In Japan, where addresses are rather complicated, people had become highly accustomed to Google Maps' detailed direction-search function and Apple Maps has been a significant downgrade from what Japanese smartphones users expect from such a service.

Such mishaps as the duplication of the disputed Senkaku Islands and the inclusion of a train station bizarrely called Pachinko Gundam have been widely reported, but there are many other Japan-specific problems. These include major landmarks being located up to 400 meters from their actual position; maps that are not up-to-date (for example, am/pm convenience stores are still marked despite the chain being taken over by Family Mart in 2009); new roads and buildings are missing (including the absence of the huge new Shibuya Hikarie complex in Tokyo's Shibuya shopping district); the 3-D mode shows distorted shapes for well-known points of interest such as Tokyo Tower; and some place names are shown in Korean or Chinese instead of Japanese.