Everybody defaults to Google Maps, however Apple Maps received me over within the automobile
For about 5 years, I labored as a discipline gross sales engineer and commerce growth supervisor, and a few weeks I logged greater than 1,000 miles between buyer visits. Google Maps guided virtually each a kind of drives. It was the app everybody reached for again then, me included. I’ve labored absolutely from house full time since 2022, so my mileage appears to be like loads completely different now, however one behavior flipped alongside the way in which.
Whenever I’m headed someplace new, Apple Maps is the app I open, and the NFC tag on my 4Runner’s center console pulls it up earlier than I’ve even buckled in. The map itself wasn’t the deciding issue. What received me over is how Apple Maps works with my iPhone, Apple Watch, and CarPlay collectively.
My Apple Watch faucets out each flip
Directions attain my wrist, not simply the dashboard
My 4Runner has wired CarPlay, so I simply plug my iPhone in, and the route fills my heart display screen. The half I’ve come to depend on, although, occurs on my wrist. During driving instructions, Apple Maps sends flip alerts to my Apple Watch Ultra 3 utilizing sounds and haptics collectively.
A low tone adopted by a excessive one alerts a proper flip on the subsequent intersection, and the reverse means a left. When the music is up, or visitors wants my full consideration, that faucet registers with out pulling my eyes towards the display screen.
Google Maps can’t match this. Neither Google Maps nor Waze sends haptic navigation alerts to an Apple Watch, so switching apps means dropping the characteristic totally. You can handle these alerts within the Watch app in your iPhone beneath Maps. If you’ve trimmed your Apple Watch notifications to save battery, these are price holding, since they solely hearth when you’re navigating.
Siri handles detours and ETAs mid-drive
Two voice instructions cowl most of my unfamiliar journeys
Unfamiliar journeys are the place Siri earns its hold. If the gasoline mild comes on midway to a brand new vacation spot, asking Siri to discover a gasoline station provides one as a cease with no single faucet. Back on the highway, “Share my ETA” sends my arrival time to whoever is ready on me. When visitors slows me down, the shared ETA updates by itself, so no one wants a “operating late” textual content from me at a crimson mild. Recipients don’t want an iPhone, both, as a result of ETA sharing reaches contacts on Android too.
Siri additionally treats Apple Maps as house base in CarPlay. Unless you identify one other app in your request, navigation instructions go straight to Apple Maps. Google Maps customers can nonetheless get there, however they should tack “with Google Maps” onto each request. That additional phrase is straightforward to overlook mid-drive, and Siri received’t remind you earlier than it opens the mistaken app.
Apple Maps discovered my common drives
Delay alerts and parking spots present up on their very own
Most of my driving is native now, primarily grocery runs and the youngsters’ actions. iOS 26 added Preferred Routes, which learns the routes you really take as a substitute of assuming the quickest one is the one you need. Apple says that studying occurs on-device, and Maps makes use of it to warn you about delays on these acquainted routes. A heads-up about my normal drive is extra helpful to me than scanning a generic visitors map.
The parked-car marker handles the opposite finish of the journey. When I unplug from CarPlay and step out, Maps drops a pin the place the 4Runner is sitting. It skips locations you park usually, like house or work, so the pin largely seems in crowded tons at unfamiliar venues. iOS 27 additionally added a Parked Car widget to the Apple Watch Smart Stack, so you will discover your automobile with out pulling out your telephone. You can flip the marker on beneath Settings > Apps > Maps > Show Parked Location.
Visited Places retains a visit historical past Apple can’t learn
Private location historical past that stays helpful
Visited Places, one other iOS 26 addition, retains a document of the place you’ve been within the Visits part of your Maps library. It’s useful for recalling the identify of a store or restaurant after a visit, and locations you’ve been get marked as visited in search outcomes. Apple protects Visited Places with end-to-end encryption, says it might probably’t entry the info, and allows you to take away any entry with a swipe. You’ll want Significant Locations & Routes turned on in your Location Services settings for it to work.
That’s a distinct setup from what I discovered after I dug into how much Google Maps remembers. Google moved Timeline onto your telephone with an elective cloud backup, however searches and different Maps exercise can nonetheless accumulate in your Google account. Apple, then again, says the route and vacation spot information behind options like Preferred Routes isn’t tied to your Apple Account. For one thing that is aware of the place I am going, Apple’s method sits higher with me.
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Google Maps now opens solely when somebody sends me a hyperlink
I haven’t deleted Google Maps. When somebody texts me a Google Maps hyperlink, I let it open there, and its archive of old Street View imagery continues to be enjoyable to browse from the sofa. Behind the wheel, although, all the pieces runs by way of Apple Maps, as a result of it really works with my watch, telephone, and sprint like one related system.
If you’ve caught with Google Maps out of behavior like I did, give Apple Maps every week of errands with Watch flip alerts on and Show Parked Location enabled. It could not substitute Google Maps for all the pieces, nevertheless it might simply take over your drives.
