Apple's software wipes Staffordshire towns from map
It has a population of 250,000, one of Britain's most famous football clubs and a rich industrial history – but according to Apple's new map software, Wolverhampton doesn't exist.
Not only that, but proud towns throughout Staffordshire and the Black Country have been wiped off the map too.
According to new maps installed on millions of iphones, Cannock, West Bromwich and Walsall are nowhere to be found.
The mass of streets for the towns are in place, but they are not labelled up, leaving a stranger to this region to guess if they are in the right place.
Meanwhile, big billing is given on the maps to small villages like Swindon, Kinver and Huntington.
It also manages to find Wombourne, but spells it without the e.
The inaccuracies are the latest embarrassment for the global mobile phone manufacturer, which has decided to replace Google Maps on its products in favour of its own system.
The new maps use data from navigation firm TomTom and others, but have been shown to be less accurate than before, and in some cases just plain wrong.
In Wolverhampton, Molineux is placed in the correct position, but appears to be in the middle of a park. People using the app to search for Manchester United Football Club are directed to Sale United Football Club, a community team for ages five and above.
Users also reported missing local places, such as schools and another screenshot showed a furniture museum that was apparently located in a river.
Other notable towns in the region that appear to be missing include Stratford-upon-Avon and Solihull. Others, like Dublin are in the wrong location. Satellite images of various locations, particularly in Scotland, are obscured by cloud. And those that are clear are heavily pixelated.
The software comes already installed on the new iPhone and is available to download on existing phones.
TomTom said it provided only data and was not responsible for how it worked.
A spokesman said its maps provided only a "foundation" to the service, adding: "The user experience is determined by adding additional features to the map application such as visual imagery." The software is packaged with iOS6, the latest version of Apple's operating system, which runs on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.
Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said: "We launched this new map service knowing that it is a major initiative and we are just getting started with it.
"We are continuously improving it and the more people that use it, the better it will get."
