How Bad Are Apple Maps' Directions? So Bad They're Potentially 'Life Threatening

Motorists have been stranded in remote areas of Murray Sunset National Park in Australia by following Apple's Map service. (Image: Victoria Police News)

After several motorists followed Apple's iOS 6 map service and became stranded for more than 24 hours without food and water, Australian police are warning users away from using the direction-providing system.

Apple's Maps have been criticized as not up to par with the company's high product standard in the months since being released, but now the Mildura police in Victoria, Australia, have gone as far to call the service potentially "life threatening."

In a statement, the police department said:

Tests on the mapping system by police confirm the mapping systems lists Mildura in the middle of the Murray Sunset National Park, approximately 70km away from the actual location of Mildura.

Police are extremely concerned as there is no water supply within the Park and temperatures can reach as high as 46 degrees, making this a potentially life threatening issue.

Some of the motorists located by police have been stranded for up to 24 hours without food or water and have walked long distances through dangerous terrain to get phone reception.

According to CNET, the police have rescued six people in the Murray-Sunset National Park who were led astray by using the application on their iPhones.

"Anyone travelling to Mildura or other locations within Victoria should rely on other forms of mapping until this matter is rectified," the department advised in its statement.

Wired's Christina Bonnington wrote when she tested the application at 11:15 PST, the issue appeared to have been fixed. Apple has not made a statement with this issue specifically yet though.

Scott Forstall, the long-serving head of iPhone software development, stepped down and his responsibilities were divided among other executives recently, with some speculating his departure was in part related to the scathing reviews of the maps application. CEO Tim Cook apologized for the state of the service shortly after it replaced Google Maps on Apple devices.

Apple Senior VP of iPhone Software Scott Forstall demonstrates the new map application featured on iOS 6 in June, well before the issues with the service were experienced officially by users. (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

“While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app,” Cook wrote in statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

(H/T: Gizmodo)