Australian Firefighters Call Apple Maps 'Dangerous'

Country Fire Authority in Australia explains mapping solution's inaccuracies.

Apple's much-criticized maps app has been labelled "dangerous" by the Country Fire Authority in Victoria, Australia.

The CFA's FireReady app for iOS is used by citizens to report bushfires, with the app requiring users to utilize Apple Maps. However, several locations depicted on the app are inaccurate. "Macedon and a number of other Victorian towns are located incorrectly," the firefighters said.

Upon a fire being reported, the firefighters have been experiencing issues in locating the reported area due to the aforementioned inaccuracies. "Users report that towns are located on their maps at the center of the district rather than on the actual township itself," said a CFA spokesman.

One complaint was of a user stating that Apple Maps doesn't always show the name of the city or township, thereby making it difficult to find the exact location of a fire. CFA stressed that when it complained to Apple Australia, the firm told it to report the problem through the Apple Maps app itself.

"We would advise FireReady app users with iOS6 installed on their devices to disregard Apple Maps township locations and instead focus on street names and the location of incidents & warnings in relation to their GPS location," the CFA said.

CFA suggested that users employ more than one source for emergency information, with the agency mentioning its website (based on Google Maps), which also showcases warnings.

Australian Apple Maps users have been stranded in a park for 24 hours due to inaccuracies. Authorities have also issued a warning for those who use Google Maps. Since then, Apple has applied fixes to its mapping solution, as well as promising to deliver more throughout 2013.

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