Apple celebrates Aboriginal culture in Maps update, showcasing traditional names and lands

Australians will now be able to view traditional Aboriginal place names on Apple Maps after the tech titan joined companies such as Qantas in showcasing indigenous heritage.

The Eora Nation (bottom left) is now displayed alongside Sydney in Apple Maps as the tech titan adopts Aboriginal names across Australia.

Apple Maps now displays traditional Aboriginal names for places across Australia, joining companies such as Qantas and Australia Post in celebrating indigenous heritage, as part of its biggest overhaul of the popular app.

The Maps update has been a four-year project, with Apple saying it has only scratched the surface in highlighting how technology can help preserve culture and enhance education.

The tech titan has worked with indigenous advisers, cartographers, traditional owners, language holders, and community members to complete the automatic upgrade, which went live on Thursday afternoon.

Indigenous groups can also submit pictures of their local communities to create place cards to generate further awareness, and a similar update has been launched in New Zealand.

How a place card appears for the Mamadawerre Aboriginal community in Apple Maps.

Apple says its goal to build the world’s best map, with Google its main competitor. Both companies have also adopted dual names for the the Gulf of Mexico, following Donald Trump’s executive order to rename it the Gulf of America.

The Aboriginal titles also brings Australia in line with the US and Canada, where Apple has also displayed indigenous place names.

Like the maps that feature in many Qantas lounges, Apple sourced data from the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. But unlike those maps, Apple chose not to show defined borders of traditional nations – only the names over the respective general areas - given some are contentious.

Instead, borders are only shown on protected areas and Aboriginal land trusts. It also shows dual titles only where traditional names have been officially adopted. For instance, Sydney Cove is also displayed as Warrane and Mount Wellington in Hobart is also called Kunanyi, but Melbourne does not have Naarm – the city’s traditional indigenous name – shown alongside it.

Apple users can also chose to display Aboriginal names in other apps such as Weather.

But if someone types in Naarm to Maps, it will display Melbourne.

Sydney appears to have the most dual titles in the upgrade, with Lavender Bay, Farm Cove and Campbells Cove also called Gooweebahree, Wahganmuggalee and Meeliyahwool respectively. The city is labelled as being part of the Eora Nation.

Apple has also displayed the variety of spellings for traditional place names to help prevent confusion.

Indigenous lands will also be displayed in other apps like Weather and Find My, as well as in third-party apps that use MapKit – Apple’s platform that allows developers to integrate interactive maps, geolocation, and navigation features into their programs.

It comes after most of Australia’s 20 biggest companies – including BHP, the big four banks, Telstra and Woolworths – backed the Yes campaign in the Indigenous Voice referendum in late 2023. Despite the corporate support, more than 60 per cent of Australians rejected the proposal.

But negotiations began last November for Australia’s first treaty between the Victorian government and the group tasked with representing the state’s First Peoples.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said: “Treaty is our opportunity at this point in our history to reset the relationship between the state of Victoria and the First Peoples of Victoria”.

“We know that we need to get better outcomes, and we know the outcomes right now are not fair, they’re not equal. Because throughout history, since colonisation, First Peoples in this state have been excluded from opportunity.”

Apple Maps displays information about the Wurundjeri people in Melbourne.

Apple’s senior director of environment, policy and social initiatives Alisha Johnson also announced community grants that aim to preserve culture and boost technology skills.

This includes supporting the Worawa Aboriginal College, a boarding school in Victoria, for young Aboriginal women who come from communities in urban, regional, and remote Australia, and the Djamu Youth Justice Program – an initiative from the Art Gallery of NSW.

Apple Maps now displays the dual titles for places like Mount Wellington in Hobart with its Aboriginal name Kunanyi.

Ms Johson said Apple’s funding supports Indigenous young people in the justice system, creating “meaningful connections to art and culture, and providing opportunities to learn about vocational pathways in the arts”.

“We believe that our technology can really empower, leaving the world better than we found it, which is how we really like to approach all of this work,” Ms Johnson said.

“We’re also supporting efforts to care for traditional country through regeneration and drive other solutions that address climate change, which is a core priority for Apple.”

This includes partnering with Karrkad Kanjdji Trust, established by traditional owners of the Warddeken and Djelk Indigenous Protected Areas across West and Central Arnhem Land. Apple’s funding will help bolster current and upcoming community-owned education initiatives on-Country, including three new Homeland schools.

“At Karrkad Kanjdji Trust, we know that caring for Country is a deeply interconnected practice — one that brings together people, culture, knowledge, and landscapes,” said KKT’s chief executive Stacey Irving.

“This work is powerful because it weaves together First Nations leadership, traditional knowledge, science, technology, and community, creating a holistic approach to sustaining both people and place.”

Apple Maps now displays Warrane and Wahganmuggalee, the respective Aboriginal names for Sydney Cove and Farm Cove.

Apple is also introducing its third Foundation Program – an initiative that teaches people, even with no coding experience, how to become app developers – at Edith Cowan University in Perth. It first introduced the program in 2018 at RMIT in Melbourne.

It expects more than 100 students will complete the program at Edith Cowan University in its first year.

Originally published as Apple celebrates Aboriginal culture in Maps update, showcasing traditional names and lands