Crimea is part of Ukraine again, according to Apple Maps
Crimea, a peninsula in the Black Sea, is part of Ukraine again, according to Apple Maps. Provided you don’t live in Russia, that is.
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Apple reverses controversial Maps change
In 2019, Apple made a controversial change to its Maps app. At the time, residents of Crimea saw their island in the app as a region of Russia. Maps showed Crimea as an independent region for the rest of the world. Apple has now reversed the change — possibly in response to the Ukraine-Russia war. Crimea belongs again to Ukraine, according to the Maps app.
Apple did not implement the change everywhere. In the Russian version of Apple Maps, Crimea still belongs to Russia. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine started years ago, in 2014. In that year, Russia occupied and annexed the Crimean peninsula – but this was not recognized as legitimate by most countries. A discussion arose among tech companies such as Apple and Google: to which country does Crimea really belong?
Both Apple and Google eventually decided to show Crimea as part of Russian territory—provided you were in Russia or on the peninsula itself. The rest of the world saw the peninsula as independent. It seems that Apple wants to give Ukraine a helping hand by making Crimea part of the country again. It may be a small gesture, but it means a lot.
Apple turns against Russia
Obviously, Apple is not behind the Russian invasion of Ukraine. For example, no more Apple products are exported to Russia and the online Apple Store in the country is unusable. On the Russian Apple Store website, all products, such as the Apple Watch, iPhones, iPads and MacBooks are “discontinued”. The Store is therefore still online, but no longer functional.
In addition to stopping the sale of products in Russia, Apple has implemented a number of other measures. For example, the popular RT News (Russia Today News) and Sputnik are no longer downloadable outside of Russia. With this, Apple prevents the spread of pro-Russian propaganda. Do you want to pay with your iPhone in Russia? Even then you are missing the point – Apple Pay no longer works there.
Also read: Apple stops selling products in Russia due to invasion of Ukraine
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