple's Maps when it first came out, right? It was a joke, mapquest was far better and the only thing worth using for a while. But Google improved it, and part of that was via user feedback - I corrected a couple things in it myself in the past.

        Apple Maps looks terrible because it is released in 2012, when the other mapping apps it's being compared to have had years worth of improvements and user fixes. There isn't any way to get the user fixes without releasing something and getting that process started. That's how Google had to do it, and that was the only way forward for Apple unless they'd bought Nokia.

        If Apple had released iPhone 5 as a psychic phone, that would know who you were going to call and dial it for you before you had time to hit the buttons yourself, even if it failed to read your mind and you had to dial yourself 50% of the time people would think it is pretty amazing. But if Windows Phones already did this and did it right 98% of the time, people would say Apple's psychic software sucks. Perception has a lot to do with what comparison is being made.

        1. Mark .

          Re: @ Mark C Casey

          Yes, Google Maps wasn't so good in 2005. So basically you're saying, Apple is seven years behind the competition. Thanks for clearing that up - I agree.

          I'm not sure what your point is - yes, this judgement is based on the competition, but *of course* it should be. Products are always based on comparing to the competition.

          I mean, if no computers existed, then a 286 PC selling for one million pounds would be quite revolutionary. And at some point in the past, a supercomputer would have had that much processing power.

          But we don't think that, because of what you can actually get in the marketplace today, in 2012. I don't see why Apple should be held to a different standard.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: @ Mark C Casey

            My point is, I don't think it's possible for anyone to release something better than Google Maps from day one. Doesn't matter who it is, doesn't matter how long and hard they work at it. The world is way too big, you need user feedback and more importantly telematics to see where the problems are so you know what needs fixing. Apple has been giving away their telematics data to Google for free for five years, helping Google get better faster than they otherwise would have. Now Apple will be able to make use of that data, and improve at a very fast clip (because they have a lot that needs improvement)

            Your argument seems to be that if you can't match the competition from day one, you either shouldn't try or you should wait until you can. Well, with maps I'd argue it isn't possible to match the competition from day one and you can wait forever and this will still be true, so your argument becomes that no one should ever try to do maps ever again, and just rely on those who have already done it. That strategy was not working well for Apple, as their Google powered maps app was far behind the Android maps and was going to fall ever further behind for obvious reasons. Maps are important for smartphones, so Apple had to do something since they were getting a terrible deal from their main competitor. If it was Apple that had been doing mapping since 2005 and Google was relying on Apple for maps, I have a feeling all the fandroids who are making hay over this would be saying it is a long overdue move for Android to dump Apple's maps.

            Apple users will suffer a bit in the short run, but with a quarter billion iOS 6.0 users, they will be flooded with telematics data to enable them to identify and correct problems. It'll take time, but they can prioritize issues by how often people run into them so it won't take long before the average iOS user doesn't see any major problems with Apple Maps. It took Google seven years to get where they are because back in 2005 no one had Google Maps on a mobile device, and that's where you get 99% of the useful data. Apple will be able to get their maps in decent shape - not close to Google Maps, but good enough Apple Maps is no longer a joke - by next summer if not sooner by targeting in this way.

            They will probably never be better than Google Maps, or even equal to it, but they don't have to beat Google for their maps to be a success. They don't even have to beat where Google Maps is today. They only have to beat the old iOS Maps app, which in case you haven't much experience with it, is not a particularly high bar.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: @ Mark C Casey

          Let's launch a new product that's clearly inferior to what went before, they'll be queueing down the street for it...

          The other guys started with a dodgy product and fixed it later so that's clearly a successful approach and a precedent for what we're doing...

          Thats not innovation, that's not how any rational business operates. What a sensible business does is look at what's out there understand its strengths and weaknesses then launch something WITH all the strengths (like accurate mapping) and address the weaknesses.

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: You do realize that Google Maps USED to be worse

          Yes, but it's the 2012 Google Maps that Apple is attempting to replace, and that works rather well.

  9. P_0

    Surey, SURELY, now, even the most diehard Apple fans will have to stop saying things like, "Apple products aren't perfect, but they are an attempt at perfection", and other such comments normal humans have been listening to for a few years with puzzled expressions.

    Because while this Maps problem isn't the biggest software blunder ever released to market, from a company that supposedly prides itself on product quality, being superior to rivals, it is unforgivable. Did anybody at Apple Inc even test it? Or just test it around Cupertino, perhaps? It just boggles the mind. What the hell have Apple been doing since the 4S? They just stretched the old iPhone design. Whoopdy-doo. This is a classic case of resting on one's laurels.

    I don't think they gave themselves enough time to do full testing of the Maps software (well obviously!). But this is just showing how much the Google/Android rivalry is getting to them. The execs seem to becoming obsessed with destroying Google/Android that they excrete a pile of sh*t into their customers' phones, just so their customers don't get contaminated with Google-itis.

    I mean, they just lost any and all claims to be more technically competent than their rivals. What is their USP again? Their phone spec is pretty hum-drum, not bad, but nothing new. So what do they have again, that rivals don't? Oh yeah, a nice logo.

    1. Bob Vistakin
      Facepalm

      "a nice logo."

      And a whole mountain of arrogance, paid for by a brainwashed army demanding the one with the WiFis and bigger GeeBees, so they think they are technically savvy, too. Nothings changed since this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL7yD-0pqZg

  10. Frederic Bloggs
    Thumb Down

    Pedant's Corner

    IANANOS, but I can read street maps. If I am reading the one provided correctly, Apple thinks its store is on Kent Street, not George Street. Which, BTW, is even more west (to the left of) George Street than the location in the article.

    I have my coat on, as it is nissing down here at the moment.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Pedant's Corner

      Look again at George St. and see the small grey apple logo, that is the store.

      The larger, more distracting blue dot and circle represents one concentration of Jobs' reality distortion field and how far it's effects can be felt. Sadly in this case it doesn't quite extend to the store in question.

  11. Eguro

    Question!

    Do/Will the Winphones from Nokia provide Bing Maps or Nokias own maps?

    I just tried Nokias maps, and they find the Apple Store in question easily - and located slightly to the correct side of the street (as in the indicator is almost directly in the middle of the street)

    1. ZeroP
      Happy

      Re: Question!

      I have only used a customer's Nokia Lumia 610 for a few minutes, but it looked as though both applications were available. Even that cheapie phone makes me a bit damp for Nokia again.

      1. ZeroP
        Happy

        Re: Question!

        Worth mentioning also, it was brand new, out-of-box unlocked WinPho 7.5. So that should about give you an idea.

        1. Eguro

          Re: Question!

          Cheers!

          Double-upvote, just cause I can :)

  12. R Cox

    idealized google maps

    I think we are comparing an idealized version of google maps to a real version of Apple Maps.

    It was not that long ago that google sent me on a long detour down a single lan mountain road, on one side of me was a mountain, on the other side a increasingly tiny winding river. This wasn't so bad but there was a perfectly good interstate available.

    The locations of businesses are increasingly good in Google, but far from perfect. I have run into trouble using their location services.

    The traffic service on Google is useless. If I want real information, I go to out local traffic service with is much more accurate. It could be that Apple traffic might be better as long as there is one iPhone in the traffic.

    The reality is for iPhone users google provided no value. Apple was paying huge sums of money to google, and we were getting very little in return. If Google want to woo iPhone users with superior products, they can put a third party App out there and let users choose to pay for it. I know I would not as there are $5 apps out there that are better. I think google is banking and generating great opposition to the Apple Maps on the hope that Apple will be forced to go back to google.

    I don't think Apple will do this. I think if Apple and Google could play, Google would have given iPhone turn by turn maps, especially for the money Apple was giving to Google. As it is, Apple maps can only get better, and Google is apparently not going to give anything to anyone who does not use Android.

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