find local info with Maps
Maps doesn’t just know where you are. It knows what you want, too
When you’re looking for a place to go, there’s no substitute for local knowledge. And that’s something Apple’s Maps app is absolutely packed with. Whether you’re looking for a big night out, a nice place to stay, or the best food to eat in town, Apple Maps knows exactly where it is.
As we’ll discover in this tutorial, it couldn’t be easier to get Maps to share its knowledge. All you need to do is tap on the search bar and you’ll see big bright icons detailing the available categories, such as food and drink, shopping, fun and health. Apple calls the feature Nearby, and it uses your location to find the most relevant search results near you — so if you’re out in the sticks, you won’t get city centre results appearing at the top.
Results are organized by location and shown clearly in the map view. And of course you can get directions to each place from wherever you want to start from, which can be your current location, or another spot that you specify (or have saved already).
Maps’ knowledge isn’t just a list of places that doesn’t differentiate between top destinations and terrible tourist traps. It provides a lot of useful information, such as whether a place is child–friendly or if it accepts Apple Pay. It also integrates tightly with TripAdvisor to get real–world photos and reviews, so you can decide whether a particular place is right for you. If you want more information, the app links directly to the appropriate TripAdvisor entry.