Apple Maps

226 'Apple Maps' stories July 2013 - July 2016

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When the iPhone first launched, it was preloaded with Google Maps. In 2012, Apple replaced it with its own mapping application known as Apple Maps. It launched in beta in the iOS 6 beta, and was released to the public that fall.

After its launched, it was clear that it was no on the same level of quality as Google Maps. The poor launch led to a public apology from Tim Cook and ultimately led to the firing of Scott Forstall.

Apple Maps Features

Over the years, Apple has continued to adds features to Apple Maps. iOS 11 brought lane guidance and a speed limit widget on the navigation, and indoor location mapping.

Apple has also added proactive location suggestions (time to get home when you are leaving work, etc), integration with public transit, Yelp integration, and integration with ride sharing services like Lyft and Uber.

With iOS 12, Apple has proclaimed they are rebuilding Maps from the ground up.

Maps is being rebuilt from the ground up to better reflect the world around you. The new underlying map uses Apple data and features enhanced geographic context like pedestrian paths and parks, more detailed building outlines and parking lots, better road network coverage, and more. You’ll also be able to get where you’re going with improved routes, whether you’re on the road or on foot. The new Maps is now available in Northern California and is coming soon to the rest of the United States.

While the general consensus is that Google Maps offers more accurate data and navigation, Apple Maps is widely considered to be the most used mapping application in the world since it’s built into every iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Google Maps continues attempt to tempt back iOS users with cleaner UI, highlighted ‘areas of interest’ [Video]

Ben Lovejoy Jul 26 2016 - 4:09 am PT

New user-interface seen on the left

While Apple Maps got off to a rocky start, with many of us opting to use Google Maps instead, it did manage to gradually win back our confidence – with three times as many users as its Google rival by the end of last year. But Google is working hard to tempt back iOS users with an improved user-interface and a new way to highlight where the action is when visiting a new city.

The most visible difference is that many road outlines have been replaced with solid color. This small change makes a surprisingly big difference to the clarity of the maps, as seen above. But it’s the new ‘areas of interest’ feature that may provide the greatest temptation to switch apps …

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Apple opening new office in India to develop Apple Maps, creating up to 4000 jobs

Benjamin Mayo May 19 2016 - 1:42 am PT

In a press release, Apple has announced it is opening a new development office in Hyderabad, India. The team located here will apparently focus on improving Apple Maps, which is deeply integrated across Apple’s hardware and software as dedicated apps and embedded in other services, like Siri. The new center will create up to 4000 new jobs in the local economy. It is currently unclear as to the nature of the workforce, as Apple has preferred to keep its core software engineering team in California with most working solely in Cupertino.

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Apple expands Flyover, Spotlight Suggestions, & traffic data to new locations

Chance Miller Apr 28 2016 - 4:15 pm PT

Apple today has expanded its popular Apple Maps Flyover feature to a pair of new cities, while it has also rolled out Spotlight Suggestions to new countries and its traffic data to a single new location. Last month, the company expanded Maps Nearby, Flyover, and traffic data to a handful of new locations, following a more significant Flyover expansion that occurred in February of this year.

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FruityMaps lets you try out Apple’s upcoming MapKit web API now

Greg Barbosa Apr 19 2016 - 7:18 am PT

Not soon after the news of Apple potentially opening MapKit as a web API, creative developer Tim Broddin has gone ahead and developed a proof of concept showing what that experience might look like in the future. Fruity Maps mimics a very basic Apple Maps view similar to what you’ve likely encountered with embedded web versions of Google Maps. While it’s missing most features that would make it fully usable (such as pins and searching), it gives us a very nice idea of the extent that Apple Maps might be utilized by developers on a desktop experience.

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Apple brings Maps Nearby, Flyover, and traffic features to more locations

Jordan Kahn Mar 29 2016 - 2:09 pm PT

Apple has today updated its list of iOS 9 feature availability to note the addition of its Maps ‘Nearby’ feature for more countries.

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watchOS 2.2 is now available, Apple Watch gains enhanced Maps app + multi-watch pairing support

Zac Hall Mar 21 2016 - 11:59 am PT

Alongside iOS 9.3 today, Apple has released watchOS 2.2, the latest software update for all Apple Watch owners. Starting with watchOS 2.2, iPhones running iOS 9.3 or later can pair and swap between multiple Apple Watch models; changing between Apple Watch models previously required a lengthy unpairing and re-pairing process. Apple Watch users will also notice an enhanced Maps app and more starting with the watchOS 2.2 update.

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watchOS 2.2 beta 4 for Apple Watch w/ new Maps app is now available

Zac Hall Feb 22 2016 - 9:56 am PT

Apple today has released the fourth watchOS 2.2 beta for Apple Watch developers. In terms of new features, the watchOS 2.2 so far has added a totally revamped Apple Maps app and glance, and it’s required to use iOS 9.3 beta’s new multi-watch feature. We’ll check out the latest beta version of the upcoming release and highlight any changes below.

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Apple Maps adds 5 new U.S. Flyover locations, 15 more international ones

Ben Lovejoy Feb 4 2016 - 4:06 am PT

Apple has today listed 20 new Flyover locations on its iOS 9 feature availability page, five of them in the USA, the rest overseas. The latest U.S. locations are:

Columbus, Ohio
Louisville, Kentucky
South Bend, Indiana
Springfield, Missouri
Tucson, Arizona …

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Apple Maps now used 3x as often as Google Maps on iOS, serving 5B requests per week

Chance Miller Dec 7 2015 - 7:11 pm PT

It’s no secret that when Apple Maps launched back in 2012 it had more than its fair share of issues. The issues included things like incorrect turn-by-turn directions, mislabeled landmarks, and much more. Three years later, however, Apple has been working to remedy the issues its had and according to a new report out of The Boston Globe, the improvements aren’t going unnoticed by users.

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Apple adds Foursquare business listings to Apple Maps

Jordan Kahn Nov 16 2015 - 11:51 am PT

Apple has quietly confirmed that it’s adding business listing information from Foursquare to Apple Maps. The addition was spotted on Apple’s acknowledgements page for Maps listing the various contributors of data for Apple’s mapping service (via Apple Maps Marketing).

It’s unclear exactly how Apple is using Foursquare data, but it’s likely users will begin to notice points of interest related data from the service appearing soon. Apple already partners with various companies for the data and other features it uses in Maps including TomTom, booking.com, TripAdvisor, Yelp and others.

Apple uses Yelp and booking.com, for example, to show reviews for local points of interest like restaurants and hotels, and it’s possible Apple will be tapping into Foursquare for similar features.

Foursquare claims to have over 2 million businesses using the service and over 70 million tips, which are essentially reviews and comments for local businesses, submitted by users.

Apple has a hidden ‘indoor GPS’ app in the App Store, for Apple Maps Connect [Updated]

Ben Lovejoy Nov 2 2015 - 4:14 am PT

Apple has an Indoor Survey app on the iOS App Store, designed to help pinpoint locations inside a store, restaurant or other business – but it doesn’t show up in a search, and you need to register in Apple Maps Connect to download it.

By dropping “points” on a map within the Survey App, you indicate your position within the venue as you walk through. As you do so, the indoor Survey App measures the radio frequency (RF) signal data and combines it with an iPhone’s sensor data. The end result is indoor positioning without the need to install special hardware …

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Apple’s artificial intelligence work is being hurt by its extreme secrecy, say AI academics

Ben Lovejoy Oct 30 2015 - 4:56 am PT

Apple’s famed obsession with secrecy in its product development process is hampering its work in the field of artificial intelligence, say academics working in the field. Bloomberg reports that AI experts believe that lack of two-way sharing of information slows development.

“Apple is off the scale in terms of secrecy,” says Richard Zemel, a professor in the computer science department at the University of Toronto. “They’re completely out of the loop.”

Apple Maps was cited as an example of what can go wrong when AI teams within Apple are cut off from other work being done in the field – and even from researchers in other teams within Apple. Worse, it is claimed, the approach makes it impossible for Apple to recruit the brightest people in the field …

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Apple Watch coming to India on November 6 as Maps hints at Apple Pay launch in Australia

Zac Hall Oct 23 2015 - 8:41 am PT

[Update 10/27: Apple Pay through American Express in Canada and Australia coming this year; Spain, Singapore, and Hong Kong next year.]

Apple Watch may have first launched all the way back in April, but the roll out in more countries around the world is still taking place. Availability for India now appears to have an official date with Apple’s website confirming a release scheduled for early next month on November 6th.

Details are limited on Apple Watch pricing and retail availability just yet, as only the date has been added to the India listing. The news comes as Apple CEO Tim Cook met with India’s Prime Minister last month, discussing Apple Pay and possibly bringing Apple Stores to the country, which would require manufacturing in the country, where Apple currently relies on resellers for distribution.

While Apple Watch is set to hit even more countries, signs that the Apple Pay could be expanding too have surfaced…
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Apple Maps gains Amtrak routes + Boston transit, partners with Yellow Pages in Canada for business data

Zac Hall Oct 19 2015 - 11:36 am PT

Apple delivered a major upgrade to Maps in iOS 9, OS X El Capitan, and watchOS 2 with the addition of transit directions in select cities, and now its rolling out additional cities and transportation methods to bolster that feature. In addition to expanding transit, Apple has found a new partner in Canada to provide rich local business data for use in Maps.
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Apple acquires location data collection startup Mapsense for $25 million

Chance Miller Sep 16 2015 - 2:35 pm PT

Apple is no stranger to acquiring companies to bolster its Apple Maps offering and now it appears that the company has acquired yet another company to do just that. According to a report out of Re/code, Apple today has acquired Mapsense, a San Francisco-based startup that focused on building software that analyzed and visualized location data.

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Apple said to be developing ‘advanced mapping technology’ at R&D center in Sweden

Zac Hall Sep 15 2015 - 7:34 am PT

Reports surfaced last fall that Apple was opening a new research and development office in Lund, Sweden, continuing a wave of new satellite locations outside of headquarters in Cupertino, California. Rapidus (via tech.eu) has followed up with a new details now claiming that Apple’s been building out operations in Lund over the last several months to develop ‘advanced mapping technology’ for Apple Maps. The ramp up of hiring at the Swedish offices focused on mapping comes four years after Apple bought C3 Technologies, which translated to Apple’s Flyover and 3D features in Maps.
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Apple Watch How-To: Use Maps for navigation and directions

Sarah Guarino Aug 20 2015 - 11:11 am PT

Apple Watch comes with Apple Maps, which allows you to find your current location, pan and zoom around on the area, search the map, get information about a location, call a location, get directions, and more. One of the benefits of having Maps on the watch is that it allows you to get directions without needing to pull out your iPhone, especially if you happen to be lost or in a sketchy neighborhood. In this how-to article, we will discuss how to use Apple Maps on the Apple Watch.

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Apple reveals data sources for transit directions in Maps on iOS 9

Chance Miller Aug 19 2015 - 4:01 pm PT

With iOS 9, Apple revealed that its Maps service would begin to support transit directions. The service supports buses, trains, subways, and ferries and will be available in 10 cities at launch later this year. One big question, however, centered around where Apple was obtaining its transit data from. Now, Apple has updated its Apple Maps Acknowledgements webpage with a breakdown of where transit data from each city is coming (via Apple Maps Marketing).

The webpage reveals that Apple’s transit data from twenty different sources, with each source providing data for a single city in most cases. For instance, three different sources are contributing transit data for Berlin and three other sources are contributing to San Francisco transit data. Some sources include Flixbus, Metrolinx, and MiWay. The full list of sources can be seen on the Acknowledgements webpage here.

Apple’s Maps webpage also now lists that both Positron Technologies and DAC Group are supplying business listings to Apple Maps. Previously, the data was being supplied only by Yext, so with the addition of two new sources, there should now be both more information and more businesses listed in Apple Maps.

When Apple Maps transit launches later this year, the feature will be supported in Baltimore, Berlin, Chicago, London, Mexico City, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Toronto, and Washington DC, with expansion occurring as time progresses.

Apple bringing its Maps vehicles to France, Sweden & more US/UK cities

Jordan Kahn Jul 27 2015 - 9:51 am PT

Apple has announced an expansion of its Apple Maps vehicle program, a fleet of vans equipped with advanced sensors collecting data for an improved Maps experience. Among the new locations, Apple will be bringing the vehicles to France and Sweden for the first time, while it also plans to survey a long list of new cities in the US and UK where it’s already started surveying.

We first reported on the project back in May, noting that Apple was gathering data to reduce its reliance on third-parties, including getting Google Street View-type images of storefronts and other 3D imagery.

For France, Apple lists the following areas already scheduled for surveying: Hauts-de-Seine, Paris (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th), Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne.

For Sweden, the areas the company plans to visit include: Malmö in Skåne County, and Stockholm (Bromma, Enskede-Årsta-Vantör, Farsta, Hägersten-Liljeholmen, Hässelby-Vällingby, Kungsholmen, Norrmalm, Rinkeby-Kista, Skarpnäck, Skärholmen, Spånga-Tensta, Södermalm, Älvsjö, Östermalm).

Apple has also added a number of new areas in the UK and US that it plans to survey from August 17th to August 30th next month. The full list is on its website here along with other dates scheduled for data collection in various locations.

Apple expanding its camera-equipped vans to 13 new states this month for continued Maps data collection

Chance Miller Jul 1 2015 - 3:56 pm PT

Apple today has updated its Apple Maps vehicles webpage with a list of new cities it will begin surveying later this month. Earlier this year we reported that Apple was using its camera-equipped vans to collect next-gen Maps data, including Street View storefronts and 3D images. Apple now has revealed 13 new U.S. that it will begin surveying later this month, as well as a handful of locations in the U.K. and Ireland.

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Apple adds 7 new 3D Flyover locations to Maps

Chance Miller Jun 23 2015 - 7:04 pm PT

Kingston upon Hull

Apple today has added seven new cities to its Flyover feature in Maps. Flyover, for those unfamiliar offers high resolution 3D imagery of locations via the Apple Maps app. Apple added 20 new Flyover locations back in April, including the Arches National Park in Utah. In February, the company added nine new cities, including Venice. Today’s new additions can be seen below and bring the total number of Flyover locations to 148.

Almería, Spain
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Braga, Portugal
Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
Karlsruhe, Germany
Kiel, Germany
Kingston upon Hull, England

Apple offers a list of all Flyover cities on its feature availability page. You can view that list here. Also earlier this year, Apple began adding animated 3D imagery of places like the London Eye and Big Ben in the UK.
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Apple officially confirms it is building its own mapping, with Street View style imagery

Ben Lovejoy Jun 10 2015 - 3:56 am PT

We exclusively revealed last month that Apple is developing its own mapping database, complete with 3D Street View imagery – and the company has now officially confirmed this on a new webpage.

Apple is driving vehicles around the world to collect data which will be used to improve Apple Maps. Some of this data will be published in future Apple Maps updates.

We are committed to protecting your privacy while collecting this data. For example, we will blur faces and license plates on collected images prior to publication.

We first speculated back in February that this was the likely reason for the camera-equipped minivans leased by Apple, at a time when many were suggesting they were test beds for self-driving cars.

If you fancy trying to photobomb one of Apple’s camera vans, the company has posted a list of the locations they will be visiting later this month …
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Apple acquires Metaio, a firm behind Augmented Reality software

Mark Gurman May 28 2015 - 12:59 pm PT

Apple has acquired Metaio, a company specializing in several application related to augmented reality. Metaio mysteriously announced that it will stop selling its services last night, and filings with the German government this week indicate that the Apple acquisition is a done deal:

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iOS 9 Transit Maps to launch in a handful of cities in North America, Europe & China

Mark Gurman May 26 2015 - 12:55 pm PT

While Apple plans to debut its own mass transit directions service for Maps in iOS 9 as soon as June, the rollout will not be as ambitious as some users may have hoped. In its first iteration, Apple’s Transit service will only support approximately a half-dozen cities across the United States, Canada, and Europe, in addition to China, according to sources…

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