Australian police have warned users not to use Apple Maps because the program has led people “off the beaten track in recent weeks” and got them in “potentially life threatening” situations.
Specifically, motorists using Apple Maps in iPhones using the iOS 6 platform should be wary, Victoria Police warned on Monday.
Since its inception, Apple Maps has received a bevy of criticism for being inaccurate, inconvenient, and for replacing Google Maps in their Apple devices.
“Local Police have been called to assist distressed motorists who have become stranded within the Murray-Sunset National Park after following directions on their Apple iPhone,” reads a statement from police. The hapless motorists had been trying to get to the city of Mildura, which Apple Maps places approximately 43 miles southwest of its actual location.
In the Park, there is no water and temperatures can reach as high as 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit), police said. For these reasons, Victoria Police described the situation as “life threatening.”
Victoria Wake told the Australia Broadcasting Corporation that she was traveling with her companion from Adelaide to Mildura two weeks ago but they got lost for five hours in Murray National Park. They eventually blew out a tire and couldn’t go any further.
“We had no water, we had nothing to eat,” she told the broadcaster. “We had the shelter of the car, but obviously you don’t want to keep running the car and putting the air conditioner because you don’t know how long you’re going to be there.”
Victoria Police added that some of the motorists who were eventually located by police have been stranded for as long as 24 hours, walking long distances to get a phone reception.
Inspector Simon Clemence told the Australia Broadcasting Corporation: “It’s quite a dangerous situation, so we would be calling for people not to use the new Apple iPhone mapping system if they’re traveling from South Australia to Mildura.”
The slew of problems in Apple Maps has not gone unnoticed by Apple’s leadership.
Last month, the company fired an executive who oversaw its development and CEO Tim Cook issued an apology for the program’s problems in September.
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