maps

Action-packed iOS 14 concept crams tons of new features on iPhone

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iOS-14
We hope Apple adds this much new stuff to iOS 14.
Photo: Stijn van Oosterwijk

With all the iOS 14 leaks dropping ahead of WWDC 2020 we already have a pretty solid idea which new features will make the cut, but concept designer Stijn van Oosterwijk has a couple dozen other ideas that would make iOS 14 the biggest iPhone update ever.

Oosterwijk’s new iOS 14 concept video is jammed with new features. The video starts with a new incoming call screen and keeps pouring on other goodies. There’s lock screen widgets, a completely new Tools app, a translate app, an AR experience within the Maps app and so much more.

How many new features can you count?

Apple job listing hints at travel recommendations for Apple Maps

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Apple-Maps-Look-Around
Apple Maps could help you find great places to visit in the future.
Photo: Apple

Apple appears to be on the hunt for new recruits who can help it bring travel recommendations to Apple Maps.

The company is seeking editors for the Maps team in Culver City, California, who will help build a “brand-new content category.” It wants people who have an “insatiable curiosity for discovering new places.”

Apple Maps brings brilliant Look Around to Boston, Philadelphia, Washington

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Look-Around-NYC
Look Around in action in New York City.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Apple Maps’ brilliant Look Around feature (its own version of Street View) is now live for Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.

The expansion comes less than a month after Apple rolled out major Maps improvements to all users in the United States. It means Look Around now supports a total of nine locations, with more likely to come in 2020.

Apple Maps transit directions expand reach across Europe

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iOS 9 transit maps
Now live in France, Germany, Spain, and more.
Photo: Apple

Apple Maps transit directions are now expanding their reach across Europe.

The feature was previously available in only a handful of regions outside the United States. It can now be enjoyed in cities across France, Germany, and Spain as part of Apple’s mission to improve functionality for Europe in 2020.

CarPlay is better than ever in iOS 13 — here’s what’s new

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CarPlay-dashboard-iOS-13
My cheap Kia came with CarPlay as standard.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

iOS 13 doesn’t just mean big improvements for your iPhone. Apple is making some pretty significant enhancements to CarPlay, too, including a brand-new dashboard and better apps.

Some of these great new CarPlay features are long overdue. Here’s everything you can expect from Apple’s in-car platform in iOS 13.

Everything you need to know about iOS 13 and iPadOS

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The new iPadOS.
The new iPadOS.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

WWDC 2019 bugWow, iOS 13 is quite something. We got most of what we wanted, and a lot more. Proper USB support, an improved Files app, plus a radical new UI paradigm for the iPad. And what about that mouse support!

Let’s take a look at the main points. And over the coming weeks and months, we’ll be going extremely deep on everything that’s new in iOS 13.

Google Maps now helps you dodge speeding tickets while driving

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Google Maps speed traps
You won’t miss those speed traps with Google Maps.
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Google Maps now shows you speed limits and speed traps while you’re driving in several countries around the world.

Google started testing the feature a couple of years ago, but only in the San Francisco Bay Area and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Now it is expanding its on both Android and iOS.

Apple Maps gets turn-by-turn navigation in another key market

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Updated Apple Maps rolls out in Pacific Northwest and Midwest
Enjoy turn-by-turn navigation in India today.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

Turn-by-turn navigation in Apple Maps has expanded its reach to one of Apple’s most important markets. Users in India can finally take advantage of the feature when driving or walking.

Apple has also added the ability to book a cab through Uber or Ola from within the Maps app.

This Siri Shortcut lets you ditch Google Maps for Apple Maps

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Updated Apple Maps rolls out in Pacific Northwest and Midwest
Enjoy turn-by-turn navigation in India today.
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac

If you click a Google Maps link on your iPhone, it either opens in the Google Maps app or — if the app isn’t installed — it opens Google Maps in Safari. But what if you prefer to have that link open in Apple Maps? To good news is tat it’s an easy fix, using iOS 12’s new Shortcuts app. Let’s see this cool Apple Maps shortcut.

Facebook ‘borrows’ from Snapchat for updated Nearby Friends feature

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Facebook owns 4 of the top 10 apps of the past decade
Facebook wants to get some of that Snapchat cool!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Facebook is taking another crack at providing a way to help us meet up with friends offline. Having seen its “Facebook Nearby Friends” feature fail to gain much traction, the social media giant is now supposedly planning on a Snapchat-inspired redo to try and change its fortunes.

According to TechCrunch, Facebook is testing a redesign of its “Nearby Friends” that looks a whole lot like Snap Map. This feature will replace the list view of “Nearby Friends” with a map that shows friends grouped according to their city.

Apple seeds iOS 12 beta 4 to developers

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Photos app
The new and improved Photos app on iOS 12.
Photo: Apple

A fresh new version of iOS 12 is waiting for developers to download, bringing with it a fresh batch of fixes and some UI tweaks.

Apple released iOS 12 beta 4 this morning for both iPhone and iPad. The update arrived exactly two weeks after Apple dropped the last beta, which added more detailed Map data along with other improvements.

iOS 12 beta 3 arrives with more detailed Maps data

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Apple Maps
Big changes are coming behind the scenes at Apple Maps.
Photo: Apple

Developers received an early 4th of July present from Apple today in the form of banging batch of new betas for iOS 12, watchOS 5 and tvOS 12.

The third beta for iOS 12 arrives two weeks after Apple seeded the last software update to developers that contained a number of UI tweaks and performance enhancements. iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Apple TV all received some software loving from Apple today, but it looks like the next macOS Mojave beta is still baking.

Apple Maps suffers widespread search and directions outage [UPDATED]

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Apple Maps outage
Save us, Google Maps!
Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Good luck finding your way with Apple Maps today.

The service is suffering a widespread outage that is preventing many users from using search or directions. The problem seems to be affecting iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac users around the world, but Apple says all services are operating normally.

UPDATE: As of Friday afternoon, whatever the earlier problem was, this service appears to be working normally again.

How to look up anything with one tap on Mac

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dictionary look up macos
Look up!
Photo: Caleb Roenigk/Flickr CC

On the Mac, you have long been able to tap on any word or phrase to look up a dictionary definition. Just click on the word using a three-finger tap on your trackpad, and the dictionary panel appears. But have you tried this recently? Today, in this simple popover panel, you can get full access to not just dictionary definitions, but news, Siri Knowledge, movie details, App Store listings, and lots more depending on what you’re looking up.

Let’s take a look.

Google Maps for iOS just made your commute easier

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Google Maps Feb 18 update
You can now gain one-tap access to useful commute info.
Photo: Google

Google today rolled out a new Maps update for iOS that makes accessing commute information easier than ever.

A new one-tap access bar at the bottom of the app lets you quickly view nearby restaurants and hotels, real-time traffic data, and transit information.

Your iPhone tracks every place you visit. Here’s how to see the map.

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Significant Locations
Bubbles show you where you have visited.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Your iPhone knows where you are, and it remembers where you have been. It keeps a record of your frequent hangouts — aka “significant locations” — and uses this data to make location-based suggestions using Siri and to power other features. Don’t panic, though: This data is kept on your phone, not collected by Apple.

Maybe you want to switch it off anyway, though. Perhaps you’re having an affair and don’t want your suspicious spouse to find out where you and your lover hook up. Or you’re an undercover cop and don’t want your visits to the police station to show up on your phone. Today we’ll see how to access your recent locations data, remove it, and switch it off altogether.

Google forced to remove new iPhone feature following outrage

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Google Maps calorie count
A calorie count is useful to some, but offensive to others.
Photo: BuzzFeed

Google added a neat new feature to Maps on iPhone this week — then pulled it in under 24 hours following user outrage.

It was seemingly designed to encourage users to walk more frequently by showing how many calories they could burn on their route. But many feel the feature was shameful and judgmental, and a negative trigger for those who suffer from an eating disorder.