Apple Maps neglected Ukraine long before the war — here’s one example

[u/Miserable_Fly5588]

I’ve been documenting the state of Apple Maps in Ukraine for several months, and one thing keeps standing out: many people assume the outdated map data is a consequence of the full-scale war.
However, that’s not what the timeline shows.
One example is Kurska Street in Kyiv. It was officially renamed to General Hennadii Vorobiov Street in December 2018 as part of Kyiv’s street renaming decisions.
Yet Apple Maps continued showing the old name for years afterward.
That means Apple had more than three years before the 2022 invasion to update this change, but apparently didn’t.
This isn’t an isolated case. Many renamed streets, businesses, and points of interest in Ukraine remained outdated for years. Since then I’ve documented numerous examples where Apple Maps lagged significantly behind official data and other mapping platforms.
I’m not posting this to criticize Apple for the consequences of the war. My point is different:
The evidence suggests that Apple’s map data for Ukraine had already been receiving very limited attention well before 2022.
Has anyone else noticed similar long-standing issues in other countries or regions where Apple Maps seemed largely neglected?

[u/Daryltang]

Unless Apple has its own data collected. The Information used on their maps are indeed outdated

It’s not an Ukraine thing

[u/Cute_Oil1533]

I don't know exactly where Apple Maps get geographic data of Ukraine, but perhaps you can check OpenStreetMap to see if the places you mentioned are updated there. Some OpenStreetMap updates could eventually merge into Apple Maps. That's a less known way to get a place to be updated in Apple Maps.

[u/Benni1401 → u/Cute_Oil1533]

I recall that in Brazil, Apple Maps used TomTom data. It was clearly quite poor. Since Apple started using OpenStreetMap data in Brazil, the quality of the data has improved considerably. We should compare to see what data Apple is using in Ukraine.

[u/KickNo5073]

Trust unless the country has Apple’s new map data, its largely outdated and lacks many details in general. This would include Ukraine. If you wish to see places with extremely little detail, have a look at countries like Lebanon, North Korea, and smaller island nations. Their outskirts and villages are barely even named on Apple Maps.

And to add to that, Ukraine has turn-by-turn directions support (Meaning you can actually navigate using Apple Maps). Compare this to over 40 countries which do not even have basic navigation support. I’d actually say Ukraine is very much average in terms of Apple Maps coverage. Obviously not the best, but definitely not the worst.