Longtime Apple Maps Bug in Australia Erroneously Lists Businesses in Residential Areas

There's a curious bug in the Apple Maps app that's affecting Australians, which appears to be caused by a bad data set. Multiple complaints on Twitter suggest that ‌Apple Maps‌ is listing certain businesses incorrectly, directing Australians to residential areas rather than the actual business location.

apple maps hospital error

An erroneous hospital listing located near Twitter user Russell Ivanovic

‌Apple Maps‌ appears to be pulling in data from where business owners live, rather than where their businesses are located.


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.


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.


Apple has had issues with the ‌Apple Maps‌ app in the past, but has worked hard to introduce improvements through acquisitions and its own mapping efforts with map vehicles. ‌Apple Maps‌ has gained multiple new features over the years like the street-level Look Around feature, but there are clearly still issues that need to be fixed.

Popular Stories

Apple Glass

Apple Smart Glasses: Everything We Know So Far

Wednesday May 21, 2025 8:21 am PDT by
Google recently made waves by showcasing a set of lightweight smart glasses featuring deep Gemini integration and an optional in-lens display. The demo has reignited interest in Apple's own smart glasses project, which has been the subject of rumors for nearly a decade. Here's a recap of where things stand. Current Development Status Apple is actively working on new chips specifically...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Air Battery Capacity and Weight Allegedly Revealed

Monday May 19, 2025 2:22 am PDT by
Apple is expected to launch an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air later this year, and while there have been plenty of rumors about the camera's overall design and thinness, we haven't heard any details about the device's weight and battery capacity until now. According to the leaker going by the account name "yeux1122" on the Korean-langauge Naver blog, the 6.6-inch iPhone 17 Air has a weight ...
Apple CarPlay Ultra instrument cluster themes 01

Apple's CarPlay Ultra Is Here – Does Your iPhone Support It?

Thursday May 15, 2025 5:17 am PDT by
Apple's recently announced CarPlay Ultra promises a deeply integrated in-car experience, but not all iPhone users will be able to take advantage of the new feature. According to Apple's press release, CarPlay Ultra requires an iPhone 12 or later running iOS 18.5 or later. This means if you're using an iPhone 11, iPhone XR, or any older model, you'll need to upgrade your device to access...
WWDC 2025 Banner

Apple Announces WWDC 2025 Schedule, Including Keynote Time

Tuesday May 20, 2025 8:13 am PDT by
Apple today announced a more detailed schedule for its annual developers conference WWDC, which runs from June 9 through June 13. The schedule confirms that Apple's keynote will begin on Monday, June 9 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, with a live stream to be available on Apple.com, in the Apple TV app, and on YouTube. During the keynote, Apple is expected to announce iOS 19, iPadOS 19, macOS 16,...
Apple Glasses Purple Feature

Apple Smart Glasses Launching in 2026

Thursday May 22, 2025 12:22 pm PDT by
Apple is planning to launch a set of smart glasses by the end of 2026, reports Bloomberg. The glasses will be comparable to the Meta Ray-Bans and the Android XR glasses that Google showed off earlier this week. Apple's smart glasses are expected to include cameras, microphones, and AI capabilities, much like the Meta Ray-Bans. The glasses will be able to take photos, record video, provide...
macOS 16 visionOS Inspired Feature 1

macOS 16: Everything We Know So Far

Tuesday May 20, 2025 7:31 am PDT by
The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple's annual developer and software-oriented event, is less than three weeks away. We haven't heard a great deal about macOS 16 ahead of its announcement this year, so we could be in for some major surprises when June 9 rolls around. Here's what we know so far about the next major update to Apple's Mac operating system. macOS 16 Name? Every year ...
maxresdefault

OpenAI Buys Jony Ive's AI Startup to 'Completely Reimagine What It Means to Use a Computer'

Wednesday May 21, 2025 10:27 am PDT by
OpenAI is acquiring io, the hardware-based AI startup co-created by Jony Ive, OpenAI announced today. Ive has been working with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on io for two years, and the duo expects to develop a family of AI devices. In a video shared by OpenAI, Altman and Ive outlined their partnership and what they expect to create as a result of the merger. "I have a growing sense that everything ...
Apple CarPlay Ultra instrument cluster themes 01

Apple's 'CarPlay Ultra' Experience Now Available

Thursday May 15, 2025 5:07 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its next-generation CarPlay experience, now dubbed "CarPlay Ultra" begins rolling out today, starting with Aston Martin vehicles. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. CarPlay Ultra is now available with new Aston Martin vehicle orders in the U.S. and Canada. It will also be available for existing models that feature the brand's next-generation ...

Top Rated Comments

GeoStructural Avatar
54 months ago
Privacy focused company discloses business owner’s home addresses.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nitramluap Avatar
54 months ago
It has serious privacy & safety implications. I’m a doctor and I have to have a ‘company’ but it’s just me in it... and it has no physical address nor any direct public interaction. It is a requirement for a business to have an address though (not a PO Box) so everyone uses their home address.

This has always been public domain data but it required someone knowing your actual business name and searching for it online. With Apple Maps using this data, people can simply bump into it scrolling on the map. If your business name isn’t cryptic, then everyone will know WHO lives in that house. Great for thieves to work out if a house is worth burgling...

I complained to Apple when I first saw this YEARS ago and they deleted my company name on Apple Maps immediately - so they WILL act, but I think it’s better if they didn’t use that dataset in the first place as it's not helpful.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
goonie4life9 Avatar
54 months ago
Folks, I just finished talking to a Senior Advisor and they assured me that this is most certainly not a problem, because if it was, they would have heard about it long before any customer noticed, because Apple support talks to millions of Apple Maps users an hour. The Senior Advisor assured me they were taking ownership of this case and would work to find a resolution that satisfies both of us. The first step in troubleshooting is to erase the MapOS and set it up as new. Now, the important thing is that you DON'T erase your entire device, just the MapOS. To do this, you need to go to Settings and then Maps. You'll scroll to the bottom and click the "Erase MapOS." Once you click "Erase MapsOS," it will ask you to confirm and once you click "Ok," it will begin the erasure. Once it is erased, it will download a fresh copy of MapsOS from Apple's servers.

If you don't see the "Erase MapOS" option, there is no further troubleshooting Apple can provide. Instead, the issue will need to be RTA'd to Engineering. To do that, you will need to download Capture Data onto your iOS device, run the data capture, with Mail Logging enabled of course, and submit the logs to Apple. Because Capture Data is a Mac app, you will not be able to run Capture Data on your iOS device. Instead, the Senior Advisor will submit the RTA to Engineering and Engineering will reply within 48 hours, to ask for screenshots of the bug. Engineering will provide no support if you don't cooperate with providing screenshots. Once you provide screenshots, Engineering will again reply in 48 hours, to determine if you are using Apple Maps or a third-party map app. Once you confirm that you are using Apple Maps, they will issue Apple's Official Position on the matter: No further support will be provided because you need to keep your device up to date.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Macyourdayy Avatar
54 months ago
Finally an explanation why our suburbs are littered with small businesses that shouldn’t be there. What a dumb ass cock up. It’s been like this since 2012.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
54 months ago
Well here you go folks...

It’s not as bad as the video clip below. APPLE Will sort it out.

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
hagar Avatar
54 months ago

i add the fact macos maps APP still dont allows to navigate from a manually selected point on the map to another. but who cares! shareholders dont use gps. they have a chauffeur!
Yes it does. On the iPad, drop a pin on the map and press Directions. In the direction details window, by default “my location“ is selected as the starting point. Click on it to change the route. Next, choose your desired starting point on the map. It will appear in the list underneath the start and stop points. Select it to set it as your start point (Or first press the up down button to swap them and set the end point).

You have now directions from and to manually selected points on the map.

(On the iPhone, it seems you need to enter the address of at least the start or destination as the map is covered by the direction details pop-up window.)
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)