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MacOS location services are TERRIBLE compared to Windows

MacOS makes online shopping a horrible experience!

When I use any browser to get to the website of a store that also has physical locations, I always see the default local store listed at a location in a nearby state rather than the town my computer resides in. My guess is that the MacOS is getting it's location from the location of my ISPs local server farm. Which is really stupid. It was really annoying the other day when I was trying to set up an appointment with the local Apple store. The web site kept trying to set up appointments in the nearby state! Very Lame.

Last night I booted the Mac into Windows 10 (for gaming), just to see, I opened the website for a store with local and not so local physical locations. Yup, Windows got my location right on the first try. Wow! (I had never visited this website on the Windows side previously).

I do have location services enabled on the MacOS and clicked on for Safari in the Mac OS settings. I don't have WiFI turned on, since I am about 2 feet away from my router and Ethernet is sooo much faster. I tried this with other browsers and get the same bad results.

Can somebody tell me if there is some hidden setting in the MaOS to get this to work correctly? I know it can work, obviously Windows can get it right.

Posted on Nov 14, 2021 6:10 AM

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lllaass

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210,513 points

Posted on Nov 15, 2021 10:12 AM

Without WiFi how would you expect Apple/the Mac to know your location?

even if your router does not have WiFi, to my knowledge location services would use the location of wifi networks "visible" to the Mac.

Did your iMac ever have wifi on?

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33 replies

Owl-53

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Nov 14, 2021 8:01 AM in response to TBade

https://www.geolocation.com and does it show a relatively accurate physical location of you position.

TBade Author

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Nov 14, 2021 3:40 PM in response to dialabrain

WiFi has to be turned on? Wow. What if I said my router didn't have WiFi at all? Why would it? My home is wired for ethernet. Everything moves very fast over the wire.

See my comment on Apple being "mobil-centric". This doesn't bode well for the future of the Mac.

TBade Author

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Nov 15, 2021 4:17 PM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks, that is a very informative answer. I like to understand how the technology works. So Apple doesn't use my contact information to determine where I am. I might have told my BootCamp Windows partition were I was when I installed it (I don't recall), but I have never provided it any personal information. (Phone number, address, etc).

Thanks for the link explaining how MS does it. It was interesting.

Barney-15E

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Nov 15, 2021 5:42 PM in response to TBade

So essentially it is a Mobile-centric decision on Apple's part. The article is all about cell phones. My iMac a large not very portable iPhone, LOL!

I’ts pretty much identical to how Windows does it; you don’t seem to find a problem with how they do it. What exactly do you see that doesn’t make your Winbox a large winphone?

TBade Author

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Nov 16, 2021 4:46 AM in response to Barney-15E

To answer your question, when I boot into Windows using BootCamp, I also do not have WiFi turned on. However, when I go to a web site, it somehow manages to find locations near my home and not where the server farm is. This is very much different from what happens when I boot into MacOS.

TBade Author

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Nov 16, 2021 8:17 AM in response to etresoft

Thanks for the reply. It is interesting how various sites find locations of the computer. In the case of the Apple store appointment, there were local appointments (I was eventually able to schedule one). With Apple support on the line I found a way to do it. I had to search for a store using my zip code, then click on one of the two links on the page to schedule the appointment locally. (The other link brought be to the stores in the nearby state. even though I had selected the local store.) That was frustrating.

I am not sure where you got the gaming site thought from. I was mentioned. booting my iMac into Windows OS using BootCamp, and using a browser on the Windows side. I did mention that I use the BootCamp Windows partition only for gaming. Mainly to point out that I don't give Windows OS any personal information like address, contacts, phone numbers, and so forth.

Thanks for the thoughts.

TBade Author

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Nov 16, 2021 8:55 AM in response to Barney-15E

Hiding the IP address, you are referring to the beta program offered in Monterey. I decided to keep that turned off.

It would be silly of me to use something like that and then complain about web sites getting the wrong location! I knew that much at least :-)

lllaass

Level 10

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Nov 14, 2021 8:11 AM in response to Owl-53

For me that link shows me off by ~1 mile while Apple Maps shows me spot on.

Owl-53

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Nov 14, 2021 8:17 AM in response to lllaass

Interesting - using Wifi and Both. Apple Maps and linked site are showing my location within 5 meters of actual.

dialabrain

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Nov 14, 2021 8:38 AM in response to Owl-53

Apple Maps & Geolocation both locate me about 50ft or so across the street at my neighbors house. Google Maps on the other hand shows our location in the middle of our roof.

Owl-53

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Nov 14, 2021 8:40 AM in response to dialabrain

Well at least you are in the right State :-))

dialabrain

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Nov 14, 2021 8:49 AM in response to Owl-53

Indeed. Although I don't really need Location Services to locate my house. I know where I live. 😎

dialabrain

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Nov 14, 2021 1:53 PM in response to Barney-15E

Yes. Meant to direct that at Steve. :)

Barney-15E

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Nov 14, 2021 4:24 PM in response to TBade

I will try to WiFI suggestion, but it really seems dumb to have WiFi turned on when I am connected to a router with gigabit ethernet.

How does your router with gigabit ethernet know where it is?

Barney-15E

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Nov 15, 2021 1:23 PM in response to lllaass

Yes, I already know that? Did you intend to reply to TBade?

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MacOS location services are TERRIBLE compared to Windows