Hat Island is getting more crowded by the second, according to Apple Inc.
Along with Langley, Whidbey Island is inaccurately listed on the tech giant’s map program for mobile devices. It’s currently listed as being on the tiny isle, also known as Gedney.
Privately owned, Hat is in Possession Sound between Everett and the South End.
Island County Commissioner Helen Price Johnson confirmed Thursday that she was planning to petition the board to draft a formal letter to Apple seeking redress of the Langley error when she learned that Whidbey’s location is also misrepresented.
“It needs to be corrected,” Price Johnson said.
The error is on the app “Maps,” which comes preloaded into Apple mobile devices such as iPhones, iPads and the company’s laptop computers. It’s unclear how long either error has existed, but it may have been as long as three years.
Apple used Google maps for its mobile navigation programs until 2012, when it began using its own system. Riddled with errors, Apple Maps made international headlines and prompted a public apology from company CEO Tim Cook.
Apple’s iPhones claimed about 42 percent of the smartphone market in 2014 and, according to some reports, are so popular that nearly one in four Americans have one in their pocket.
Repeated requests to Apple’s media department concerning the issue were not returned.
Calculating any economic impacts from the snafu are difficult to quantify, said Ron Nelson, executive director of the Island County Economic Development Council. Last year during July, August and September, Langley raked in $3.6 million in food and accommodation sales, and Island County $28.4 million.
“Would it impact those numbers? Yeah,” Nelson said. “But how much, I don’t know.”
Price Johnson agreed, particularly considering the scale of the errors.
“I wonder how many people are using Apple Maps if it’s that off,” she said.
She owns an iPhone but said she doesn’t use the Maps program, preferring instead second-party downloaded apps such as Google Maps. She speculated that she’s not alone, that many Apple customers use navigation programs with more reliable reputations, and commenters echoed her sentiments.
Yet, Nelson and the commissioner said the issue needs to be addressed. Nelson said his office would be sending Apple a letter asking it to fix the problem, and Price Johnson plans to bring the matter to the board at its Tuesday meeting next week. She also encouraged the public to contact Apple. As a private company, Apple has no obligation to make the fix, she said, but more requests won’t hurt.
“If they aren’t responding to newspapers, maybe they’ll respond to more people reaching out to them,” Price Johnson said.
