Apple Maps "Refine Location" Doesn't Work for your Home

Question

Level 2

366 points

Apple Maps "Refine Location" Doesn't Work for your Home

I've already reported this to Apple - as have many other people, many times. But I recently noticed that this feature stopped working for me here in Canada when it used to work.

Maps shows my "home" pin based on the address in my address book. However that pin location is incorrect. There is a feature in Apple Maps that says "Refine Location on the Map" however when you drag the pin to refine the location nothing happens, it doesn't work. It continues to define your "home" as the location that Maps believes to be correct, even when it isn't and even when you've "refined" the location using the feature.

This impacts everything across macOS and iOS and HomePod and HomeKit, etc. because it always considers us "close by" our home but not actually at home, despite the fact that we're in the house, at home.

Has anyone found a way around this issue to let your Apple systems know that you are actually home?

Apple Maps shows my location correctly, it's the location of the Home pin that is incorrect, and despite all the devices being in the correct location, within the circle identifying where we actually are, the home pin remains elsewhere on the map.

I saw someone reported this as an issue in Indonesia, it's also an issue here in Canada.

What I'd like is a way to define home based on a location on the map, while maintaining my home address in my contacts, which is correct. Thanks for your helpful and relevant advice (i.e. anything but telling me to report this to apple because I already have).

Mac mini, macOS 13.3

Posted on May 12, 2023 2:29 AM

Reply

Answer 1

etresoft

Level 9

57,972 points

May 15, 2023 5:06 PM in response to Unaha-Closp

I recommend finding what Apple thinks is the address of your "Home" and set that as your "Home". Define your correct address under a different category. That way, all of the location information will be correct. But if you information ever gets stolen, it'll be wrong.

I'm in Canada and checked this. It has my address on the wrong side of the street. I can correct it and it seems to stick somewhat. It even syncs across iCloud. But it's also still wrong. If I click on the address somewhere else, like from Contacts, it still takes me to the wrong side of the street.

So it looks like that you can refine the location to some degree, but it may only be specifically the location of the icon on the map. Everywhere that has an actual address will use Apple's location for that address, which is 30 meters off in my case and about 76 km in your case.

I'm afraid that's as good as it gets. When Apple says "Designed in California", they aren't joking. Cars, and corporations, rule in California. Apple pays a lot of money for its location data. And Apple is getting royally ripped off. The data is junk. People are constantly complaining about it. (Apple regularly sets businesses to "permanently closed" and then Siri stops including it in searches.) But Apple's data has street addresses, and those matter more than GPS (which is a government project). What does the government, with all its satellites and engineers, know more than the licensed data that we paid so much for?

So my recommendation is just to figure out a workaround to live with it.

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Answer 2

Unaha-Closp Author

Level 2

366 points

May 12, 2023 2:33 AM in response to Unaha-Closp

Here's an example of the instructions Apple provides for this. They don't work. When you move the location and click done, the home stays in the incorrect location. I've done it again and again in macOS and iOS, on multiple devices, and it doesn't work.

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Answer 3

Owl-53

Level 10

106,923 points

May 12, 2023 4:03 AM in response to Unaha-Closp

The Apple Maps Application on macOS and iOS do not use iCloud to sync ones' location across the different devices.

On macOS the location is picked up from and over a Wifi Connection

On iOS the location is picked up from the Current Location via either Wifi Connection or of the Mobile Connection at the time the Maps application is invoked

At least it does not on 2 M1 and 1 M2 Apple computers and 1 iPhone 14 I use.

When I open Maps on computer via Wifi Connection, my Home Location is pretty accurate to within about 3 meters 🇨🇦

When I open Maps App on iPhone 14 the location is equally accurate as on the macOS Device

Try this link https://www.geolocation.com/ and how accurate is it showing on either macOS or iOS

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Answer 4

dialabrain

Level 10

137,277 points

May 12, 2023 4:14 AM in response to Owl-53

P. Phillips wrote:

Try this link https://www.geolocation.com/ and how accurate is it showing on either macOS or iOS

Interesting link. It can't find my location at all. Just to add, IP addresses can be very far off.

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Answer 5

Unaha-Closp Author

Level 2

366 points

May 15, 2023 4:38 PM in response to Barney-15E

Thank you, yes I've actually reported the problem repeatedly for a few years. I noticed someone else on here also reporting similar issues from Indonesia who had also reported the problem.

I hope someone fixes it! 😁

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Answer 6

Unaha-Closp Author

Level 2

366 points

May 15, 2023 4:42 PM in response to Owl-53

Thanks, this is an interesting test.

On macOS the location it identifies is about 1 hour and 45 minutes away (including a ferry), around 54 km away from where I actually am.

On iOS the location it identifies is about 2 hours away (including a ferry trip), around 76 km away from where I actually am.

The Weather app is also always wrong (on both macOS and iOS) but isn't identifying either of those two locations. (I've also reported the fact that the weather app is always wrong). But if I manually ask Siri on iOS, macOS, or HomePod for the weather using the name of my location it can provide it.

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Answer 7

dialabrain

Level 10

137,277 points

May 15, 2023 5:18 PM in response to Unaha-Closp

Unaha-Closp wrote:

Are you able to fix the location using the "refine location" feature? When you make an adjustment there does it stick?

Sorry. I lost track of thus thread shortly after it was posted. I don't have anything to refine. My "Home" is on top of my house. The "Current Location" which is based on Wi-Fi triangulation is centered about 20 ft or so from "Home".

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Answer 8

dialabrain

Level 10

137,277 points

May 15, 2023 5:24 PM in response to dialabrain

Just to add, I can pick up approximately 20 Wi-Fi networks , three of which are from my router, so I'm not surprised my current location is slightly off which I assume is caused by so many nearby Wi-Fi networks.

Edit: Make that 30+ Wi-Fi networks.

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Answer 9

dialabrain

Level 10

137,277 points

May 15, 2023 6:01 PM in response to dialabrain

Lastly, Apple Maps, Google Maps & OpenStreetMaps all show my current location across the street from my house by about the same amount. My iPhone on the other hand is closer but either locates me in our driveway or in my next door neighbor's house. It's not always stable.

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Answer 10

Unaha-Closp Author

Level 2

366 points

May 26, 2023 4:15 PM in response to etresoft

It looks like someone at Apple got tired of fielding my error reports from the maps app because they just moved the pin for the address right on top of my actual house. They fixed it.

Either that or the most recent OS updates included a fix for this. But it seems like a manual correction because one day it was suddenly moved.

I'd be curious to know if they will do the same for others who report it enough times!

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Answer 11

dialabrain

Level 10

137,277 points

May 12, 2023 3:56 AM in response to Unaha-Closp

Interesting. Here in the U.S., Home is correct and My Location is slightly off. Up to 75ft away from my address. It's closer on my iPhone because of GPS. But it's not exact.

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Answer 12

Owl-53

Level 10

106,923 points

May 12, 2023 4:22 AM in response to dialabrain

Within in about 3 meter if Zoom Way in on the Map

Hopefully OP in Canada tries this only for comparison purposes

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Answer 13

Barney-15E

Level 10

123,750 points

May 12, 2023 4:28 AM in response to Unaha-Closp

I don’t think you need to be refining the location. You need to report a problem. I think it’s in the menus on macOS, and at the bottom of the description panel in iOS.

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